 New Light on Old CrimesbyLev RaphaelOccasionally when I'm on a book tour and talking about the Holocaust in some way, I’m asked if there hasn’t been enough written about the Holocaust already. My answer is always no, because even all these decades later, we’re still learning more not just because of new analyses, but because precious, unknown Holocaust-related documents are still being discovered. On my recent book tour in Germany, I spoke at Justus Leibig University in Giessen, a small city north of Frankfurt, where I heard about a remarkable book that was just published in Germany and should make waves in the U.S. when it’s translated from German. The devastating two-volume book by Friedrich Kellner is the diary of a court clerk in a small German town in the western state of Hesse. The German title translates as “All Minds Are Clouded and Darkened”; the author’s own title was “My Opposition” (Mein Widerstand) and the diaries make it very clear that ordinary Germans during the War knew a great deal about what was being perpetrated in their name upon on the Jews and everyone else. It’s simply not true that people did not talk about what was happening, or were so terrorized by the Nazis that they were completely blind to events around them, or silenced. Kellner asked questions, read newspapers carefully, kept clippings, listened to what others were saying, and composed a stunning portrait of what was really going on in Germany before and during the war. Without difficulty, he learned about killings of those deemed mentally unfit. He learned about the real fate of Jews being shipped “to the East.” And he was remarkably prescient in foreseeing post-war denial: “Those who wish to be acquainted with contemporary society, with the souls of the ‘good Germans,’ should read what I have written. But I fear that very few decent people will remain after events have taken their course, and that the guilty will have no interest in seeing their disgrace documented in writing.” The diaries go from the beginning of the war in 1939 to just past its end and offer an unparalleled entrance into the period. While in Giessen, my host was Sascha Feuchert, the affable, magnetic editor of this amazing diary. He’s director of the university’s unique Literary Holocaust Center and a scholar of contemporary German and Holocaust literature. When I got back to the U.S., I read more about Kellner’s book and posed Feuchert some questions via email. Lev Raphael: So how did the diaries get published? Sascha Feuchert: In 1968 they were given to Robert Scott Kellner, Friedrich’s grandson. Scott had to learn German first to be able to read them—but trying to get them published was a difficult task—nobody seemed interested; above all German publishers refused to get involved in any way. It took Scott until 2005. Former President George H. Bush decided to show them in an exhibition in his Presidential Library in Texas. The German newsmagazine Der Spiegel published a short article about this exhibition, which we read in Giessen at the Research Unit for Holocaust Literature. And since I actually grew up in Laubach where Friedrich Kellner lived, I was very curious to read this unique document and to work with it. Lev: What was your role in the publication? Sascha: We did a lot of research to give the diaries a context. Since Kellner used over 500 newspaper clippings in order to show how the propaganda worked, we had to find the original sources. Other research was done to find information regarding the many people Kellner describes in his diaries. And, maybe most important, we were able to find one volume of the diary—the very first one—that was missing until 2005. A former friend of Friedrich had it and handed it over to us when we did an interview with him. Lev: What’s been the response in Germany so far? Sascha: The response was overwhelmingly positive. Over 9,000 copies have already sold—which is unbelievable for such a book. All major German newspapers and radio stations have done reviews, and even the BBC dedicated an 8 minute-long interview to the publication. Lev: How do you feel about it, as a German? Sascha: I think the diary shows how much an ordinary German could have known about all the atrocities if he or she wanted to know. Of course, you don’t read anything about Auschwitz, Treblinka or Sobibor specifically in the diary, but Kellner for instance wrote about a soldier who came back from the front and told in the local pub what was going on: that thousands of Jews were shot by the SS behind the actual frontline. And Kellner was deeply shocked and knew that this was an unparalleled crime. He also recorded when the local Jews were deported, and he asked one officer what would happen to them. The officer told him that they were brought to the East and killed. For Kellner that was enough—and it shows that the claim “we did not know anything” you heard from most Germans after the war was a