Letter from Munich – 013
Letter from Munich – the Joseph Affair – 13
EINE DEUTSCHE FASSUNG STEHT WEITER UNTEN.
6 April 2001
Dear Mr. Graf, dear friends,
“On 30 March,” said Alexandra, “a program on German state television called the ARD-Morgenmagazin reported that the largest number of NPD members is concentrated in the state of Saxony, where the boy Joseph was killed. The NPD, as you know, is Germany’s foremost neo-Nazi party, the one the government is trying to have banned.”
“So what?” asked Gerhard. “That proves nothing. It certainly doesn’t prove that Kurt Biedenkopf, the Prime Minister of Saxony, exerted any influence on the investigation of the boy’s death. It doesn’t prove that Biedenkopf had the investigators manipulate evidence, in order to indicate that the boy died of an accident. It doesn’t prove that Biedenkopf had witnesses intimidated. It doesn’t prove that he’s orchestrating a campaign to drive the parents into economic ruin. It doesn’t prove that he’s trying to have them punished for even suggesting the presence of right-wing elements in Saxony.”
“No, you’re right,” said Alexandra quietly. “It proves none of those things.”
“Anyway, who cares about the real cause of the death of one little boy?” He stared at her for a moment. “I’ll tell you who.” Louder now. “No one. No one cares. And the sooner you understand that, my dear, the better off you’ll be. Little boys die every day, some are even murdered, and does anybody give a damn? Of course not.”
Alexandra sat motionless.
“Certainly nobody in Germany gives a damn about one little boy in Saxony.” His voice was low. He spoke rapidly. Seemingly unstoppable. “What you don’t seem to understand is that what is important in this country is order. Order. That’s all people really care about. And if the government has been able to put forward a plausible case, in order to convince everyone that the parents are crazy, that the boy died as the result of an accident, that there are no neo-Nazis in the town where he was killed, and that the parents – even though crazy – ought to be ostracized, ruined and otherwise punished for demanding justice, that’s all people care about. Order. Plausibility. Believing what the government tells them. Anything else disturbs their lives.”
“A year, five years, fifty years,” said Alexandra, “is a long time to keep something a secret. This past week in Ravensburg former SS-Untersturmfuehrer Julius Viel was convicted of murdering seven concentration camp prisoners in fifty-six years ago. His conviction was based on the testimony of an eye-witness who could no longer, after half a century, keep silent. Viel was given what is, in effect, a life sentence”. She straight into Gerhard’s eyes. “The fact is, all those who try to pervert justice – whether their names are Julius Viel, Slobodan Milosevic, or Kurt Biedenkopf – always have to answer for what they have done.”
I was shocked, indignant, even outraged that she could say something like that. How could she compare kindly old Kurt Biedenkopf, Saxony’s friendly grandfather, to Slobodan Milosevic? But what could I say to someone as intelligent as Alexandra? I’m just an ordinary person.
Sincerely yours,
Robert John Bennett
Mauerkircherstrasse 68
81925 Germany
Telephone: +49.89.981.0208
E-Mail:
” title=”mailto:rjbennett@post.harvard.edu “>rjbennett at post.harvard.edu
