G is for Goebbels: Nazi Sex Scandals

by Tammy Petry

G
Blogging From A to Z April Challenge
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."  

~Joseph Goebbels 

I tend to write about socially taboo topics that others find interesting but really don't want in their browser history. I can only image what people would think if I suddenly went missing and the authorities searched my laptop for clues.  I'm not kidding, there's a bizarre assortment of shit in my browser history

All smartass comments are entirely my own and are provided free of charge.

(Limited time offer.  Restrictions may apply.  Void in dry counties.)

International Disclaimer:  The information contained in this blog post, including words, photos, and videos, are strictly for educational and informational purposes only. I do not espouse, condone, or promote anything related to Hitler, Nazis, the Third Reich, National-Socialism, Fascism, or other related -isms. 

If you're wondering why the majority of my "30 Days of WWII" posts pertain to the Nazis,  it's because I love exploring the dark side of history.  I like to find out what makes monsters tick, who their lovers were, and discover the various types of backgrounds they emerged from.  For example, how does someone who has a loving family, who makes homemade ice cream and plays catch with their children, who appears "normal"  to the rest of the world...how does that person leave home, go to work, and proceed to murder innocent men, women and children by the thousands every day? How does that person sleep at night?  How does that person face him or her self in the mirror each day?How do they eat when thousands are starving just yards away?

These are the creators of one of the darkest times in modern history.

Now, on to Goebbels. 

I recently watched a documentary on Netflix called, "The Goebbels Experiment".  The entire narrative of the film is read from Dr. Joseph Goebbels' own extensive diary, which he kept from 1924 to 1945.  Rare and never before seen footage accompanies his entries which are beautifully read by Kenneth Branagh . Amazingly, this diary survived WWII and post-war plundering and destruction that took place in Berlin for many years afterward.  It's a provocative peek inside the tortured mind of the Third Reich's Minister of Propaganda.

I consider myself to be an avid war historian, but I still learned many new things about Goebbels from watching this film.

Here are the highlights I found to be most interesting:

1. Goebbels had a physical deformity of his foot.  Surgery was performed during his youth (almost 100 years ago!) but it was botched.  This caused him to wear a cumbersome orthopedic foot/leg brace for the rest of his life.  They might as well have painted a big bulls-eye target on ole Joe because he was teased and ridiculed without mercy.  It also deemed him a less-than-worthy German soldier and was denied his place in the ranks during WWI.
2. His oldest son was not his biological child.  His wife, Magda, was a divorcee who brought the boy into their marriage. (Unlucky him.  Don't feel too badly for him though, he turned out to become filthy rich in post-WWII Germany.) Being an ardent and loyal fascist, Magda popped out six more little Nazis for the glory of the Reich.
3. Hitler was one of the witnesses for Joseph's marriage to Magda. (This was definitely a very bad omen.)
4. Joseph Goebbels--ADULTERER!  He had a torrid, heartbreaking, earth-shattering love affair after he wed Magda. As you will read later on in the post, things got...interesting.  I won't ruin it for you, you'll just have to keep reading. Anyway, Magda finally got fed up.  She went running to Hitler to put an end to the whole mess. (Damn, I sure wouldn't want to get THAT phone call...just say'n.)The ideal Aryan was tall, blonde, blue-eyed, and in top physical shape. Goebbels was none of these. (Neither was Hitler for that matter, but I digress.)

Rare color photo of Hitler and Goebbels enjoying a lighthearted moment of laughter.
Goebbels was a frequent guest at Hitler's mountain retreat, Berchtesgaten.

Here is the Goebbels wedding photo.  Note Adolph in the background.

Joeseph and Magda Goebbels wedding photo.  Note Adolph Hitler in the background.
He was a witness to their nuptials.

Joseph and Magda Goebbels with their children.

Here is the fantastically fascist Goebbels family. All of the children, except Harald, were poisoned by Magda Goebbels inside the Berlin Fuhrer Bunker. Harald is the one in the Luftwaffe uniform and is Magda's son from her first marriage. He survived the war, became a very wealthy industrialist - he was one of the richest men in post-war Germany. (Billions of dollars pertaining to BMW, read about that HERE.)

Magda also (allegedly) had affairs (including one with Joseph's deputy Karl Hanke).

