Letters and Papers From Prison (50 page)

Night and silence.
I listen.
Only the steps and cries of the guards,
The distant, hidden laughter of two lovers.
Do you hear nothing else, lazy sleeper?

I hear my own soul tremble and heave.
Nothing else?

I hear, I hear
The silent night thoughts
Of my fellow sufferers asleep or awake,
As if voices, cries,
As if shouts for planks to save them.
I hear the uneasy creak of the beds,
I hear chains.

I hear how sleepless men toss and turn,
Who long for freedom and deeds of wrath.
When at grey dawn sleep finds them
They murmur in dreams of their wives and children.

I hear the happy lisp of half-grown boys,
Delighting in childhood dreams;
I hear them tug at their blankets
And hide from hideous nightmares.

I hear the sighs and weak breath of the old,
Who in silence prepare for the last journey.
They have seen justice and injustice come and go;
Now they wish to see the imperishable, the eternal.

Night and silence.
Only the steps and cries of the guards.
Do you hear how in the silent house
It quakes, cracks, roars
When hundreds kindle the stirred-up flame of their hearts?

Their choir is silent,
But my ear is open wide:
‘We the old, the young,
The sons of all tongues,
We the strong, the weak,
The sleepers, the wakeful,
We the poor, the rich,
Alike in misfortune,
The good, the bad,
Whatever we have been,
We men of many scars,
We the witnesses of those who died,
We the defiant, we the despondent,
The innocent, and the much accused,
Deeply tormented by long isolation,
Brother, we are searching, we are calling you!
Brother, do you hear me?’

Twelve cold, thin strokes of the tower clock
Awaken me.
No sound, no warmth in them
To hide and cover me.
Howling, evil dogs at midnight
Frighten me.
The wretched noise
Divides a poor yesterday
From a poor today.
What can it matter to me
Whether one day turns into another,
One that could have nothing new, nothing better
Than to end quickly like this one?
I want to see the turning of the times,

When luminous signs stand in the night sky,
And over the peoples new bells
Ring and ring.
I am waiting for that midnight
In whose fearfully streaming brilliance
The evil perish for anguish
And the good overcome with joy.

The villain
Comes to light
In the judgment.

Deceit and betrayal,
Malicious deeds -
Atonement is near.

See, O man,
Holy strength
Is at work, setting right.

Rejoice and proclaim
Faithfulness and right
For a new race!

Heaven, reconcile
The sons of earth
To peace and beauty.

Earth, flourish;
Man, become free,
Be free!

Suddenly I sat up,
As if, from a sinking ship, I had sighted land,
As if there were something to grasp, to seize,
As if I saw golden fruit ripen.
But wherever I look, grasp, or seize,
There is only the impenetrable mass of darkness.

I sink into brooding;
I sink myself into the depths of the dark.
You night, full of outrage and evil,
Make yourself known to me!
Why and for how long will you try our patience?
A deep and long silence;
Then I hear the night bend down to me:
ö am not dark; only guilt is dark!’

Guilt! I hear a trembling and quaking,
A murmur, a lament that arises;
I hear men grow angry in spirit.
In the wild uproar of innumerable voices
A silent chorus
Assails God’s ear:

‘Pursued and hunted by men,
Made defenceless and accused,
Bearers of unbearable burdens,
We are yet the accusers.

‘We accuse those who plunged us into sin,
Who made us share the guilt,
Who made us the witnesses of injustice,
In order to despise their accomplices.

‘Our eyes had to see folly,
In order to bind us in deep guilt;
Then they stopped our mouths,
And we were as dumb dogs.

‘We learned to lie easily,
To be at the disposal of open injustice;
If the defenceless was abused,
Then our eyes remained cold.

‘And that which burned in our hearts,
Remained silent and unnamed;
We quenched our fiery blood
And stamped out the inner flame.

‘The once holy bonds uniting men
Were mangled and flayed,
Friendship and faithfulness betrayed;
Tears and rue were reviled.

‘We sons of pious races,
One-time defenders of right and truth,
Became despisers of God and man,
Amid hellish laughter.

‘Yet though now robbed of freedom and honour,
We raise our heads proudly before men.
And if we are brought into disrepute,
Before men we declare our innocence.

‘Steady and firm we stand man against man;
As the accused we accuse

‘Only before thee, source of all being,
Before thee are we sinners.

‘Afraid of suffering and poor in deeds,
We have betrayed thee before men.

‘We saw the lie raise its head,
And we did not honour the truth.

‘We saw brethren in direst need,
And feared only our own death.

We come before thee as men,
As confessors of our sins.

‘Lord, after the ferment of these times,
Send us times of assurance.

‘After so much going astray,
Let us see the day break.

‘Let there be ways built for us by thy word
As far as eye can see.

‘Until thou wipe out our guilt,
Keep us in quiet patience.

‘We will silently prepare ourselves,
Till thou dost call to new times.

‘Until thou stillest storm and flood,
And thy will does wonders.

‘Brother, till the night be past,
Pray for me!’

The first light of morning creeps through my window pale and grey,
A light, warm summer wind blows over my brow.
‘Summer day,’ I will only say, ‘beautiful summer day!’
What may it bring to me?
Then I hear outside hasty, muffled steps;
Near me they stop suddenly.
I turn cold and hot,
For I know, oh, I know!
A soft voice reads something cuttingly and cold.
Control yourself, brother; soon you will have finished it,
soon, soon.
I hear you stride bravely and with proud step.
You no longer see the present, you see the future.
I go with you, brother, to that place,
And I hear your last word:
‘Brother, when the sun turns pale for me,
Then live for me’

Stretched out on my cot
I stare at the grey wall.
Outside a summer morning
Which is not yet mine
Goes brightly into the countryside.

