#Helmuth James von Moltke

[oscarwetnwilde]

James Wilby as Helmuth James von Moltke and Helen McCrory as Freya von Moltke in Witness Against Hitler. (1996)

In the BBC film Witness Against Hitler, James Wilby brings to life a story of heroism and true love in war torn Germany. The actor, who first sprung to recognition in the tile role of Merchant Ivory's Maurice in 1987, portrays Helmuth James von Moltke, a young German aristocrat and one of the last men to be executed for resisting Adolf Hitler. The fact that this story is a true one and that von Moltke's wife Freya helped bring their plight to an English audience, created an enormous responsibility for Wilby. "Obviously Freya was very worried about how her story would turn out. When you are talking of exceptional human beings, you have got to get it right" he explains. In the film the part Freya is played by Helen McCrory, currently appearing in Le Enfants du Paradis at the Barbican Theatre. The married couple founded the Kreisau Circle, a secret group working to create a democratic constitution to be implemented after the defeat of Hitler. In addition von Moltke, an international lawyer, used his skills to save the lives of Jews, and those under suspicion for crimes against Hitler. Wilby says: "The shame is we could have done two hour episodes of this. It is a massively long story. Freya and Helmuth wrote a letter a day to each other while he was away in Berlin. They read like a diary of life through the war years and it is an extraordinary feeling reading them." -From an archived article on March 7, 1996 about the movie.

[queenlua]

With such overwhelming suffering before him, [pacifist Helmuth James von] Moltke may have, quite understandably, felt that he didn't do enough. But Moltke was indeed acting in his role with the Abwehr—though not, as most Germans at the time would have perceived it, on behalf of Germany. Making allies where he could, he attempted to work against the escalation of the war as well as to mitigate atrocities masquerading as legitimate war tactics [. . .] These efforts involved gathering specific data and communicating with relevant German officials, attempting to convince them of the need to obey international laws, sometimes utilizing arguments of self-interest—such as mutual, respectful treatment of political prisoners—in order to be convincing. He improved local conditions for people where he could through invoking legal principles. After he knew that Jews were being deported, he attempted to get them rerouted to countries that would be a safe haven for them. When possible, he personally helped Jews escape to safe territories. Armed with his extensive information and his connections with the German resistance movement, he communicated especially with his friends in England. He wanted them to be appraised of what was happening. And he wanted them to know that there were Germans, like himself, who wanted to see the Hitler government defeated and wanted a different German society to emerge [. . .]

In his last letter to his wife, on January 11, 1945, Moltke said the following:

The decisive phrase of the trial was: "Herr Graf, one thing Christianity and the National Socialists have in common, and only one: we demand the whole man." I wonder if he realized what he was saying? Just think how wonderfully God prepared this, his unworthy vessel. At the very moment when there was danger I might be drawn into active preparations of a putsch—it was the evening of the 19th that Stauffenberg came to Peter [Yorck]—I was taken away, so that I should be and remain free from all connection with the use of violence.

[lord-here-i-am]

Alfred Delp

gefeiert am 2. Februar

Alfred Delp Priester, Ordensmann, Journalist, Märtyrer * 15. September 1907 in Mannheim in Baden-Württemberg † 2. Februar 1945 in Berlin-Plötzensee

Alfred Delp, wurde am 15.September 1907 im Wöchnerinnenasyl Luisenheim in Mannheim geboren und zwei Tage später dort getauft.

Bei der späteren katholischen Hochzeit der Eltern musste sein evangelischer Vater schriftlich zusagen, dass die aus dieser Ehe hervorgehenden Kinder katholisch getauft und erzogen werden. Dieses Versprechen konnte der Vater nicht einhalten, denn die junge Familie musste aus wirtschaftlichen Gründen bei den evangelischen Eltern des Vaters in Hüttenfeld leben, wo die Großmutter, stolz auf ihre evangelische Familientradition, die evangelische Erziehung des Jungen durchsetzte, was zu Dauerkonflikt in der Familie führte. Er besuchte die evangelische Volksschule und feierte am 28.März 1921 seine Konfirmation. Trotzdem hielt der 14-jährige weiterhin Kontakt zur katholischen Pfarrgemeinde. Nach einem Streit mit dem Pastor trennte sich der Jugendliche von der evangelischen Kirche. Bereits im Juni des gleichen Jahres erhielt er die Erstkommunion und wurde gefirmt. Er wurde durch die katholische Jugendbewegung "Bund Neudeutschland" geprägt und trat gleich nach dem Abitur 1926 in den Jesuitenorden ein, wo seine intellektuelle Begabung und Belesenheit geschätzt, seine protestantischen Neigungen aber kritisiert wurden. Er studierte Theologie und Philosophie und promovierte mit einer Arbeit über Martin Heidegger. Als Erzieher und Lehrer wirkte er dann am Kolleg St.Blasien im Schwarzwald.

