The Birth Of The Deutschmark
With the Marshall Plan came the currency reform and the birth of the Deutschmark. Every man, woman and child received sixty of them in exchange for the same amount in Reichsmark. Twenty marks were paid out straight away and twenty one month later. Those who had not spent their last Pfennig on the black market and still had some savings found them reduced to ten percent of their previous value. This was the turning point the country had been yearning for. Almost immediately after this event, my sister and I were allowed to attend a holiday camp of the young socialists ‘The Falcons’ that cost the family the full per head quota for my sister and me. My father was against it and to this day I am glad that my mother put her foot down, so we could take part in this adventure.
What a wonderful time we had! One of my fondest memories is standing round a campfire in the dark, hand in hand with other youngsters and with great conviction singing the old socialist * freedom songs. Against the background we all came from their words struck deep chords in our hearts and souls. To this day they have special meaning for me. ‘Unsterbliche Opfer’ or ‘Immortal Sacrifices’ was my favourite. Freely translated it contains the following message: ‘Although your physical bodies sunk into dust, the sacrifices you made have not been forgotten. They are immortal and standing at your graves weeping and mourning, our hearts and minds are filled with pain. You fought and died for a peaceful world and rights yet to come. We, the generation of the future, rise and vouch to do our share of bringing it about. When our whole world finds freedom at last, we shall think of you and honour you, for you went before us and your example taught us how to defend our highest ideals, if need be with the ultimate sacrificed of giving our lives.’
Who could have imagined then that those words would one day be the leitmotif for my life’s work of doing my share of freeing our world from the yoke of all kinds of personal, political and religious tyrannies? I know that this freedom is coming to our world because I can see it ‘written in the Stars’. This prediction has nothing to do with fortunetelling. My astrological studies show me quite clearly that there really is a great plan of life * that has always been unfolding as it should. There is no doubt in my mind that this will continue. And that, as I now realise, was the reason why many years ago I felt drawn to the Divine science *.
Other songs dealt with and brought us closer to the highest ideals of the Aquarian Age of spiritual freedom, justice and equal rights for all, of true socialism * that has not yet come to our world. ‘Immortal Sacrifices’ remained my favourite and if its words sound pathetic to your ears, I make no apologies because they brought our wounded souls a measure of comfort and the beginnings of healing. This song for me will always represent an echo of the age-old cry from the soul of humankind for freedom from all oppression. Most importantly, they carried a message and a ray of hope for a better world to come. When viewed from that angle, possibly for the first time in our young lives something in connection with the war made sense. Maybe the sacrifice of all who gave their lives to free us from the Nazi tyranny, on both sides of the artificial wall of hatred that had been erected by this regime, had not been in vain. There were also brave ones on our side who had tried unsuccessfully to unseat it. Even though they failed, their sacrifices are not forgotten.
Incidentally, many years later I learnt that the ‘Immortal Sacrifices’ has an interesting history. It was written by W.G. Archangelski in 1878 and had been inspired by the suffering of the Russian people. It became a hymn of mourning for the victims of the Russian Revolution of 1905. At the end of the First World War in 1918, Hermann Scherchen translated it into German. After 1919, it was adopted as the funeral song for the fallen and murdered members of the international socialist workers movement.
Nazis is short for National-Sozialisten, but let no-one confuse them with a genuine socialist organisation. They adopted the word socialism and made a mockery of it. The true German socialist movement was soon forced underground when the Nazis came to power. It remained alive, but it took until after the war before it officially entered the political stage again. One of my mother’s brothers insisted on remaining an active member of the forbidden party during the time of the Nazi regime. He paid for it with his life, the highest price of all. He was involved in printing and distributing a tiny newspaper, which could only be read with a strong magnifying glass.
In the middle of one night, the Gestapo called for my uncle. He had been found out, almost certainly through somebody who did not like him denouncing him. That was a common occurrence in those days. My uncle was presented with a macabre choice. If he wanted his wife and two small children to be safe from persecution, he was given to choice of either going to a concentration camp or being sent on what was then known as an ‘Ascension Mission’. This meant impossible assignments on the front from which no-one ever returned.
My uncle chose the latter and must shortly after have perished on the Russian front. He was lost in action and no trace of him was ever found. After the war, it took many years until the authorities finally accepted my aunt’s appeals that he should be declared dead, so that she could begin to draw a pension for herself and her children. An ironic German saying goes: ‘The thanks of the fatherland you can be sure of!’, when in truth no-one is likely to thank anyone for their suffering and the loss of life and limbs. Alas, that seems to be all too common everywhere. However, in the United Kingdom the British Legion each year helps people to show their appreciation by making a donation through buying one of their red poppies.
* Recommended Reading:
• ‘Ideas That Changed Our World’
• ‘The Great Plan Of Life Unfolds’
• ‘Astrology – The Divine Science’
• ‘The Age Of Aquarius’
This article is a chapter from ‘War And Peace Between Nations.
If it has whetted your appetite to read more, please follow the link below:
‘War And Peace Between Nations’