Karl Hanke, Deputy to Joseph Goebbels and alleged lover of Magda Goebbels.
Definitely an improvement, IMHO.

I had NO idea Joseph Goebbels had an affair. The icing on this multi-tiered Cake of Adultery is this: Magda confided all the sordid details to none other than their good pal Adolph Hitler. She asked him to step in and put a stop to Joseph's wandering affections. Eventually, Hitler did just that.

Mrs. Goebbels does not look pleased.

Here is a photo of The Mistress, Lida Baarova:

Lida Baarova, mistress of Joseph Goebbels.

Version One:

 By Peter Conradi, October 31, 2000

They met at a party in 1934, the year before her first German film "Barcarole" made her a household name in Germany. Lida Baarová certainly suited Goebbels, who became obsessed with her. "He told me he loved me time and again," she recalled 60 years later, "and I felt his eyes burning into my back every time we were in the same room together." The Fuhrer too, she vouchsafed, was given to staring mutely in her direction; indeed, when he visited her film studio he seemed to her to be mesmerized. Shortly afterwards he invited her to tea.

She arrived at the wheel of her BMW, which (as she remembered) Hitler seemed to consider too liberated. On this occasion, however, he found his tongue to the extent of telling her that she reminded him of Geri Raubel, whom he encouragingly explained, had committed suicide on his account. Another time, Hitler told her that she should become a citizen of the Reich: "You could do well for yourself," he promised. But Lida Baarová remained immune to these blandishments, telling him that she preferred to remain a Czech. The tea invitations ceased.

Dr Goebbels's fires, however, burned ever fiercer. He only lived three doors down from the house on Lake Wannsee which Lida Baarová shared with Gustav Froehlich, her co-star in Barcarole. Though Lida Baarová always emphasised the innocence of her relations with Goebbels - "why would I be interested in a 36-year-old father of five when I was a 20-year-old beautiful woman with men falling at my feet?" - somehow Froehlich was never convinced.

Lake Wannsee, Berlin Germany

Hermann Goering placed a wiretap on Lida Baarová's telephone, and enjoyed spreading scandalous stories about her and Goebbels in the highest Nazi circles. Himmler also liked to tell how there were lines of women waiting to swear how Goebbels had coerced them: "I've turned the choicest statements over to the Fuhrer." Goebbels himself felt the necessity to tell his wife Magda about his infatuation. Magda complained to Emmy Goering that her husband was "the devil incarnate". But she did not stop there, inviting Lida Baarová round to accuse her to her face of having an affair with her husband. "Don't worry," Lida Baarová returned, "I'm not interested in him."

Magda Goebbels was no more convinced than Gustav Froehlich had been, and in 1938 complained about her husband to the Fuhrer, who ordered Goebbels never to see Lida Baarová again. Goebbels's lust was strong, but his devotion to the Fuhrer still stronger. He sighed as a lover; he obeyed as a Propaganda Minister.

Meanwhile, the jealous Gustav Froehlich was rumoured to have struck Goebbels in the face, and challenged him to a duel. Hitler, furious at the scandal, banned Lida Baarová's films and expelled her from Berlin. Wisely, she escaped to Prague.

Version Two:

By Peter Conradi

"THEIRS was one of the most dramatic and dangerous love affairs of the Third Reich. A glamorous Czech actress who became Josef Goebbels's mistress and fled Germany after his wife denounced them to Hitler has described her turbulent relationship with the Nazi propaganda chief for the first time.

In her autobiography, The Sweet Bitterness of My Life, to be published posthumously, Lida Baarova writes of life in the Nazi upper echelons, where elegantly dressed ministers mingled with the film world elite.

The actress, who died alone in poverty, aged 86, reveals that Goebbels's wife, Magda, proposed a ménage à trois to save her marriage but Hitler ordered an end to the two-year affair on the grounds that it could damage the Nazis' image as guardians of traditional family values.

It was Hitler who first fell for Baarova, then 20, during a visit in 1934 to a film set in Berlin. Three days later she was summoned to tea at the chancellery. He said she reminded him of somebody both "beautiful and tragic" in his life. To her horror, she later realized this was Hitler's former lover and half-niece, Angela Raubal, who was found dead in her Munich flat in 1931, aged 23, after shooting herself in the heart with a pistol.

