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‘Deutschland uberAlles’
German anthem opens old wounds
by Joseph Polakoff
TSI's Washington correspondent
WASHINGTON—The teaching
of school children ages 6 to 10 in
the West German state of Baden-
Wurttemberg of the full text of the
national anthem “Deutschland uber
Alles” written almost a century
and a half ago has evoked deep
concern among those who remem
ber that its first verse was sung by
the Nazis in quest for German
world domination.
Religious groups and the West
German Society for Christian-Jew-"
ish Cooperation have protested to
the Baden-Wurttemberg govern
ment. In an open letter, the society
said that “for people who were per
secuted during the Third Reich, it
is unbearable, in fact degrading, to
hear the first verse of the anthem.”
It said, “Auschwitz has its conse
quences for education, and among
these is the necessity that, ‘Deutsch
land uber alles’ should never be
heard again.”
The full text of the anthem be
gins “Germany, Germany above
all else, above all else in the world;
if it were forever fraternally united
for protection and defiance; from
the Maas to the Memel, from the
Etsch to the Belt; Germany, Ger
many, above all else; above all else
in the world.”
Of the four rivers named, the
Maas is in the Netherlands, the
Memel in the Soviet Union, the
Etsch in Italy and the Belt in Den
mark. Mendes Michael Schmunk,
the West German Embassy’s press
counselor said to this reporter that
the author’s reference to the rivers
was not about boundaries but to
settlements of German-speaking
peoples. “The Federal government
sticks to its decision to sing only
the third verse” that cherishes unity,
justice and freedom,” Schmunk
said.
Joachim Goebel, a correspond
ent in Washington for the Deutsche
Presse Agentur (German Press A-
gency) said, “1 can’t make any
sense of that at all” in commenting
about the Baden-Wurttemberg de
cision. “All this stuff and nonsense
was settled forever. When I went to
school we never heard the first and
second verses. The third verse only
was used.”
The song’s verses were written in
1841 by August Henrich Hoffman,
a penniless poet, to express hope
that Germany’s 31 separate states
/-French, PLO hold meetings—s
would be united, a Reuter dispatch
from Bonn in The Washington
Post reported. The words were
adapted to an 18th century tune by
composer Joseph Haydn. The
Weimar Republic adopted it as an
anthem after World War I. It was
banned by the West German Bun
destag and Chancellor Conrad
Adenauer in 1945 following Hit
ler’s defeat. However, demands for
its revival brought a compromise
that allowed singing of only the
third verse.
A survey by the national daily
Bild found 70 percent of its readers
want “Deutschlandlied” sung in its
entirety in schools, Reuter reported.
It said that the Baden-Wurttemberg
decision to allow children to learn
all three verses breaks the long
standing consensus that the first
verse should be repressed as an
odious reminder of Naziism. Baden-
Wurttemberg is one of West Ger
many’s 11 states.
Local Social Democrats and the
Greens Party have demanded a
reversal of the decision but the rul
ing Christian Democrats have re
fused. “Why should children who
were born long after the war be
burdened with the guilt of their
ancestors,” said spokesman Wolf
gang Kraft of the Christian Demo
crats in language reminiscent of
that heard during the Bitburg epi
sode. “They have a right to be
proud of their country and a right
to national symbols like the flag
and the anthem.
A Greens Party spokesman,
Winifred Hermann, was quoted as
saying, “It is irresponsible to teach
small children words which were
sung daily under the swastika and
which precisely evoke fascist ideol
ogy”
Spokesman Michael Rux of the
teachers union said, “For millions
of people the first verse means
only one thing—Hitler’s aggressive
chauvinism and the inhuman way
he went about to satisfy it.”
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PAGE 3 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE August 29, 1986