Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Night of the Long Knives

I recently finished reading the book "In the Garden of the Beast" by Erik Larson. The book is a non-fiction book about the events that took place in Germany before World War II through the US Ambassador's eyes. It was fascinating, horrifying and sad. What is remarkable about these events is that Hitler's rise to power occurred both quickly and slowly at the same time. Germany was like a lobster in a pot as the water heats to a boil. One particular place the author refers to is a little garden in Berlin called the Tiergarten park which possessed an eery stillness and was like a sanctuary from the impending doom. What gave Hitler absolute power was an event referred to as The Night of the Long Knives. On this night a series of political murders occurred numbering well into the hundreds, perhaps more. No one really knows how many people were killed....anyone who disagreed with Hitler was dead. If this were made into a movie, the perfect soundtrack would be the second movement of Mahler's Das Lied von Der Erde. The music possesses such a depth of emotion; loneliness, sorrow, and weariness. It is as if we are transported into the past just before the horrifying event takes place. And among the stillness of the Tiergarten we hear the voice of God pleading with Germany to stop and warning them of what is about to occur....but it is a warning that is futile...and it is full of deep sorrow because the Voice already knows what has and will happen.

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