Adolph Hitler and Geli Raubal

Several more meetings followed, despite the protests of Gustav Fröhlich, a jealous actor with whom Baarova was living. But the Führer did not press himself on her.

Lida and Gustav

She and Goebbels first met in 1936 during the Berlin Olympics in the city's opulent Schwanenwerder suburb, where Goebbels had rented a villa near Fröhlich's. Baarova was attracted immediately.

There were other meetings on Goebbels's yacht Baldur, and he invited her to hear him speak at a Nazi congress. He promised to touch his face with a white handkerchief during the speech as a sign of his devotion.

Panicking, Baarova decided to leave town. But as her train waited at the station, a messenger arrived with roses and the minister's picture. "He was a master of the hunt, whom no-body and nothing could escape," she said. 
For months Goebbels pursued her relentlessly, inviting her for trips in his chauffeur-driven limousine or visits to his log cabin on the shores of Lake Lanke outside Berlin.

Although their relationship was platonic for a long time, she tried to hide it from Fröhlich. When Goebbels rang he left messages as Herr Müller and hung up if the actor answered. One winter evening in the cabin, however, before a blazing fire he kissed her for the first time, saying: "I have never in my life been so in-flamed with love for a woman."

They met whenever he could get away from his wife. Baarova recalled his mood swings dramatically. Sometimes he amused her with Hitler impressions, at others he expressed doubts about Nazi ideology.
Rumors of their relationship spread after Goebbels bailed out one of Baarova's films. Then Fröhlich arrived home to find them on the road to the villa. He berated Goebbels and left Baarova soon afterwards.

His impertinence did not go unpunished. Goebbels later took revenge by removing his exemption from military service and sending him to war. 
In the autumn of 1938, however, Goebbels had telephoned Baarova, saying he had confessed to his wife, and wanted the two women to meet. Magda Goebbels was distraught when they were introduced, and suggested sharing her husband.

"I am the mother of his children, I am only interested in this house in which we live," she said. "What happens outside does not concern me. But you must promise me one thing: you must not have a child by him."

Goebbels appeared with gifts of jewelry for both women as if to cement the love triangle. But Magda told Hitler and Goebbels was summoned to the Führer. "My wife is a devil," he told Baarova.

Early the next morning he rang again, weeping. Hitler had refused his request for a divorce and forbidden him to see her. "I love you, Liduschka," he said. "I cannot live without you."

The propaganda machine swung into gear. Newspapers published pictures of the Goebbels family, and Goebbels rehabilitated himself with Hitler by orchestrating Kristallnacht, an orgy of violence in November 1938 when Jewish property across Germany was destroyed.

Baarova was called to a police station and told she was barred from appearing in films or plays and even from attending social functions. She was pursued by the Gestapo, who organised hecklers to shout "Whore", when she defiantly attended the premiere of her film, Der Spieler (The Player). 

Baarova returned to Prague, disobeying an order from Hitler's adjutant to remain in Germany. She was on a Nazi blacklist, however, and it became more difficult for her to work. In 1942 she moved to Italy and resumed her career.

She saw Goebbels one last time at the 1942 Venice film festival. He ignored her. "He must have recognized me, but he did not make a single movement," she said. "He was always the master of self-control."

In 1945 Baarova was arrested by the Americans and briefly imprisoned for collaboration. Goebbels and his wife stayed with Hitler in his bunker, taking their own lives and those of their six children on May 1 as the Russians swept into Berlin."

The Goebbels Clan

L is for Leni Riefenstahl: Triumph of the Will

by Tammy Petry

L
Blogging From A to Z April Challenge
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
2014

For my non-American readers, I realize a lot of this stuff may be classified as "illegal" in certain countries.  After a bit of research, I discovered that a simple disclaimer might allow legal viewing of this content for citizens of most countries.

Disclaimer: The information in this blog is for historical/educational purposes only.

"Shortly after he came to power Hitler called me to see him and explained that he wanted a film about a Party Congress, and wanted me to make it. My first reaction was to say that I did not know anything about the way such a thing worked or the organization of the Party, so that I would obviously photograph all the wrong things and please nobody - even supposing that I could make a documentary, which I had never yet done. Hitler said that this was exactly why he wanted me to do it: because anyone who knew all about the relative importance of the various people and groups and so on might make a film that would be pedantically accurate, but this was not what he wanted. He wanted a film showing the Congress through a non-expert eye, selecting just what was most artistically satisfying - in terms of spectacle, I suppose you might say. He wanted a film which would move, appeal to, impress an audience which was not necessarily interested in politics."