Schon früh setzte sich Delp mit dem Nationalsozialismus auseinander. 1937 wurde er zum Priester geweiht, wirkte als Arbeiterseelsorger und als Journalist bei der von Jesuiten herausgegebenen Monatszeitschrift "Stimmen der Zeit", die 1939 verboten wurde, und war dann als Seelsorger in München-Bogenhausen tätig. Seine kritischen Predigten wurden geschätzt; die Unvereinbarkeit von Christentum und Nationalsozialismus war ihm unverkennbar: "Wo Konflikt ist, muss gefochten werden, ohne Kompromiss und Feigheit". Delp setzte sich aktiv für verfolgte Juden ein. 1941 begegnete er in Berlin Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, der ihn für seinen Kreisauer Kreis gewann, wo er als Experte für Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft des von diesem Kreis geplanten deutschen Staates nach dem Ende der Nazi-Diktatur fungierte. Der Kreisauer Kreis stand im Widerstand gegen den Nationalsozialismus, nach Graf von Stauffenbergs Attentat vom 20.Juli 1944 flog der Kreis auf, seine Mitglieder wurden verhaftet; Delp wurde am 28.Juli festgenommen und nach Berlin in die Strafanstalt Tegel gebracht. Dort wurde er schwer misshandelt und gefoltert. "Der Herrgott holt uns von allen Postamenten herunter" kritzelte er gequält und verzweifelt mit gebundenen Händen auf einen Zettel. Während der Haftzeit machte ihm die Gestapo das Angebot der "Freilassung gegen Ordensaustritt", was aber von Delp ausgeschlagen wurde.

Delp legte am 8.Dezember 1944 in der Haftanstalt Berlin-Tegel seine letzten, feierlichen Gelübde ab.

Im Januar 1945 begann vor dem Volksgerichtshof unter Roland Freisler der Prozess wegen Hochverrats. Er wurde am 11. Januar 1945 zu Tode verurteilt und schrieb: "Nicht traurig sein. Betet für mich, ich helfe euch auch ..... Jetzt muss ich mich ganz loslassen .... Was auch immer kommen mag, es sei gegeben für Euch und dieses Volk als Samen und Opfer."

Am 2. Februar 1945 wurde er im Gefängnis in Berlin-Plötzensee erhängt. Seine Asche wurde auf Feldern verstreut, die Veröffentlichung einer Todesanzeige verboten.

[vonstauffenberg]

Do you have any information on what Stauffenberg's problem with Helmuth James von Moltke was? Not sure if this is a myth, but I remember reading that CvS left a meeting with him abruptly and later complained about him.

The years-overdue answer to this question is that I need to do more reading to answer this question. If any of the readership chimes in with a reply in the meantime, I'll publish their answer forthwith.

[deutscheliteratur]

Seitdem der Nationalsozialismus zur Macht gekommen ist, habe ich mich bemüht, seine Folgen für seine Opfer zu mildern und einer Wandlung den Weg zu bereiten. Dazu hat mich mein Gewissen getrieben, und schließlich ist das eine Aufgabe für einen Mann.

Abschiedsbriefe aus Tegel 1944-1945 (2011) Helmuth James von Moltkes Brief vom 17.10.1944 an seine Söhne, S.78.

[artbydip]

