I Was in Hell with Niemoeller by Leo Stein

Author:Leo Stein [Stein, Leo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Jewish, Holocaust, Military, World War II, Middle East, Israel & Palestine
ISBN: 9781789121506
Google: dnZUDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
Published: 2018-04-03T16:01:39+00:00

XI — NIEMOELLER VIEWS THE NAZI PHILOSOPHY

ONE morning we came down to the prison yard to find it covered with frost, and we shivered, stamping our feet a little in order to start the circulation. The faces of the men were pinched, and some of them needed handkerchiefs. They could do nothing but furtively draw the backs of their hands across their noses. Though Germans are generally clean in their personal habits, the Nazis gave little heed to the needs of their prisoners. They were like chaff, soon to be got rid of.

As we cast our eyes about, seeking signs of the life we had known before, we saw something pleasantly strange and unexpected. It was a big bird house, which apparently had been put up by the prison authorities after we had been returned to our cells the day before. Crumbs had been scattered on the foothold and top, and there was a little pan of water. Pretty soon a sparrow flew down and hovered over the bird house, apparently eyeing it with curiosity and some degree of suspicion. Then it lighted on the ground, hopped slowly towards the bird house, and, finally, with a gay chirp, began picking up the crumbs. The little adventurer was followed almost immediately by a whole flock of sparrows, and all participated of the meal with much noise and happy chattering.

We prisoners gazed on the scene as if we had never before seen birds feeding at the hands of man, as if it were something absolutely strange and novel in human experience. Traces of smiles lingered on the prisoners’ lips as they watched and remarked on the sight, observing how some of the sparrows tried to get more than the others and were chased away with indignant chirps, only to return to the foray for food. It was a great distraction for us, and as long as I was in Moabit the bird house afforded a topic of conversation that drew us a little way out of ourselves. So did little things break the monotony of our life and temporarily at least unloose our fettered minds.

As for myself, I could not help remarking the difference, or, rather, the tremendous contrast, between the attitude of the Nazis towards the fowls of the air and their attitude towards their fellow beings. I think the difference is based on something fundamental in German character and training. Germans have no repugnance to the most horrible cruelties against man if cruelty will serve their purpose. Yet, on the other hand, they display the greatest kindness towards animals. And the strict legislation for the protection of birds and animals was not changed in the least by the Nazis. On the contrary, they imposed the extreme penalty for violation of the protective laws. In fact, if the Gestapo had treated birds and animals as they treated human beings, they would not have been able to stay general indignation.

This strange feature of the German character can be explained, I think, by

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