— Leni Riefenstahl

Leni Riefenstahl

Triumph of the Will (German: Triumph des Willens) is a 1935 film made by Leni Riefenstahl. It chronicles the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, which was attended by more than 700,000 Nazi supporters. The film contains excerpts from speeches given by Nazi leaders.

The film's overriding theme is the return of Germany as a great power, with Hitler as the leader who will bring glory to the nation.

Because the film was made after the 1934 Night of the Long Knives, many prominent SA members are absent, having been murdered in that purge.

Triumph of the Will was released in 1935 and became a prominent example of propaganda in film history. 

Riefenstahl's techniques—such as moving cameras, aerial photography, the use of long focus lenses to create a distorted perspective, and the revolutionary approach to the use of music and cinematography—have earned Triumph of the Will recognition as one of the greatest films in history. 

Riefenstahl won several awards, not only in Germany but also in the United States, France, Sweden, and other countries. The film was popular in the Third Reich, and has continued to influence movies, documentaries, and commercials to this day. However, it is banned from showing in Germany owing to its support for Nazism and its numerous portrayals of the swastika.

Triumph of the Will
"Triumph des Willens"
1935 German Film Poster

The film begins with a prologue, the only commentary in the film. It consists of the following text, shown sequentially, against a grey background:

[On 5 September 1934]

[20 years after the outbreak of the World War]

[16 years after the beginning of German suffering]

[19 months after the beginning of the German rebirth]

[Adolf Hitler flew again to Nuremberg to review the columns of his faithful followers]

The film opens with shots of the clouds above the city, and then moves through the clouds to float above the assembling masses below, with the intention of portraying beauty and majesty of the scene. The cruciform shadow of Hitler's plane is visible as it passes over the tiny figures marching below, accompanied by an orchestral arrangement of the Horst-Wessel-Lied.

Upon arriving at the Nuremberg airport, Hitler and other Nazi leaders emerge from his plane to thunderous applause and a cheering crowd. He is then driven into Nuremberg, through equally enthusiastic people, to his hotel where a night rally is later held.

1934 Night Rally
Albert Speers' "Cathedral of Light"

Riefenstahl had the difficult task of condensing an estimated 61 hours of film into two hours. She labored to complete the film as fast as she could, going so far as to sleep in the editing room filled with hundreds of thousands of feet of film footage.

"The Party is Hitler - and Hitler is Germany just as Germany is Hitler!

— Rudolf Hess

In the closing speech of Triumph of the Will, Hitler enters the room from the back, appearing to emerge from the people. After a one sentence introduction, he tells his faithful Nazis how the German nation has subordinated itself to the Nazi Party because its leaders are mostly of Germans. He promises that the new state that the Nazis have created will endure for thousands of years. Hitler says that the youth will carry on after the old have weakened.

They close with a chant, "Hitler is the Party, Hitler." The camera focuses on the large Swastika above Hitler and the film ends with the images of this Swastika imposed on Nazis marching in a few columns.

C is for Chelmno: April 2014 A to Z Challenge

C is for Chelmno Concentration Camp.

From Wikipedia:

Chełmno extermination camp, known to the Germans as the Kulmhof concentration camp, was a Nazi German extermination camp situated 50 kilometres (31 mi) from Łódź, near the Polish village of Chełmno nad Nerem (Kulmhof an der Nehr in German).

It operated from December 8, 1941 to January 18, 1945. It was built to exterminate Jews of the Łódź Ghetto and the local Polish inhabitants of Reichsgau Wartheland (Warthegau)

Further information: The Holocaust in Poland and Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Poland

At a very minimum 152,000 people (Bohn) were killed in the camp,^[3] though the West German prosecution citing Nazi figures during the Chełmno Trials of 1962–65, laid charges for at least 180,000 Jews murdered there.^[6] The Polish estimates in the early postwar period suggested a great deal more, up to a total of 340,000 victims, the vast majority of whom were Jews.^[4] The murdered came chiefly from Łódź and the surrounding area, along with Romani from Greater Poland.