I first painted Sophie three years ago. She’s my most popular painting. She died young trying to protect people that needed to be protected. This painting is a two stencil piece on glass. Read below for more information on Sophie. Sophia Magdalena Scholl (9 May 1921 – 22 February 1943) was a German student and anti-Nazi political activist, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. She was convicted of high treason after having been found distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich (LMU) with her brother, Hans. As a result, she was executed by guillotine. Since the 1970s, Scholl has been extensively commemorated for her anti-Nazi resistance work. Scholl was brought up in the Lutheran church. She entered junior or grade school at the age of seven, learned easily, and had a carefree childhood. In 1930, the family moved to Ludwigsburg and then two years later to Ulmwhere her father had a business consulting office. In 1932, Scholl started attending a secondary school for girls. At the age of twelve, she chose to join the Bund Deutscher Mädel (League of German Girls), as did most of her classmates. Her initial enthusiasm gradually gave way to criticism. She was aware of the dissenting political views of her father, friends, and some teachers. Even her own brother Hans, who once eagerly participated in the Hitler Youth program, became entirely disillusioned with the Nazi Party.Political attitude had become an essential criterion in her choice of friends. The arrest of her brothers and friends in 1937 for participating in the German Youth Movement left a strong impression on her. She had a talent for drawing and painting and for the first time, came into contact with a few so-called “degenerate” artists. An avid reader, she developed a growing interest in philosophy and theology. In spring 1940, she graduated from secondary school, where the subject of her essay was “The Hand that Moved the Cradle, Moved the World.” Scholl nearly did not graduate, having lost any desire to participate in the classes which had largely become Nazi indoctrination. Being fond of children, she became a kindergarten teacher at the Fröbel Institute in Ulm. She had also chosen this job hoping that it would be recognized as an alternative service to Reichsarbeitsdienst (National Labor Service), a prerequisite to be admitted to the university. This was not the case, though, and in spring 1941 she began a six-month stint in the auxiliary war service as a nursery teacher in Blumberg. The military-like regimen of the Labor Service caused her to think very hard about the political situation and to begin practicing passive resistance. After her six months in the National Labor Service, in May 1942, she enrolled at the University of Munich as a student of biology and philosophy. Her brother Hans, who was studying medicine there, introduced her to his friends. Although this group of friends eventually was known for their political views, they initially were drawn together by a shared love of art, music, literature, philosophy, and theology. Hiking in the mountains, skiing and swimming were also of importance to them. They often attended concerts, plays, and lectures together. In Munich, Scholl met a number of artists, writers, and philosophers, particularly Carl Muth and Theodor Haecker, who were important contacts for her. The question they pondered the most was how the individual must act under a dictatorship. During the summer vacation in 1942, Scholl had to do war service in a metallurgical plant in Ulm. At the same time, her father was serving time in prison for having made a critical remark to an employee about Hitler. Between 1940 and 1941, Scholl’s brother, Hans Scholl, a former member of the Hitler Youth, began questioning the principles and policies of the Nazi regime. As a student at the University of Munich, Hans Scholl met two Roman Catholic men of letters who redirected his life, inspiring him to turn from studying medicine and pursue religion, philosophy, and the arts. Gathering around him like-minded friends, Alexander Schmorell, Wil Graff, and Jurgen Wittenstein, they eventually adopted a strategy of passive resistance towards the Nazis by writing and publishing leaflets that called for democracy and social justice, calling themselves the White Rose. In the summer of 1942, four leaflets were written and distributed throughout the school and central Germany. Based upon letters between Scholl and her boyfriend, Fritz Hartnagel (reported and analyzed by Gunter Biemer and Jakob Knab in the journal Newman Studien), she had given two volumes of Cardinal John Henry Newman’s sermons to Hartnagel when he was deployed to the eastern front in May 1942. This discovery by Jakob Knab shows the importance of religion in Scholl’s life and was highlighted in an article in the Catholic Herald in the UK. Scholl learned of the White Rose pamphlet when she found one at her university. Realizing her brother helped write the pamphlet, Scholl herself began to work on the White Rose. The group of authors had been horrified by Hartnagel’s reports of German war crimes on the Eastern Front where Hartnagel witnessed Soviet POWs being shot in a mass grave and learned of the mass killings of Jews. Her correspondence with Hartnagel deeply discussed the “theology of conscience” developed in Newman’s writings. This is seen as her primary defense in her transcribed interrogations leading to her “trial” and execution. Those transcripts became the basis for a 2005 film treatment, Sophie Scholl – The Final Days. With six core members, three more White Rose pamphlets were created and circulated over the summer of 1942. he core members initially included Hans Scholl (Sophie’s brother), Willi Graf, Christoph Probst and Alexander Schmorell (Schmorell was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2012). Initially her brother had been keen to keep her unaware of their activities, but once she discovered them she joined him and proved valuable to the group because, as a woman, her chances of being randomly stopped by the SS were much smaller. Calling themselves the White Rose, they instructed Germans to passively resist the Nazi government. The pamphlet used both Biblical and philosophical support for an intellectual argument of resistance. In addition to authorship and protection, Scholl helped copy, distribute and mail pamphlets while also managing the group’s finances. She and the rest of the White Rose were arrested for distributing the sixth leaflet at the University of Munich on 18 February 1943. In the People’s Court before Judge Roland Freisler on 21 February 1943, Scholl was recorded as saying these words: Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don’t dare express themselves as we did. No testimony was allowed for the defendants; this was their only defense. On 22 February 1943, Scholl, her brother, Hans, and their friend, Christoph Probst, were found guilty of treason and condemned to death. They were all beheaded by a guillotine by executioner Johann Reichhart in Munich’s Stadelheim Prison only a few hours later, at 17:00 hrs. The execution was supervised by Walter Roemer, the enforcement chief of the Munich district court. Prison officials, in later describing the scene, emphasized the courage with which she walked to her execution. Her last words were: “How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” Fritz Hartnagel was evacuated from Stalingrad in January 1943, but did not return to Germany before Sophie was executed. In October 1945, he married Sophie’s sister Elisabeth. Following her death, a copy of the sixth leaflet was smuggled out of Germany through Scandinavia to the UK by German jurist Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, where it was used by the Allied Forces. In mid-1943, they dropped over Germany millions of propaganda copies of the tract, now retitled The Manifesto of the Students of Munich. In a historical context, the White Rose’s legacy has significance for many commentators, both as a demonstration of exemplary spiritual courage, and as a well-documented case of social dissent in a society of violent repression, censorship, and conformist pressure. Playwright Lillian Garrett-Groag stated in Newsday on 22 February 1993, that “It is possibly the most spectacular moment of resistance that I can think of in the twentieth century … The fact that five little kids, in the mouth of the wolf, where it really counted, had the tremendous courage to do what they did, is spectacular to me. I know that the world is better for them having been there, but I do not know why.” In the same issue of Newsday, Holocaust historian Jud Newborn noted that “You cannot really measure the effect of this kind of resistance in whether or not X number of bridges were blown up or a regime fell … The White Rose really has a more symbolic value, but that’s a very important value.” Else Gebel shared Sophie Scholl’s cell and recorded her last words before being taken away to be executed. “It is such a splendid sunny day, and I have to go. But how many have to die on the battlefield in these days, how many young, promising lives. What does my death matter if by our acts thousands are warned and alerted. Among the student body there will certainly be a revolt.”

[canonizedandotherwise]

Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, father and martyr

[germanpostwarmodern]

Helmuth James von Moltke Schule (1962-65) in Berlin, Germany, by Hans Bandel

[balletbookworm]

I started reading Last Letters: The Prison Correspondence of Helmuth James and Freya von Moltke, 1944-45. This quote is from the very first letter Freya wrote Helmuth after he was transferred to Tegel in Berlin to await his trial for treason. Their letters were smuggled into and out of Tegel almost daily by their friend and prison chaplain, Harald Poelchau. “I’ll grow old and I’ll change, but you will always remain inside me until I may die and find you again, one way or another.” - September 29, 1944 The first English edition of the von Moltkes’ letters is out 9/17 from @nyrbooks #amreading #books https://www.instagram.com/p/B19rurGgG7I/?igshid=pw9y3wy1c1af

[oscarwetnwilde]

James Wilby Kiss Scenes: Witness Against Hitler (1996)