lie. That’s hugely important information. Lev: How would you describe the writing itself? Sascha: It’s the diary of a man who’s in pain over his country, who’s afraid about what is going on—and who is very, very angry. So his diary makes a fascinating reading: you follow him nearly breathlessly through the war years. Lev: These diaries are being compared to the famous Dresden diary [I Will Bear Witness] by Klemperer—do you think they will take their place as a sort of classic in W.W. II writings? Sascha: I think the diaries have already proved how important they are. I do hope that they will find their way into the canon. Lev: When you spend so much time with someone’s diary, do you find yourself reading between the lines, imagining the writer’s life when he’s not recording what he’s seen and reflected on? Sascha: Very much so—but as a scholar you always have to be careful not to use your imagination too much. But sometimes you really struggle to keep the distance—because I find Friedrich Kellner a truly remarkable and brave figure. And if you work so long with someone’s diary you have the illusion you know him personally. Lev: You’ve spent time in the U.S., so do you think American readers will be able to relate to the book when it’s translated? Sascha: Absolutely. American readers will be surprised about the everyday life in the Third Reich; it will have an impact on their view of the history. Lev: Do you think there are other hidden treasures like this one in Germany? Sascha: Yes, I think there might be even more striking diaries (though I still think Kellner’s is in its way unique) but I fear that right now a lot of these treasures are thrown away because the younger generation very often is not able to read the old-fashioned German handwriting, so they don’t know what’s there. Lev: I’ve met people in Germany who said very openly to me, “Oh, yes, my grandfather was a hardcore Nazi.” Do you know anything like that about your own family? Sascha: In my family no one was a member of the party but they were also no members of any resistance movement. They were what we call ‘Mitläufer’, fellow-travelers. Lev: How did you come to be in your field? Sascha: Everything started in my schooldays. I had very good teachers who sensitized me to literature and history. Lev: You’ve got a fascinating connection with an American university. Can you describe it and explain how it came about? Sascha: Yes, I am an Honorary Professor at Eastern Michigan University. For a couple of years I have been collaborating with my colleagues there in the field of German Literature and Holocaust Literature before they nominated me for the position. It is absolutely fascinating for me to get to know the American University system which is much different from the German one and to work with American students. Last year I taught a course with two of my EMU colleagues about the Holocaust. They came with their students to Germany and we all went to Berlin and to Buchenwald. It was a fascinating and very moving experience for me—we will do it again next May. I learn a lot through this collaboration. Lev: As a literary historian, how would you yourself like to be remembered? Sascha: Actually I don’t think about things like that—I live for today. Books mentioned in this column: Interested readers can also look for the Canadian documentary about the diaries, My Opposition: The Diaries of Friedrich Kellner. And as a starting point, they can read English-language coverage of the diaries in Der Spiegel International.
Lev Raphael grew up in New York but got over it and has lived half his life in Michigan where he found his partner of twenty-six years along with a certain small fame. He escaped academia in 1988 to write full-time and has never looked back. The author of twenty-one books in many genres, and hundreds of reviews, stories and articles, he's seen his work discussed in journals, books, conference papers, and assigned in college and university classrooms. Which means he’s become homework. Who knew? Lev’s books have been translated into close to a dozen languages, some of which he can't identify, and he's done hundreds of readings and talks across the U.S. and Canada, and in France, England, Scotland, Austria, Germany and Israel. His latest book Pride and Prejudice: The Jewess and the Gentile is his second e-book original. You can learn more about Lev and his work on his website. Lev has reviewed for the Washington Post, Boston Review, NPR, the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Jerusalem Report and the Detroit Free Press where he had a mystery column for almost a decade. He also hosted his own public radio book show where he interviewed Salman Rushdie, Erica Jong, and Julian Barnes among many other authors. Whatever the genre, he's always looked for books with a memorable voice and a compelling story to tell. Contact Lev.
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