The camp killed most of the victims by the use of gas vans. It was a center for early experimentation and development of methods of mass murder, some of which were applied in later phases of the Holocaust.^[7]

One of the camp survivors testified that only three Jewish males had escaped the Chełmno extermination camp successfully; he was fifteen years old.^[8] The Holocaust Encyclopedia noted that seven escaped from work details during the early 1940s; among them was Yakov Grojanowski, who documented the camp's operations in his Grojanowski Report. But he was later captured and killed at another death camp before war's end.

 In June 1945 two survivors testified at a trial of captured camp personnel in Łódź, Poland.

The three best-known survivors testified about their Chełmno experiences at the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem.

Two also testified at the camp personnel trials conducted in 1962–65 by West Germany.^[8]

I apologize to y'all this morning...I've been working my butt off and haven't had much sleep.  Despite this, I am committed to doing a great blog post every day and sticking to my A-Z guns.

So, I bring you the story of Shimon Srebrnik, one of a handful of survivors from the Chelmna Concentration Camp in Poland.  Chelmna was the site of the Nazi's brutal experiments in handling "the final solution".  Nothing was off limits here and the barbarity ran high.  I will never understand how one human can treat another human in such a way, no matter what their differences.

I hope you enjoy Mr. Srebrnik's video.  I apologize for not dressing this post up as much as I'd like but in all honesty, it was a challenge to even write this morning.  I sure hope it's semi-literate!  Anyway, enjoy your day and I'll be back in top form tomorrow.  Thanks again to everyone who has commented and followed.  :))

Shimon Srebrink is one of the few survivors of Chelmno Concentration Camp in Poland.

Random Odd Fact From WWII:

Calvin Graham was only 12 years old when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. 

He won a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart before the Navy found out how old he was.

B is for Budapest: April 2014 A to Z Challenge

Blogging From A to Z
April 2014 Challenge
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

B is for Budapest, capital of Hungary.  With approximately two million inhabitants, today it's a thriving metropolis. But, it didn't begin that way. Budapest was originally settled by the Eravasci, a Celtic tribe, around 40 AD. They named the city "Ak-ink", which the Romans renamed, "Aquincum" after its conquest.

Remains of the ancient city of Aquincum can be seen today in Budapest.

The Ruins of the Ancient City of Aquincum, modern day Budapest.

(Personally, I find this to be pretty amazing and would love to tour Europe one day just to see all the cool places I write about.)

Map of Europe
Hungary in Red

There is a ton of fascinating history about Budapest but I want to tell you about a man who made a difference while residing there during WWII. Before I do, here are some links to learn more about the history of Budapest.

Budapest - The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Site

Siege of Budapest 1944 - Wikipedia

Horrors of the Occupations: Nazis in Budapest and the Arrow Cross Army (Warning: Graphic photos.)

Okay, on to the star of the show, Mr.Giorgio Perlasca.  Giorgio Perlasca was an Italian businessman working in Budapest when all hell broke loose in 1943.

"When Mussolini fell in July 1943, all Italians in Hungary were requested to return home. Perlasca refused to go to a German-ruled Italian puppet state. As Perlasca said: "I was neither a fascist nor an anti-fascist, but I was anti-Nazi." Perlasca was interned; however, on October 13, 1944, he was able to talk his way out of the hotel where he was being held." (Quote from the Jewish Virtual Library Website)

This is where it gets interesting.  Let's look at that last sentence one more time: " Perlasca was interned; however, on October 13, 1944, he was able to talk his way out of the hotel where he was being held."

I like this guy already but it gets really wild when he declares himself the Spanish Ambassador to Hungary.  I know, I know, I keep saying, "WTF?" too.  Stay with me, okay?  K.

Perlasca was appalled at the way Hungarian Jews were being treated.  In the beginning, he took it upon himself to save a couple here and there.  Then he saved families. Then groups of people.  He was even able to pull hundreds of Jews off of a Nazi deportation train!  This man had huge balls and was sharp as a razor. He could think on his feet and never got rattled.  He bribed high-ranking Nazis in order to save more lives.  During one "negotiation", the greedy Nazi he was trying to bribe held a knife to his throat whilst on a fourth floor balcony.  Perlasca never missed a beat and offered the guy double if he'd put the knife away.  Of course it worked.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this movie. Yes, it's all in Italian with English subtitles but it's so good you'll forget all about that. Here's a link to a trailer of the film.  It may now be possible to find the entire film online:

(Why don't people like foreign films?  I love em.  This one ROCKS.)