[unnuetzesstuttgartwissen]

VON FELDMARSCHALL & PROSTITUIERTEN

Wo sich heute der Moltkeplatz im Stuttgarter Westen befindet, stand noch bis 1966 eine burgartige Infanteriekaserne. Diese wurde 1886 erbaut und nach dem preußischen Generalfeldmarschall Helmuth Graf von Moltke benannt. Zunächst waren in der Kaserne die Soldaten der württembergischen Armee untergebracht und nach dem Ende der Monarchie zog dort die Polizei ein. Ab 1937 bis zum Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs waren in dem Gebäude die Soldaten der Wehrmacht stationiert. Im Krieg wurde die Kaserne kaum beschädigt und so nutzte man sie als Lagerraum, richtete Werkstätten ein und siedelte dort die städtische Hautklinik an. In dieser mussten sich fortan alle Prostituierten auf ihren Gesundheitszustand untersuchen lassen. Da sich diese dann direkt vor Ort ihre Freier suchten, galt die Gegend rund um die ehemalige Kaserne lange als Problemviertel. In den 1960er-Jahren zeigten dann die US-Armee und die Bundeswehr Interesse an dem Bauwerk. Die Stadt Stuttgart ließ die alte Kaserne jedoch im selben Jahrzehnt abreißen. Den dadurch frei werdenden Platz wollte man jedoch nicht nach dem Kriegshelden Moltke benennen. Stattdessen entschied man sich einen anderen Moltke zu ehren. Der Platz wurde daher nach dem Großneffen des Feldmarschalls, Helmuth James Graf von Molke, benannt – einem Widerstandskämpfer im Zweiten Weltkrieg.

GO WESCHT! Die Entdeckungstour durch den „wilden“ Westen von UNNÜTZES STUTTGARTWISSEN!

Mehr Infos und Termine findest Du unter www.stuttgart-entdeckungstouren.de

[charlessizemore]

Play Music, Get Rich

As a kid, I used to tease my dad on road trips for tuning in to the classic rock station. It just seemed so stereotypically old-man-ish.

Yet as I approach my 40th birthday, and the inevitable midlife crisis that comes with it, I found myself dusting off my old Metallica And Justice for All CD for the first time in nearly 20 years – and testing the limits of my car stereo.

Hey, it could be worse. At least I didn’t blow my retirement savings on a Ferrari or run away with the secretary.

While I reminisced about my youth, our editorial director, David Dittman, mentioned that he and Metallica frontman James Hetfield both graduated from Brea-Olinda High School in the Los Angeles suburbs.

It seems that, as a young man, Mr. Hetfield already had his life mapped out. In the school’s 1981 yearbook, he listed his future plans as “Play music, get rich.”

Two years later, Metallica released its first album.

Today, with 10 studio albums, nine Grammys, and close to 2,000 (and counting) worldwide shows behind them, the American heavy metal band’s legacy is unquestioned. And Hetfield is worth an estimated $300 million, making him one of the world’s wealthiest living entertainers.

Play music, get rich.

I can’t say this is a viable career plan for those of us less talented than Mr. Hetfield. But give the man credit.

He had specific goals, and he stuck to them. He played music, and he certainly got rich.

I don’t usually look to rock stars for financial advice, but it’s worth asking: Are there any lessons we can learn from Hetfield’s success?

I can think of a few.

To start, surround yourself with smart and motivated people that you trust, and make sure that their interests are aligned with your own.

By coincidence, I met a fellow dad at my son’s school that was one of Metallica’s marketing managers in the 1990s. He told me that the band’s drummer, Lars Ulrich, would regularly show up at meetings with lists of well-prepared questions, and that he’d grill the executives over specific numbers.

Lars knew his stuff… and he was even known to whip out spreadsheets.

Longtime Metallica fans recognize Lars as the brains behind the operation… and without him, it’s likely that Hetfield would have spent his life laboring in obscurity. In fact, the band formed in 1981 when Hetfield, who had been in a few bands as a teenager, responded to a classified ad that Lars took out in the local newspaper.

Lars wasn’t working for charity, of course. He was looking to fatten his own bank account, but in doing so he helped Hetfield and the rest of the band.

So, lesson number one: Whether we’re talking about your career, or even your investment portfolio, surround yourself with smart people who are properly incentivized to help you. They win when you win.

And, number two, stick to what you’re good at… but don’t be afraid to adapt.

Most Metallica fans list Master of Puppets as their all-time favorite album and the title track as their favorite song in the entire catalogue. But the band didn’t stop there. They continued to adapt.

Two albums later they launched Metallica (the “Black Album”) and jumped from a modestly popular band with a mostly cult following to a household name and one of the most commercially successful bands in history.

They stuck with their core strengths as a metal band, but they adapted.

And, to the point about surrounding yourself with talented people that you trust, they also hired producer Bob Rock to help them refine and polish the album and really push it to reach its full potential.

In business and investing, it makes sense to stick to what you’re good at, but you should also adapt and evolve.

If you’re a talented technician or chartist, then you probably shouldn’t try to reinvent yourself as a Warren-Buffett-style value investor. But you should always look for ways to make your models better. Don’t rest on your laurels.

Finally, keep it simple and don’t over-plan.

Hetfield’s stated objective in life was to play music and get rich. Most of the rest of us probably need plans that are a little more concrete than that, but I’m a big believer in having broad, general goals while leaving yourself the flexibility to react quickly as conditions change.

