Эрнст Юнгер - A German Officer in Occupied Paris - The War Journals, 1941-1945

Since one should try to rebut madmen whenever possible in their own terms, I answered him that doing so would only achieve the opposite of his intentions—namely that blowing up the camps with the first rounds would disperse the inmates (already driven to extremes) across the whole country. Then I had to put my cards on the table and tell him that I would resist that with force and appeal to the people. Here, I got to know a person who combines obtuse intelligence with brutality, as is so common in our world. The characters of those types who influence broad historical events are composed of the following ingredients: one quarter each of technical intelligence, stupidity, bonhomie, and brutality—that that is the mixture one must know in order to comprehend the contradictions of our age.

In the afternoon, collated a copy of my “Essay on Peace” with the junior officer. In the evening, he left with two copies after I had written a brief foreword. I am dedicating the work to my dear Ernstel.

The English are still at the Weser River, but they will cross it in a few days. The Gauleiter [53] Gauleiter : a district leader, Gau being an old Frankish term used to designate Nazi Party administrative regions. of Hannover has circulated a bloodthirsty appeal calling for a fight to the last man, but Loehning knew that he was already taking measures to save his own skin. The farmers are burying objects, stowing some in their cellars, and destroying others.

The increased traffic on the streets means that all sorts of acquaintances drop by. Today it was a Lieutenant Wollny, who is on his way to the Weser. He brought me news from Niekisch. It seems that plans are in place for the “liquidation” of all prison inmates. Niekisch succeeded in getting a letter to his wife in which he wrote that this was probably the logical conclusion to his fate. All his prophecies, especially the ones in his work Hitler, ein deutsches Verhängnis [ Hitler, a German Disaster ], have come to pass. His wife still cherishes the hope that this will not end in slaughter. I always think about his fate with a particularly bitter feeling.

I saw a huge oak that was festooned like a Christmas tree with swordfishes longer than a man. The color of the creatures turning on their silken fishing lines shimmered from deep nacreous blue to all the hues of the rainbow. From a distance, I saw the bauble at which Neptune, Diana, and Helios were all at work, and I could also hear its music box sound.

English armored point units have now crossed the Weser and are said to be at Elze. The Volkssturm was mobilized and is supposed to be guarding the anti-tank barriers. This meant that I had to drive to Burgdorf to get information.

The roads were already crowded with refugees streaming eastward. Burgdorf was throbbing with excitement. Baskets and household items were being hauled down into cellars. I spoke with the Volkssturm leaders and the Kreisleiter ; [54] Kreisleiter : county leader(s), a Nazi Party administrative rank. their vital spirits seem to have been drained from them. Orders were handed down detailing our resistance, especially with respect to firing on tanks, yet these were fairly pro forma because in the next rooms, people were already packing up. I briefly expressed my objections to any rape of prisoners and discovered no intention to do so.

The farmers of Lower Saxony are beginning to act rationally now that their properties are at stake. Of course, it is still very dangerous to express any desire to hold onto them, and many a mayor who tried to do so has been stood up against the wall. Still, I think I’ve done my best to support the old estates. It was to my credit during all this that no one thought me cowardly.

In two or three days, our parish will see foreign troops. This pageant has not been repeated since the Napoleonic Wars, if we discount 1866 [55] 1866: Reference to the Austro-Prussian War or Seven Weeks’ War between the German Confederation lead by the Austrian Empire versus Prussia. The war resulted in Prussian dominance over the German states. for the moment. During this transition period, I miss Ernstel terribly.

A sunny morning after a cool night. Long columns of prisoners are still marching to the East. Low-flying aircraft are scouring the road; we can hear the rolling salvos of their guns. Farther forward they seem to have found a target: A pack of horses comes galloping back with flowing manes and empty saddles. Now and then prisoners come in to seek cover. As a result, the barn is overflowing with a troop of Russians that dived into a pile of carrots. Perpetua passes out slices of bread to them. Then there are the Poles. I ask one of them if he wants to march as far as the eastern border:

“Oh no, not for a year. First Russian must go.”

Signs of new conflicts are already emerging.

Right after dinner, the voice of the radio announcer comes on:

“The tanks are continuing their advance toward the Northeast and are now threatening the district capital.”

The road becoming devoid of travelers. You can see farmers driving their wagons into the moor; their white and red featherbeds catch the eye from a great distance. Even our neighbor Lahmann has hitched up his team—“for the horses’ sake”—as he himself wants to go out into the field to plant potatoes.

In the afternoon, I “rammed” some radishes [into the soil], slept, and finished reading Wood, while refugees looked in on us occasionally. Because I undertook yesterday’s trip in the rain, now I unfortunately have a bad cold. I am noting this less on account of my discomfort than because circumstances like these require extremely keen powers of observation.

Otherwise, conditions are not unpleasant. Party orders, food rationing cards, police regulations—have lost all authority. The radio station in Hannover has terminated its broadcasts. Those voices that for years used to wallow in false pathos fall silent in the hour of danger just when the populace urgently needs updates about the situation. Not even air-raid sirens sound anymore.

Peaceful night. I had taken quinine, which relieved the flu somewhat. I read a few of Turgenev’s hunting stories beforehand. I have admired these greatly for a long time, even though I am bothered by the detail of the extravagant Parisian gun that he carries in these forests.

My dear father’s birthday. He was so eager to know how this war would end and what the new world that it brought would look like. But surely he did find out—I am thinking here of the nice observation by Léon Bloy that at the moment of death a spirit experiences history tangibly.

The English are said to be near Pattensen, Braunschweig, and even on the coast. Refugees are still fleeing the city.

In the afternoon, violent explosions in the area; there were immense black clouds around Winsen an der Aller . By contrast it’s very pleasant that around here the pressure that came along with the twelve years of Party rule—pressure that I could feel even during the campaign in France—has gone up in smoke.

Artillery shelling in the evening, probably over near Herrenhausen, accompanied by illuminated target locators.

Took quinine again. During the night, the road was crowded with soldiers flooding back in disarray. A young junior officer came inside, and Perpetua outfitted him with a hat and raincoat.

Dr. Mercier returned from the Weser this morning. I presented him with a carbon copy of my essay on peace.