2 - ‘Soldiers of the Heimat’: commemorating the dead, 1940–1945

Summary

Introduction

‘Why such a terrible fate, why so many victims?’ asked the Nazi district leader of Kurhesse, Karl Gerland, in a public rally on 22 October 1944. On the first anniversary of the heavy air raid against the city of Kassel, representatives of the Nazi party, detachments of the army, the labour service (Reichsarbeitsdienst) and civilians assembled in an open space in order to commemorate the dead. When a brass band struck up the tune of ‘The Song of the Good Comrade’ (Das Lied vom Guten Kameraden), the flags were lowered and ceremonial words were spoken in honour of the ‘fallen’. This was followed by the district leader's speech, which climaxed in a vow that ‘none of the dead of this war’ had made their ‘sacrifice’ in vain. Finally, the Hitler salute and the departure of the flags marked the closure of a commemoration in which different groups of participants took part in a public performance. Through music, ritual and speech, the ceremony spoke to the emotions just as much as to the mind. It acknowledged emotional needs among the audience while seeking to channel and to control them.