German military strategist Helmuth von Moltke said, “No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.” As boxing legend Mike Tyson put it, a little less eloquently, “Everyone has a plan ‘til they get punched in the mouth.”

Looking at a less violent example, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos always imagined that his company would be much more than an online bookstore. He’s said that he always believed it would grow into the biggest retailer in the world.

But when he founded the company in the mid-1990s, he couldn’t have predicted that he’d eventually utilize aerial drones or that he’d copy Uber’s business model of using part-time amateur drivers with Amazon Flex. Drones and Uber hadn’t been invented yet. These were tactical moves Bezos made along the way.

In your business life and in your financial planning, you should absolutely set goals. But give yourself a little leeway in how you reach those goals; break them down into long-term “big-picture” goals and very specific and achievable short-term goals.

It’s how Hetfield and Metallica built their empire – one song at a time.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a midlife crisis to get back to. I’m going to jump back in my car and scream the words to Harvester of Sorrow for the next half hour.

Charles Sizemore Portfolio Manager, Boom & Bust Investor

Catch much more from Charles Sizemore and the rest of the Dent Research team right here at Economy and Markets!

[nunc2020]

1907 naissance de Grand-mère

Hagenbecks Tierpark bei Hamburg wird als erster Freigehege-Zoo der Welt von Kaiser Wilhelm II. eröffnet. In Russland wird der legendäre Wunderheiler Rasputin an den Hof des Zaren gerufen, um den Thronfolger zu heilen. In Berlin eröffnen das Hotel Adlon und das Luxus-Warenhaus Kaufhaus des Westens. Maria Montessori eröffnet ihre erste Schule. Ernesto Teodoro Moneta und Louis Renaulterhalten den Friedensnobelpreis.

22.01.Douglas Corrigan 23.01.Yukawa Hideki 01.03.Béla Barényi 23.03.Daniel Bovet 18.04.Miklós Rózsa 29.04.Fred Zinnemann 22.05.Hergé 27.05.Rachel Carson 07.06.Mascha Kaléko 19.06.Georges de Mestral 25.06.J. Hans D. Jensen 28.07.Earl Silas Tupper 10.11.Hedwig Bollhagen 14.11.William Steig 10.12.Lucien Laurent 15.12.Oscar Niemeyer

01.01.

Leonid Iljitsch Breschnew

†

Leonid Iljitsch Breschnew war ein sowjetischer Politiker und langjähriger Generalsekretär des Zentralkomitees der KPdSU (1964–1983). Er wurde am 1. Januar 1907 in Kamenskoje (heute Dniprodserschynsk) im Russischen Kaiserreich (heute Ukraine) geboren und starb am 10. November 1982 im Alter von 75 Jahren in Moskau.

12.01.

Sergei Koroljow

†

Sergei Koroljow (Sergei Pawlowitsch Koroljow) war ein russischer Raketenkonstrukteur und der wohl bedeutendste Pionier der sowjetischen Raumfahrt, unter dessen Leitung das „Sojus“-Raumschiff entwickelt wurde, das den Satelliten „Sputnik“ ins All brachte und den ersten Weltraumflug von Juri Gagarin ermöglichte. Er wurde am 12. Januar 1907 in Shitomir im Russischen Kaiserreich (heute Ukraine) geboren und starb am 14. Januar 1966 im Alter von 59 Jahren in Moskau.

20.01.

Manfred von Ardenne

†

Manfred von Ardenne (Manfred Baron von Ardenne) war ein deutscher Physiker und Erfinder, der u. a. die erste vollelektronische Fernsehübertragung durchführte (1930) und über 600 Patente u. a. zur Elektronenmikroskopie, Nuklear- und Rundfunktechnik hielt. Er wurde am 20. Januar 1907 in Hamburg geboren und starb am 26. Mai 1997 im Alter von 90 Jahren in Dresden.

11.03.

Helmuth James Graf von Moltke

†

Helmuth James Graf von Moltke war ein deutscher Jurist und Widerstandskämpfer gegen den Nationalsozialismus, der die bürgerliche Widerstandsgruppe „Kreisauer Kreis“ (1940–1944) begründete. Er wurde am 11. März 1907 in Kreisau (heute Krzyżowa) in Deutschland (heute Polen) geboren und starb am 23. Januar 1945 im Alter von 37 Jahren in Berlin-Plötzensee.

15.03.

Zarah Leander

†

Zarah Leander war eine schwedische Schauspielerin und Sängerin, die mit Leinwanderfolgen wie „Zu neuen Ufern“ (1937) und „Es war eine rauschende Ballnacht“ (1939) zu den großen Ufa-Filmstars im nationalsozialistischen Deutschland zählte und populäre Schlager wie „Nur nicht aus Liebe weinen“ sang. Sie wurde am 15. März 1907 in Karlstad in Schweden geboren und starb am 23. Juni 1981 im Alter von 74 Jahren in Stockholm.

12.05.

Katharine Hepburn

†

Katharine Hepburn (Katharine Houghton Hepburn) war eine US-amerikanische Schauspielerin (u. a. „Morgenrot des Ruhms“ 1933, „Leoparden küßt man nicht“ 1938, „African Queen“ 1951, „Der Löwe im Winter“ 1968, „Am goldenen See“ 1981), die mit vier Auszeichnungen die meisten Oscars als beste Hauptdarstellerin (1934, 1968, 1969, 1982) erhielt. Sie wurde am 12. Mai 1907 in Hartford, Connecticut in den Vereinigten Staaten geboren und starb am 29. Juni 2003 im Alter von 96 Jahren in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.

