The tea cup slowly filled with hot, boiling water as the small silver frog held tightly on to the rim. What first seemed such a normal activity of filling hot water into a cup with a animal shaped tea egg, quickly evoked unforeseen associations in my news shaken mind. I could almost feel the hot water of the cup surrounding myself as the news trickled in about the Pardon of the former Sheriff and White Supremacist Joe Arpaio.
Just minutes ago I had begun reading Victor Klemperer´s diary. A stunning testimony of the terrible events leading Germany and the whole of the world into a humanitarian disaster. As I reached his entry from March 14, 1933, Victor Klemperer mentioned different happenings in a quick succession. The first one evoked a cold shiver running down my spine as I simultaneously heard the current news evolve.
„On the order of the Reichskanzler the five people, who were sentenced during summer by the special court in Beuthen for killing of Polish insurgent convict have been pardoned.“ (1)
For me as a German pastor it is like deeply hurtful déjà-vu , reminding me of the beginning of a disaster evoked by my nation upon others and mostly the powerless and marginalized. Over 6 million Jews and many uncountable others were murdered through the fascist regime of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. The above mentioned „Potempa-Murder“ by five SA-men and its sentencing , which took place in August 1932 (2) and the pardon by the newly empowered Reichskanzler Hitler was just the beginning of a brutal and systematic change to a system of fear, oppression and death. It was the first step, even though it was announced as a „legal and proper act“, that may be seen as the official recognisable dismantling of the parliamentarian democracy. More and bolder steps would follow very soon.
As I pulled out the small frog shaped tea egg, it lay hot and steaming in my hand. I quickly tossed it into the kitchen sink as I eased my burning skin with cold water. If only mankind would learn from their broken past that sometimes leaves aching burns and deep scars on society. I could only hope that the testimony of Victor Klemperer and others, who give us through their writings a precious time machine into a broken and terrible past, may be a warning sign for us as the presence and the future is unfolding.
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(1) Victor Klemperer: Tagebücher, 1933-1934, Berlin 31999, p. 11. (Translation: MG)
Miriam Gross 