In today's Xu Zhiyuan column, we focus on a diary. The diary, from the Time of World War II, was written by a German writer named Friedrich Lake, and until a month before his death, Lake insisted on keeping his experiences and observations in his diary, both as a source of information in the bureau and as a calm spectator.
This article was written in 2018 and included in The Wandering Collection.
vol.12 / April 9, 2020
A person who keeps a diary
Xu Zhiyuan
After hearing the news of the failure of Hitler's assassination, Friedrich Lake wrote in his diary: "The whole country lamented that the bomb was placed in the wrong place and the timing of the explosion was not appropriate", and he felt "deep regret in his heart". To Count Stauffenberg, the mastermind of the assassination, he commented bitterly, "Ha, it is only now, gentlemen, a little late. You have created that devil, and as long as it goes well, what he wants, you have handed over Germany to this heinous criminal, and no matter how unbelievable his oath is placed before you, you will show allegiance... You have made yourself his slave..."
It was Germany on July 21, 1941, and lake was also acutely aware of the dangers as he wrote his feelings in his diary, which had been certain since he wrote his first diary in May 1936.
The Diary of a Desperate Man
By Friedrich Lake
Translated by Fu Jinyu
Xinhua Publishing House
2015-12
Lake was born in 1884 to a high-society family in East Prussia, the son of a member of Parliament during the time of William II. His life path was different from his father's expectations, instead of becoming a soldier, he wrote novels, theater reviews and travelogues, and he was a member of the elite circle, but never won a huge reputation.
This gave him another perspective on the changes in Germany, where he had both an internal source of information and the calm of a bystander. He witnessed Hitler's footsteps, and he saw the veteran's defilement in Munich in 1920, "[Hitler] carried a guitar, a scruffy wide-brimmed hat, and a horse whip in his hand" intruded into a party, and in front of the powerful master, he was full of awe, "only dared to sit half his ass in a chair, and his waist was upright... Like a paparazzi nibbling on raw meat, listening greedily to every word.". Unable to restrain his desire to express himself, he spoke "like a priest in the army," and, without rebuttal, habitually roared, much to the dismay of the whole house, "as if there was a neurotic sitting in a box on a train." At another gathering, he found that Hitler was no longer nervous and more fond of preaching, "pouring all the clichés of his political book on his head" and "when he spoke passionately, a strand of oily hair would fall on his face and look like a liar.".
No one expected that such a man would eventually rule Germany, wage a war against civilization, burn books, create hatred, send Jews to concentration camps, and turn German citizens into a bunch of deranged fanatics...
Lake's book was not burned, he did not openly resist, nor did he go into exile, he chose his own way of confrontation, he wrote historical novels, using stories of radical Protestants in the 16th century to allude to irrational realities; he wrote about the French Revolution, celebrating civic courage. The novel temporarily escaped the censors' eyes and was eventually banned for exposing the reader.
More important resistance comes from the diary. "A few of my friends took the opportunity to warn me to write carefully," Lake wrote on September 9, 1937, "My writing is all from my heart, and I can't stop, so I can only ignore the warning and continue to write a diary, I hope that my diary will be helpful in recording the history of the Nazi era." He was cautious enough to keep his diary in a tin box, hiding it in his backyard, deep in the woods, and out of fear, constantly moving the hiding place.
Friedrich Lake
In addition to the occasional exuding curse, his diary is rich in dimension, calmly recording phenomena and giving historical analysis. He blamed Hitler's rise on the failure of the Bismarck era, the popular rebellion brought about by technology, "this technological revolution left a terrible soul vacuum — perhaps filled only by a newly emerging group of irrational and mechanistic devils" and "this mob ... They have no idea that they have fallen, and they are ready to ask others to roar like them, devour the sand, and degenerate together."
He realized that the degeneration of language exacerbated the decay of political and public life, "their (Nazi) German was The German of the walls of public toilets, the German of male prostitutes". He also saw the internal contradictions of the Third Reich under the appearance of great power, "If Germany's national power is at a high level, then why is our discourse vulgar to an unprecedented degree?" Why have all social formations become bad? How did we become so reneging on the agreement and so untrustworthy? If not only German officials speak vulgar language, but even the German General Staff and front-line commentators say, how can Germany become so vulgar? ”
Only if you can imagine the atmosphere of slaughter in the Third Reich, the fanaticism of all people, can you realize how rebellious these diaries are, and how much courage it takes for writers. Disaster still comes. "I thought it was like going to a hotel for the night, so I only carried a small suitcase with me. They came to search for weapons, which was not a good omen. I asked for a lawyer, but was rudely refused," he wrote on October 14, 1944, "and soon I was in jail."
He was arrested for refusing to join the People's Stormtroopers, which served as the last line of defense against the Allies. The decline of Nazi Germany was irreparable, and everyone was aware of it. As early as February 1943, when news of the Anglo-American landings in North Africa came, Lake found that "the whole town— and even the whole region — was excited, as if everyone had drunk champagne." Suddenly, people's conversations became frank, and their faces seemed to glow. The hardships of the long winter days are over..." By August 16, 1944, he felt "the air was filled with the breath of death," and Hitler after his assassination was even more hysterical, intensifying his grip on German society like a dying man.
The People's Stormtroopers, the national militia units of Nazi Germany.
Lake didn't escape the struggle. Perhaps it was the defeat of the Nazi army that eased his nerves, and he not only refused to join the People's Stormtroopers, but also complained in a letter to the editor that his royalties had been eaten by inflation. Lucky to be released shortly after his first arrest did not last, and on December 31, 1944, he was arrested again, and he was convicted of insulting German currency.
Sadly, he died in a concentration camp on February 16, 1945. If he held out for another three months, he would see the collapse of the Empire and the Fuehrer commit suicide in the bunker. But his diary remained, alive longer than he had imagined. When a German publishing house published it in 1947, it didn't attract much attention, and a Germany that was desperate to rebuild and quickly forget history had no intention of facing its wounds. Seventeen years later, when a newspaper re-serialized the diary, it resonated strongly, and the post-war generation of Germans prepared to understand the wounds of history. The English edition that followed did not attract much attention, but forty years later, the New York Review of Books published it again under the name "Modern Classics Series."
I bought this version in 2013. I am in the midst of a small personal crisis, I lack confidence in my future, and I feel that the trend of the times is running counter to my personal values, and I feel powerless. I liked its title, "The Diary of a Desperate Man," and was even more drawn to its narrative tone, which, from the death of Spengler in the first part, showed a convincing calmness. Out of laziness, or not falling into real despair, I never finished reading it. But whenever I fall into anxiety, I used to open it, even after reading a few paragraphs, I gained a kind of composure. In 2016, I was surprised to find that the book had Chinese edition, and this time I finished reading it.
Not surprisingly, it did not lead me into despair, but gave me great encouragement. In those calm tones, you realize that even in a crazy era, you can still remain rational in your own way, you are not only living for yourself in the moment, you are still living under the scrutiny of your predecessors and the expectations of future generations. The German may not have imagined that his muttering in despair would not only help him find peace, but would also inspire many of his successors.
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