Top auf geboren.am

AFI Filmlegende (1)

Oscar Beste Hauptdarstellerin (1934, 1968, 1969, 1982)

13.05.

Daphne du Maurier

†

Dame Daphne du Maurier war eine englische Schriftstellerin (u. a. „Rebecca“ 1938, „Die Vögel“ 1952), von der viele Werke u. a. von Alfred Hitchcock verfilmt wurden. Sie wurde am 13. Mai 1907 in London geboren und starb am 19. April 1989 im Alter von 81 Jahren in Par, Cornwall.

22.05.

Laurence Olivier

†

Sir Laurence Olivier (Laurence Kerr Olivier) war einer der bedeutendsten britischen Schauspieler des 20. Jahrhunderts, Regisseur und Produzent, der zwei Oscar für „Hamlet“ (1948) als Hauptdarsteller und Produzent sowie zwei Ehrenoscars erhielt und weitere große Rollen etwa in „Richard III.“ (1955) und „Mord mit kleinen Fehlern“ (1972) spielte. Er wurde am 22. Mai 1907 in Dorking, Surrey in England geboren und starb am 11. Juli 1989 im Alter von 82 Jahren in Steyning, West Sussex.

AFI Filmlegende (14)

Oscar Beste Hauptdarsteller (1949)

Ehrenoscar (1947, 1979)

26.05.

John Wayne

†

John Wayne (Marion Mitchell Morrison) war ein berühmter US-amerikanischer Filmschauspieler, Filmproduzent und Regisseur, der mit Hollywoodstreifen wie „Rio Bravo“ (1959), „The Alamo“ (1960) und „El Dorado“ (1967) zum Westernheld seiner Generation wurde und für seine Hauptrolle in „Der Marshal“ (1969) mit einem Oscar ausgezeichnet wurde. Er wurde am 26. Mai 1907 in Winterset, Iowa in den Vereinigten Staaten geboren und starb am 11. Juni 1979 im Alter von 72 Jahren in Los Angeles, Kalifornien.

30.05.

Elly Beinhorn

†

Elly Beinhorn (Elly Maria Frida Rosemeyer-Beinhorn) war eine deutsche Fliegerin, Flugpionierin und Abenteurerin, die mit mehreren spektakulären Flügen wie einem Alleinflug nach Afrika 1931 und einer alleinigen Weltumrundung 1932 zu einem gefeierten Star ihrer Zeit wurde. Sie wurde am 30. Mai 1907 in Hannover geboren und starb am 28. November 2007 im Alter von 100 Jahren in Ottobrun.

06.07.

Frida Kahlo

†

Frida Kahlo (Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo de Rivera) war eine bedeutende mexikanische Malerin des Surrealismus und Poetin, die überwiegend Selbstportraits malte, sich in diesen mit Schmerz, Leid und Tod auseinandersetzte und zu einer Kultfigur der Popkultur wurde. Sie wurde am 6. Juli 1907 in Mexiko-Stadt in Mexiko geboren und starb am 13. Juli 1954 im Alter von 47 Jahren ebenda.

16.07.

Barbara Stanwyck

†

Barbara Stanwyck (Ruby Catherine Stevens) war eine der bestbezahltesten und populärsten US-amerikanischen Schauspielerinnen ihrer Zeit (u. a. „Ladies of Leisure“ 1930) und Oscar-Preisträgerin. Sie wurde am 16. Juli 1907 in Brooklyn, New York City geboren und starb am 20. Januar 1990 im Alter von 82 Jahren in Santa Monica, Kalifornien.

14.11.

Astrid Lindgren

†

Astrid Lindgren (Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren) war eine schwedische Schriftstellerin und eine der bekanntesten Kinderbuchautorinnen, die die Geschichten rund um beliebte Kinderhelden wie „Pippi Langstrumpf“, „Michel aus Lönneberga“, „Ronja Räubertochter“ und „Kalle Blomquist“ schrieb. Sie wurde am 14. November 1907 in Vimmerby in Schweden geboren und starb am 28. Januar 2002 im Alter von 94 Jahren in Stockholm.

15.11.

Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg

†

Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg) war ein deutscher Offizier und Widerstandskämpfer gegen den Nationalsozialismus, der als Kopf der „Operation Walküre“ mit dem von ihm ausgeführten Attentat vom 20. Juli 1944 auf Adolf Hitler scheiterte. Er wurde am 15. November 1907 in Jettingen geboren und starb am 21. Juli1944 im Alter von 36 Jahren in Berlin.

28.12.

Erich Mielke

†

Erich Mielke (Erich Fritz Emil Mielke) war ein deutscher Politiker der SED, der mehrere Jahrzehnte als Minister für Staatssicherheit (1957–1989) der führende Kopf hinter dem Überwachungssystem der DDR war. Er wurde am 28. Dezember 1907 in Berlingeboren und starb am 21. Mai 2000 im Alter von 92 Jahren ebenda.