From DeliberatelyConsidered.com:

"Giorgio Perlasca was born in Como, Italy, in 1910. During World War II, he was an Italian diplomatic envoy to the countries of Eastern Europe as a food purchasing manager (meat) for the Italian Army. For a number of reasons, he found himself in the position to pretend to be a substitute for the Spanish ambassador in Budapest, Sanz Briz. When the ambassador was forced to leave Hungary, Perlasca decided to impersonate a Spanish consul in order to grant Spanish citizenship to thousands of Jewish Hungarians. He took advantage of the Rivera Law, which allowed him to naturalize all the Jewish people with Sephardi origins from all over the world. Thanks to this law, over a period of 45 days, between January 1944 and January 1945, “Jorge” Perlasca saved thousands of Hungarian Jews."

Final thoughts:  You gotta see the movie, "Perlasca".

Tammy - Out.

A is for Auschwitz: Blogging A to Z April 2014 Challenge

Blogging From A to Z April Challenge

As you (should) know, my theme for this year's blog-fest is WWII. I'm jumping right in with a weighted topic for my premiere post in this year's challenge.  It mirrors my motto of, "Go big or go home" and overall life philosophy.  I'm no wallflower.  You will know I'm at the party.  I'll be the crazy one with the wine laughing a little too loud but not really caring all that much.

Moving on...

I like to include links in my posts.  I have an inquisitive mind and if something interests me, I always like to know more about it. On that note, let's get down to business...

A is for Auschwitz

I think we all know enough about the actual camp and the heinous activities perpetrated by the Nazis. 

We are not going through the gates of Auschwitz today.  

I want to tell you a story about a man who, luckily, never arrived at those hellish gates. 

Leo Bretholz
He and a friend jumped from a train en route to Auschwitz and avoided certain death.

Leo Bretholz and a friend were on the train to Auschwitz, having been deported from the Drancy concentration camp outside of Paris, France.  This was not his first escape, but it was probably the one that saved his life.  Below is a transcript of Mr. Bretholz's oral testimony about his escape from the death train. What an amazing person.  

Watch Leo Bretholz tell his story.  CLICK HERE (this will open a new window)

TRANSCRIPT OF LEO BRETHOLZ

But as soon as the train started in the morning, and we were out of Paris for, about half an hour or so out of Paris, we decided our task to, to pry these bars apart. And we know that when you make a cloth wet, a towel wet, it has tensile strength in wringing it, you can wring it, and when you twist it it becomes like a tourniquet. So we took off our sweaters, pullovers, v-necks, and dipped them into that human waste in the bucket, and didn't even have to use the bucket because the floor of the, we were squatting in it, and walking in it, and inhaling it, and it's still up there in my nostrils right now even when I talk about it. And, uh, we used these sweaters to twist around the bars--if these are the bars, twisted around--and twist, and twist, and twist until all the liquid had poured out and had been twisted out, by that time, it had developed that strength, and we did that often enough, alternating between him and myself, until the bars started to somewhat move in the frame. We saw them move. Why? Because the rust in the frame started falling down in dust. Rusty dust. And when we saw these bars moving, that was the light at the end of the tunnel, to use a cliche, or, uh, what do you call it, a metaphor. That was it. We knew that if we would continue that often enough, that eventually these bars will be giving enough for us to be able to bend them. Up and down, up and down, until finally they had moved enough where we could bend them into a, into a position where the opening was wide enough for us to be able to squeeze through, and we did, at a given moment we did, and after we escaped, that, uh, we lay there in the, in the, in the ravine for a while that almost seemed like an eternity, made our way into a village, went to a bakeshop, the apprentice came to the door and told us there was no bread now, not until the morning, and we said we're not interested in bread, we would like to know where the village priest lives, and he said he was going to take us to his house or home which was right adjoining a sacristy, uh, joining the church, and we got to him, we had torn off our Jewish stars. I feel now that if we had them on it would have been more reassuring for him because he would have known who we were, although we could have been a, it could have been a trap, but, uh, he recog--and we told him that we had escaped from a train, we were very frank with him, and we didn't know, he could have been a collaborator too, you know, but we felt we were in good hands as we saw the face of the man. And he said, "Yeah, they come through here several times a week," and, uh, we know, we know that, but you know, he says, "I can let you stay here for the night. But in the morning, very early, I'd have to get you out of your warm bed, because between five and six, a patrol can come by here almost regularly." So he, he gave us milk, and bread, and cheese, warm milk, put us into a feather bed, into a crisp white sheet, and that after being in Drancy with a straw on a cement floor and vermin and, uh, putrid stench, and it was like you were on a cloud. And when he woke us with that soft voice in the morning: "Hey, fellows, Leg...il faut que vous levez. You have to get up. Il faut que vous partez. Il faut partir. You have to get away because you know...." Gave us a, uh, a letter to another colleague of his, also a priest in a village, not too far, and we spent the next day in his place, an adjoining stable, not a barn, a stable, and we spending that night lying between cows.

