Germany has been rightly praised for its efforts at Vergangenheitsbewältigung - a coming to terms with its past, esp. the NS-Zeit. But, to some extent, Vergangenheitsbewältigung has been more successful at the national, macro-level rather than at the micro-level. Thousands of families have struggled to come to terms with the roles family members may have played in Nazi crimes or in the Holocaust. More often than not blame has been placed on "others", or denying any knowledge of the crimes. Then there is the myth of "the good Nazi" - the patriot who was misled by der Führer but was blameless of any wrongdoing.
Alexandra Senfft's family struggled with this myth of "the good Nazi" for decades. Her grandfather, Hanns Ludin, was an early leader of Hitler's SA and was later rewarded with a plum diplomatic posting as the Reich's ambassador to the Slovak Republic. In that post, Ludin presided over the deportation and subsequent murder of 70,000 Jews. After the war, Ludin turned himself in to the American occupation authorities and was later extradited to Czechoslovakia. In 1947 he was convicted of war crimes and was executed in a horribly botch hanging.
Ludin's trial and execution cast a shadow on the family. He and his wife Erla had six children, and each one dealt with this dark legacy differently. The focus of Schweigen tut weh is on Erika, the oldest daughter and mother of Alexandra. The photo on the cover is of Hitler pinching the cheeks of young Erika while her smiling father looks on. In Slovakia, the family enjoyed an opulent, privileged lifestyle as Nazi royalty. Erika idolized her father, and f9r the rest of her life Erika recalled this period as her happiest. After the war things took a drastic turn for the worse. The father was gone - imprisoned, then executed, the family lived in near-poverty - as did most Germans. Erla was heroic in keeping her family together - fed and well-educated. Erika was self-centered, but after a difficult adolescence blossomed into an attractive young woman who began to attract a number of male suitors. Eventually Erika married the attorney Heinrich Senfft who became the lawyer for a number of celebrities in politics and the arts. Willy and Rut Brandt were clients and friends, and Erika vacationed with Rut in Sweden. Heinrich and Erika entertained often, and the alcohol flowed freely - sometimes too freely. Young Alexandra recalls encountering the actress Romy Schneider passed out drunk in the family's living room after a particularly wild dinner party. The excessive partying no doubt contributed to Erika's alcoholism and drug dependency. Over time, Heinrich grew tired of Erika's alcohol-induced blackouts and breakdowns - as well a adulterous affairs - and divorced her. Erika's life took a self-destructive turn - Alexandra and her younger brother were often left alone to deal with her frequent relapses. As children they were forced to be parents for their mother. Clearly Erika suffered from some form of bipolar disorder. How much of this can be attributed to unresolved issues with her father is open to question. Alexandra Senfft believes this was at the root of her mother's illness:
"Ich sehe den Auslōser ihres Leidens bei ihrem Vater. Er mag ein charmanter, gebildeter, erotischer und witziger Mann gewesen sein, aber er war ein Schreibtischtäter und trug in der Slowakei die politisch-diplomatische Verantwortung für den Tod con nahezu 70,000 Juden. [..] Diese Schuld ist in meiner Familie nie ohne Wenn und Aber anerkannt worden, vielmehr hat man sie bestritten und bestreitet sie zum Teil noch heute. Mein Grossvater had indirekt auch meine Mutter auf dem Gewissen, denn sie hat seine Schuld unbewusst übernommen, ja fast internalisiert und damit nicht leben können."
In end she is sorry that her grandfather was executed rather than receiving a lifelong prison sentence, since his children and grandchildren were deprived of the chance to ask him directly about his loyalty to the National Socialist ideals.
"Durch seine Hinrichtung lag es nahe, ihn zu idealisieren, denn er starb ja auch stellvertretend für viele andere der "feinen Herren", die nach dem Krieg mit weiβer Weste wieder Karriere machen konnten."
A word about the negative influence of the bestselling author Ernst von Salomon, who encountered Hanns Ludin while a prisoner of the American POW camp at Plattling. Von Salomon remained close to the Ludin family and young Erika stayed with him and his wife for a period. Von Salomon wrote about Hanns Ludin in his book Der Fragebogen, which was a monster bestseller in postwar Germany. Ludin is described as a thoroughly honest "man of conviction", a paragon of noble, German masculinity. And far more cultured than his vulgar American captors. Ludin was a true patriot, whose last words at the gallows were "Es lebe Deutschland" (Long Live Germany). A good Nazi.
Comments