[balletbookworm]

Last Letters: The Prison Correspondence, 1944–1945 by Freya and Helmuth James von Moltke, edited by Helmuth Caspar, Johannes, and Dorothea von Moltke, translated by Shelley Frisch

Last Letters: The Prison Correspondence, 1944–1945 by Freya and Helmuth James von Moltke, edited by Helmuth Caspar, Johannes, and Dorothea von Moltke, translated by Shelley Frisch

Summary from Goodreads: An NYRB Classics Original

Tegel prison, Berlin, in the fall of 1944. Helmuth James von Moltke is awaiting trial for his leading role in the Kreisau Circle, one of the most important German resistance groups against the Nazis. By a near miracle, the prison chaplain at Tegel is Harald Poelchau, a friend and co-conspirator of Helmuth and his wife, Freya. From Helmuth’s arrival…

[oscarwetnwilde]

James Wilby’s 1990’s roles, part two. The Woman In White: Sir Percival Glyde (1997) La partie d'échecs: Lord Staunton (1994) Original Sin: Gerard Etienne (1997) An Ideal Husband: Sir Robert Chiltern (1998) The Treasure Seekers: Henry Carlisle (1996) The Siege of Venice: Milord Runbiff (1991) Witness Against Hitler: Helmuth James von Moltke (1996) Regeneration: Siegfried Sassoon (1997) The Dark Room: Dr. Alan Protheroe (1999)

[itsfinancethings]

October 30, 2019 at 07:00AM

With the 2020 presidential election approaching, America is bracing to choose its next leader in a time of incredible change and upheaval. How can we recognize the kind of person we’ll need to lead us through these turbulent times? What are the qualities that a truly great American president needs? What can this person, regardless of political affiliation, learn from leaders of the past?

Energy

Many of the greatest leaders in history have been workaholics—Churchill is perhaps the most famous, though Margaret Thatcher, Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, and Marshal Ivan Konev are other examples. Churchill melded his life entirely around his job during the Second World War, taking only eight days’ proper holiday in the whole six years of conflict, six of those spent fishing in Canada and two swimming in Florida, but even on the latter trip he was attended by his red ministerial boxes and he read all the newspapers. Similarly, he was able to work almost throughout his two major bouts of pneumonia during the war. Energy is an almost demonic attribute, hard to characterize, and takes many forms. Churchill was undoubtedly energetic, and yet he often did not get out of bed until noon—and that was for a hot bath—although he had been hard working on his papers since before breakfast. “Concentration was one of the keys to his character,” recalled James Stuart, Winston Churchill’s chief whip. “It was not always obvious, but he never really thought of anything else but the job in hand.”

  Ability to plan—and Adapt

A leader’s ability to plan meticulously is important, despite Moltke’s dictum that few plans last beyond the initial contact with the enemy. “Plans are worthless,” agreed Eisenhower. “Planning is everything.” It is often forgotten that one of the most successful war plans in modern history—Hitler’s blitzkrieg against the West that succeeded in knocking out France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Holland in six weeks in May and June 1940—was not the original one. When the first set of plans fell into Allied hands by accident only days before the assault was due to be launched, Erich von Manstein drew up a new one. It was this plan B that featured the famous sickle-cut maneuver, in which concentrated armor cut the Allies off from their supply bases, the Maginot Line was skirted, the mountainous Ardennes forest—hitherto thought impassable—was used as a conduit, and the Germans broke through at Sedan in six days and reached the Channel coast at Abbeville in only ten. Few plan Bs in history have been so successful.

  A Great Memory

For planning in particular and for leadership in general a good memory is useful, or failing that an excellent filing system. Churchill had a photographic memory, and not just for music-hall songs and Shakespeare. He would spend up to thirty hours memorizing his speeches and constantly practice them to make them word perfect, and would even make up ones he was not about to give but might be called upon to deliver sometime in the future. On occasion he would regale his entourage with speeches he would have given if he had been in the House of Commons at different periods of history. For a superb filing system one could hardly do better than Napoleon, who also had an excellent memory and who used his chief of staff, Marshal Berthier, to ensure that even in a carriage rattling along at full pace they were able to place geographically every unit in his army and send and receive messages as aides-de-camps rode up to the windows, grasp orders thrust through the windows, and rode off again to deliver them.

  Luck

Although impossible to quantify or predict, leaders need to be lucky as well as brilliant. Before he appointed anyone to the marshalate, Napoleon also wanted to know whether his generals were lucky, and luck undoubtedly does play a large part in war leadership. The role of chance and contingency in history is worthy of an entire book in itself and undermines the Whig, Marxist, and Determinist theories of history in which mankind’s progress through time are set on any definable tramlines.

  Understanding public sentiment

A great leader has to appreciate the political and economic terrain over which he is to campaign. Franklin Roosevelt might have wanted to bring the United States into World War Two earlier than he eventually did—such was the isolationist sentiment at the time—but in the 1940 election he still had to make his promise in Boston to American parents that ‘your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars,’ in order to retain the White House and face the storm that was to come.[3] A leader has to be a realist, albeit one who appreciates the precise moment when it is possible to change public sentiment. In the event of course there was nothing foreign about the war that the Japanese unleashed on America in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. FDR had kept to the letter of his campaign promise.

In this area, Abraham Lincoln was also a supreme war leader, easily the equal of any of the nine in this book. His almost preternatural sense of what the Union would be able to accept politically, and when it would accept it, of what he could ask for and what he simply could not at any particular time, and his willingness to ride political storms, do necessary deals, sack underperforming or disloyal generals, and employ oratory of the Periclean quality of the Gettysburg Address and the two inaugural speeches, makes him second to none as a war leader in the American pantheon.

  “Well-timed Unreasonableness”

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world,” wrote George Bernard Shaw in Man and Superman, “the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” A talent for well-timed unreasonableness is another attribute of the great leader. Queen Elizabeth I refused to name her successor despite continuous prompting from her Privy Council, thus protecting her country from the danger of civil war. She also refused to ratify the Treaty of Edinburgh early in her reign, despite the pleadings of her closest counsellor Lord Burghley, until the threat posed by the dukes of Guise had finally diminished. Elizabeth I had many of the attributes of a great war leader, in her oratory, in her determination and as a fine picker of men.