End of transcript.

This story, and many others, can be accessed for free at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's website at www.USHMM.org

Gearing Up For the April #AtoZchallenge !

AtoZChallenge
April A to Z Blogging Challenge
Blogging A to Z
www.a-to-zchallenge.com
A to Z Participant 2014

It's coming!  The April #AtoZchallenge for all bloggers is fast approaching!  Starting on April 01 and continuing thru April 30, registered bloggers will write one post per day to correspond with each letter of the alphabet.  For example, April 01 blog posts will start with or pertain to the letter "A".  Bloggers may choose to write about a theme or decide to make each letter/post random.  I prefer random because it gives me more freedom to cover a variety of topics.  I tend to be eclectic like that.   So, stay tuned, the A to Z challenge begins in just under two weeks!  I can't wait!

N is for Normal (NO!)

#AtoZchallenge

N IS FOR NORMAL

Normal is subjective.  Normal is relative.  Normal is something I hope I'll NEVER be.  Normal is one of the worst names you can call me.  To me, normal is boring, conformist, and un-original.  It's everything I AM NOT.

Some people spend thousands of dollars and countless hours of their time trying to be normal.  They want to feel normal and look normal.  They want to be a carbon copy, cookie cutter image of everyone else.

WHY?

There is beauty in being unique-in being YOU.  Why strive to be something you're not?  Why do so many people want to be an artificial dress up doll in a society of cutouts?

There is truth in honoring how you feel and what you believe in.  There is freedom and joy in following your own path.  I refuse to get in that line of sheeple, those "yes men" and head-nodders.  I will not wear what mass media spews over the airwaves.  I will not agree with the masses and hold my tongue when everything in my soul screams, "NO, that's a LIE!"

These are excerpts from something I recently wrote:

"I'm not your pearl clutcher,
not your Stepford Wife...

I don't want no part of
your cookie-cutter life..

No grey sedans
No minivans...

Gonna shave my head
Dye it Cherry Red..."

Oh, and YES I DID!

M is for Mack

#AtoZchallenge

M IS FOR MACK

Mack is my cat, my companion, and my best friend.  I've had him for over eight years.  I adopted him when he was four weeks old and I fed him goat's milk from an eyedropper until he was big enough to drink from a bowl.  I litter trained him when he was very small and he's NEVER had an accident, ever.  He is very smart and we are extremely close.  He's been there for me through good times and bad.  He knows all my secrets and has licked away many tears.  He sleeps beside me every night.  I love him with all my heart.  We have a special bond and I'm thankful he has stayed with me all these years.  He's truly a special soul.

Mackie Snores Video

Mackie Sleeping Video

Mackie #AtoZChallenge

K is for Kraka; A to Z Blogging Challenge

#AtoZchallenge #kraka

K IS FOR KRAKA

In the Nordic Sagas, Kraka (770-842)(or Áslaug as was her real name) was the daughter of the Danish Viking chief, Sigurd Fafnesbane and Brynhild, one of the Valkyries, but she was brought up in a poor Norwegian family. 

Few women in history are portrayed with such skill, wit, power, and courage.  I'm proud to tell you about one of them. Today's post is about a woman from Norse mythology named Kraka, who prior to tonight, I knew very little about. Kraka was asked to solve a near impossible riddle which she did, with aplomb.