Brother, till after the long night
Our day breaks
We stand fast!

From Eberhard Bethge

[S. Polo d’Enza, Reggio Emilia]
8 July 1944

Dear Dietrich,

Yesterday I received your letter of 27 June, and assume that another one is on the way which should have arrived first … Our detour to the north side of the Apennines went well; it was full of experiences for me as I had to transport an old 1921 Fiat car; after a number of patches I eventually simply drove on the rims, which caused merriment everywhere. Anyway, I got over the dreaded pass successfully … The partisans are now active in the Apennines. A few days ago they killed a war court lawyer 10 kilometres from us, close to the event of 1077.
⁷²
They occupy whole villages, set up headquarters, requisition, occupy built-up places (which are intended later for our front), and are hard to get hold of …

The requisition of the well-kept house of an educated family in which we now live (with a bath, on a breezy height), the throwing out of the people, the sniffing through all the chests, larders and cupboards by our men, was the most nauseating thing that I’ve experienced recently. I hadn’t had anything to do with that sort of thing before. Greed for expected enjoyment makes people nervous; they just wait for the slightest provocation by those concerned to find righteous anger and justification for their own conduct in such a house; then all restraint is abandoned. The officers root around for
‘Abwehr
reasons’; the NCOs to provide the troops with everything that they ‘need’, the men - they’re the best. Together they spread themselves out on the carved tables and in the armchairs and drink the cellar dry. And you stand by.

Two days ago we had a marvellous experience in the early
morning. After thunder showers at night, the chain of the Alps suddenly appeared clearly in front of us; Monte Rosa and behind it the Finsteraarhorn group; they were about 120-150 miles away as the crow flies.

But now I must thank you for your good letter. I had been waiting for news. But it didn’t happen. I hope that you won’t wait with the poems until that long evening together, though you may be right …

What is ‘worshipping’ idols? Is it the fact that for some people there is still something that cannot be discussed, sacrosanct, something different from worship? Do you now have new insights into the absence of life after death in the OT; fourth commandment; ways of describing future existence; the difficulty we have with all eschatology? It seems to me unbiblical to regard eschatology as an evasion. What about the hymns and the attitude of Paul Gerhardt, the Thirty Years’ War? Many greetings, keep heart and don’t surrender to sorrow and hopelessness.

Faithfully, your Eberhard

What about the ‘apolitical character’ of the New Testament? Staemmler got three years.
⁷³

Early Sunday: as a result of your letter I’m reading today’s epistle and gospel with renewed perception.

To Eberhard Bethge

[Tegel] 16 July [1944]

Dear Eberhard,

I heard yesterday from my parents that you had been moved again. I hope to hear soon how you’re getting on. The historic atmosphere
⁷⁴
sounds attractive, anyway. Only ten years ago we should hardly have realized that the symbolic crozier and ring, claimed by both emperor and pope, could lead to an international political struggle. Weren’t they really
adiaphoro?.
We have had to learn again, through our own experience, that they were not. Whether
Henry IV’s pilgrimage to Canossa was sincere or merely diplomatic, the picture of Henry IV in January 1077 has left its mark permanently on the thought of European peoples. It was more effective than the Concordat of Worms of 1122, which formally settled the matter on the same lines. We were taught at school that all these great disputes were a misfortune to Europe, whereas in point of fact they are the source of the intellectual freedom that has made Europe great.

There’s not much to report about myself. I heard lately on the wireless (not for the first time) some scenes from Carl Orff’s operas (and also
Carmina Burana).
I liked them very much; they were so fresh, clear, and bright. He has also produced an orchestral version of Monteverdi. Did you know that? I also heard a
concerto grosso
by Handel, and was again quite surprised by his ability to give such wide and immediate consolation in the slow movement, as in the
Largo,
in a way in which we wouldn’t dare to any more. Handel seems to be more concerned than Bach with the effect of his music on the audience; that may be why he sometimes has a façade-like effect. Handel, unlike Bach, has a deliberate purpose behind his music. Do you agree?

I am very interested to read
The House of the Dead,
and I’m impressed by the non-moral sympathy that those outside have for its inhabitants. May not this amorality, the product of religiosity, be an essential trait of these people, and also help us to understand more recent events? For the rest, I’m doing as much writing and composing as much poetry as my strength allows. I’ve probably told you before that I often get down to a bit of work
⁷⁵
in the evening, as we used to. Of course, I find that pleasant and useful. That’s all the news that I have about myself. They say that all is going normally at home; i.e. things are not going at all well with Hans.
⁷⁶
I’m really very sorry indeed about that. I sometimes think that if he had had a good pastor to visit him at the right time, perhaps physically he wouldn’t have had such a bad time of it. I’m glad that Klaus is in such good spirits;
⁷⁷
he was so depressed for some time. I think all his worries will soon be over; I very much hope so for his own and his family’s sake. H. Walter has been made an officer! I’m now having my books sent from Pätzig
to Friedrichsbrunn. I often have to think of grandmother Kleist now; she has become so immobilized.
⁷⁸
Perhaps we shall be able to celebrate our wedding in Friedrichsbrunn. Maria, too, can’t travel any more after the new restrictions. Perhaps it’s a good thing for her, but it’s a shame for me. Unfortunately she was quite depressed the last time that I saw her; I can well understand it … It’s time that we were able to be together.

If you have to preach in the near future, I should suggest taking some such text as Ps. 62.1; 119.94a; 42.5; Jer. 31.3;Isa. 41.10; 43.1; Matt. 28.20b; I should confine myself to a few simple but vital thoughts. One has to live for some time in a community to understand how Christ is ‘formed’ in it (Gal. 4.19); and that is especially true of the kind of community that you would have. If I can help in any way, I should be glad to.