  Steady Nerves

Having steady nerves in a crisis cannot be underestimated, but can be learned. Basil Liddell Hart wrote in his 1944 book Thoughts on War that “the two qualities of mental initiative and a strong personality, or determination, go a long way towards the power of command in war—they are, indeed, the hallmark of the Great Captains.” Although Stalin had something approaching a mental breakdown when he heard about Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941, retiring to his dacha for days as the Red Army and Air Force were pounded on every front, by mid-October, when the Germans were at the gates of Moscow, his nerves had steadied enough for him to stay and fight it out. Charles de Gaulle’s behavior on August 25, 1944, when he attended the service of liberation in Notre-Dame while bullets were being fired within the cathedral itself, also showed rock-steady nerves. Margaret Thatcher during the Falklands crisis and after the IRA assassination attempt on her in October 1984, and Churchill throughout World War Two should similarly complete self-control in crisis moment, just as Napoleon had when his army retreated during the early stages of the Battle of Marengo. Such calm under pressure is the very quintessence of leadership.

  Inspiring Persistence

In October 1944 Patton defined leadership as a capacity for “telling somebody who thinks he is beaten that he is not beaten.” As wars are won by the victor of the last battle, the capacity for inspiring the losers of the penultimate battle is key. Here, the sheer doggedness of George Washington stands out supreme, alongside that of Churchill in 1940. Aside from the evacuation from Brooklyn across the East River in August 1776—where a weird combination of low mist and adverse wind direction somehow prevented the Royal Navy from scooping up a force that was down to only nine thousand—Washington enjoyed few successes in 1775 and 1776. As Churchill said of Dunkirk, “Wars are not won by evacuations,” but, also like Dunkirk, the sheer fact of survival and escape was in itself a victory for the American revolutionaries. Simply surviving the hardships of Valley Forge through the winter kept the cause alive and could not have been achieved without George Washington’s shining leadership by personal example. What Liddell Hart was to call “mental initiative and strong personality, or determination” was personified by Washington in that freezing winter of 1776–77, and in all the other leaders in this book. Except through heredity, one does not become a leader in the first place unless one has a strong personality.

  Empathy

Understanding the psychology of others is an important part of leadership. Today it seems to be assumed that in order to lead one’s people one needs to have sprung from them, but that is not the case. Many of those who have exuded leadership ability hail from the leisured or moneyed class of their countries—Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Churchill, both Roosevelts, and John F. Kennedy among a long list of them—yet they all had a strong sense of what motivated soldiers and citizens who hailed from backgrounds far further down the social scale. A capacity to empathize is far more important than one’s class background. Churchill was born in a palace the grandson of a duke, went to one of the top schools in the country, and never took a bus in his life, but he could speak directly to the needs of what he called the cottage home. When commanding in the trenches of the Great War, he put his earlier campaigning experience to good use in always trying to ensure the men had their creature comforts, such as beer, fresh bread, and a good postal service to connect them with their families.

  Political awareness

Leaders must have a sixth sense for politics, such as in the importance of having a feel for the coup d’œil, a sense of timing, an aptitude for observation, the gift of working out what is genuinely important as opposed to merely diversionary, a faculty for predicting an opponent’s likely behavior in differing scenarios. Of course opportunism can never be underestimated. “A statesman must,” in Otto von Bismarck’s phrase, “wait and listen until he hears the steps of God sounding through events; then leap up and grasp the hem of His garment.”

  Sometimes, of course, having all these qualities is still not enough. Napoleon had a staggering number of impressive leadership qualities. He was able to compartmentalize his mind, plan meticulously with a well-trained staff under Marshal Alexandre Berthier, appreciate terrain and guess what was on the other side of the hill, time his attacks perfectly, exhibit steady nerves to his entourage, encourage esprit de corps, publish inspirational proclamations, control the news cycle, adapt to modern tactical concepts, ask the right questions, and show utter ruthlessness when necessary. His charisma was not artificially created, and until the end he enjoyed remarkable runs of good luck. Above all, perhaps, he was single-minded in spotting the moment when he could exploit a numerical advantage at the decisive point on the battlefield. Napoleon had all of these important leadership traits, but he still made the terrible error at Maloyaroslavets on October 25, 1812, of choosing the wrong direction by which to take his army out of Russia. However generous the sprites and fairies are when they gather around the great leader’s cradle with their gifts, there always seems to be a malicious one present to snatch back one gift from the cornucopia.

If you want to know what will move hearts and command multitudes today and in the future, there is only one thing to do: Study the past. In May 1953 Churchill said, “Study history. Study history. In history lie all the secrets of statecraft,” and the same is true of statecraft’s vital subsection, war leadership. If there is one quality that all the great war leaders possessed, it is that which Lord St. Vincent ascribed to Horatio Nelson. St. Vincent did not much like his fellow admiral personally, but he readily admitted that Nelson “possessed the magic art of infusing his own spirit into others.” Great leaders are able to make soldiers and civilians believe that they are part of a purpose that matters more than even their continued existence on the planet, and that the leader’s spirit is infused into them. Whether it is a ‘magic art’ or ‘sinister genius’ can be decided by moralists, but in it lies the secret of successful leadership.

Adapted from LEADERSHIP IN WAR by Andrew Roberts, published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2019 by Andrew Roberts.