According to legend, Kraka had to solve this riddle before she could meet the Viking chief, Regnar Lodbrog, whom she would later marry. 

She was instructed to appear before him "neither clothed nor naked, neither eating nor fasting, and neither alone nor accompanied by anyone." Kraka solved the riddle by covering herself in her long hair fastened by a fishing net. She bit into an onion, not considered to be food to show she was not fasting. Then she made a dog accompany her.

Kraka, Aslaug, #AtoZchallenge
Image from Wikipedia.  No copyright infringement intended.  Used for educational purposes only.

Brilliant!  This is related to my "I" post about Iceland where I discovered my real life Viking ancestors strictly by chance!  You can read my "I IS FOR ICELAND" post here:

I IS FOR ICELAND BLOG POST

From the Mythology Dictionary:

Aslaug

        A queen of Denmark. Daughter of Sigurd (Siegfried) and Brunhild. Wife of Ragnar Lodbrok. Mother of Biorn, Hvitsek, Ivar, Rogenwald and Sigurd. 

       One version of the story of Sigurd and Brunhild says that they married and had a daughter called Aslaug who was reared by Brunhild's father. When he was exiled, the father took the child with him to Norway hidden inside a harp, which was broken open by a peasant couple who killed the old man. They made a slave of the girl, who they called Krake. 

       Ragnar Lodbrok, king of the Danes, came ashore near the hut where they lived and proposed to marry her. She agreed but deferred the wedding for a year to test his love. At the end of that time they were married and they had four children, Biorn, Hvitserk, Ivar and Rogenwald. When Ragnar was advised to put her aside in favor of a princess, Aslaug produced proof that she herself was high-born. She later gave birth to Sigurd the Snake-Eyed. 

Brynhildr
#AtoZchallenge

Völsunga saga:  A depiction of Brynhildr (1919) by Robert Engels.

According to the Völsunga saga, Brynhildr (Kraka's mother) is a shieldmaiden. (a valkyrie) She was ordered to decide a fight between two kings, Hjalmgunnar and Agnar, and knew that Odin preferred the older king, Hjalmgunnar, yet she decided the battle for Agnar. 

For this Odin condemned her to live the life of a mortal woman, and imprisoned her in a remote castle behind a wall of shields on top of mount Hindarfjall, where she sleeps in a ring of flames until any man rescues and marries her. 

The hero Sigurðr Sigmundson (Siegfried), heir to the clan of Völsung and slayer of the dragon Fafnir, entered the castle and awoke Brynhildr by removing her helmet and cutting off her chainmail armour. The two fell in love and Sigurðr proposed to her with the magic ring Andvaranaut. 

About Andvaranaut:

In Norse mythology, Andvaranaut (Andvari's Gift), first owned by Andvari, is a magical ring that can make gold.

The mischievous god Loki tricked Andvari into giving him the Andvaranaut. 

In revenge, Andvari cursed the ring to bring destruction to whoever possessed it. 

Loki quickly gave the cursed Andvaranaut to Hreidmar, King of the Dwarves, as reparation for having inadvertently killed Hreidmar's son, Ótr. 

Ótr's brother, Fafnir, then killed Hreidmar and took the ring. 

Sigurd (Siegfried) later killed Fafnir and gave Andvaranaut to Brynhildr (Brünnehilde).

The story of Andvaranaut is one of the central themes of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung).

Also related to this topic are Vikings, Wagner, and Beowulf.  I am very proud to be a part of this timeline and to have ancestors who were Viking warriors.

Wagner's opera, Die Walkure, (The Valkyrie) can be heard below for free in its entirety. 

Also related to Kraka and Norse Mythology:

Beowulf

(Click title to read poem)





The Project Gutenberg EBook of Beowulf 

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net


Title: Beowulf
       An Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem, Translated From The Heyne-Socin
              Text by Lesslie Hall

Author:  

Release Date: July 19, 2005 [EBook #16328]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEOWULF ***

Produced by David Starner, Dainis Millers and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

There was also a film version of Beowulf.  You can view the film trailer below.

(This Viking Queen gives special thanks to my Paladin for suggesting Kraka.)