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traces of memory Włodzimierz Fiszer page 12 Observing this fragment, I coincidentally noticed a certain architectural detail of "the memorial" which I find very typical of the German character, features which not only include inborn solidity, conscientiousness and precision at work but, also, a great attraction to gimcrackery and, possibly, surrogates; Nazi Germany shares this liking, too, (not so long ago the world of economists became "emotionally moved" because of Hitler's truculent declaration that the Germans can only mock at the economic boycott of all of the powers of the world because, assuming the absolute ban on the import of raw materials indispensable for living, Germany, thanks to the brilliance of her chemists – is able to produce replacements for these materials in the form of surrogates!). The case I am talking about, was the massive gate leading to the inside of the memorial, made of sheet metal, bordered with iron scanting and reinforced with massive iron nails. When I inspected it closely, however, it turned out to be made of wood, very dextrously painted in an iron-like colour. I looked around, moving my gaze from the stadium, which as I have already mentioned was located at the foot of the memorial, to more distant parts of the scene, visible for dozens of kilometres in the area around, slightly undulating and covered with some vegetation and a grove. It was an extraordinarily ordinary view, because these were places which, considering the scarce number of people who regularly visited from Germany, only now, on this special occasion of the celebrations of the anniversary of German fighting, offered up the opportunity to view them as they really are. The vast terrain which I viewed from the hill at the "Nationaldenkmal" was, actually, the place "near Grunwald" where the famous battle of Jagiełło against the Master of the Order of the Teutonic Knights, Urlich von Jungingen, took place. And where Jagiełło was victorious in 1410. It was a bloody battle, so that when the Great Master himself died, it was the historic end not only for the "Hoch-master" of the Order but, also, the entire Teutonic organisation. What was left after them is a modest keepsake in the form of a stone under fir trees, page 13 composing something like an oasis in this undulating and overgrown terrain; a memorial stone with a caption devoted to Urlich von Jungingen himself. It is about 600 metres from the road to Tannenberg and around 1 and 1/2 kilometres from the Village of Tannenberg. A long avenue under firs leads to the stone which looks – as the Germans say – "like an altar framed with fir trees". A caption on the stone reads: "Im Kampf fur deutsches Wesen, deutsches Recht starb hier der Hochmeister Urlich von Jungingen am 15 Juli 1410 den Heldentod." These fields under Tannenberg are the area popularly known as "under Grunwald" [...] But of a different historical significance. Here, the bloody German-Russian battle took place in 1914 which continued for three days from 26th to 28th August. The German Army was commanded by von Hindenburg while the Russian – General (Samsonov). The Germans won at the expense of 12,000 fallen soldiers which, however, is only a tiny number compared to the Russians killed, whose number is assessed to be 120,000. This is absolutely understandable if one takes into consideration the fact that the Russian Army (as illustrated by strategic maps in the book "Tannenberg und seine Heldengreber", p. 73) was entrapped by the Germans in a circle from practically all sides, inside which a bloody massacre took place. According to German sources, Samsonov committed suicide after the lost battle. In part of the area of Tannenberg there is a stone dedicated to Samsonov's memory, laid by the Germans, where the inscription reads "General Samsonov, der Gegner Hindenburgs in Kampf bei Tannenberg. Get. 28.VIII.1914" Looking at the hill today, at those green areas, sprinkled with the blood of hundreds of human lives, one falls, willingly or not, into a particular mood, provoking various thoughts on this theme. Lively motion at the gate awakens me from my pondering: they are letting people in. Two policemen in dress uniforms perform their duty with German conscientiousness at the gate, stopping the pressing crowd with praiseworthy patience, berating people persistently but with a patient tone in their voices. They let only a few people in at a time from one, or the other side. „Im Kampf fur deutsches Wesen, deutsches Recht starb hier der Hochmeister Urlich von Jungingen am 15 Juli 1410 den Heldentod.” page 14 People generally tried to obey the instructions of the policeman: langsam, ruhig!... yet the press of the crowd was enormous. Driven by this living wave of the compressed masses of people I was gradually brought closer to the gate. It is undoubtedly unpleasant in such situations to find yourself in a situation – as the Germans say "Schulter am Schulter" – next to a lady, especially a maid... when you are suspected of deliberately pressing towards your neighbour in the crowd, even if you make every effort to soften the pressure as much as possible. However, my possibilities were few and it was practically impossible to disentangle myself from the crowd and leave the gate. Nevertheless, I found it necessary to solve this problem! So, being close to the gate, I noticed a policeman, already on the inside, who carefully examined every person before he let them in, as if checking for something on the people entering. Now, I recalled, that on the Polish side it was said that the entrance to the memorial would cost 1/2 mark. However, although I had a Polish coin on me producing it at that moment was impossible; while, our excursion members, who had some marks and pfennigs were not near enough to be of any help. Additionally, in terms of their external behaviour, they completely merged with the mass of denizens here, adjusting themselves to the surroundings in every respect, starting from the Nazi way of greeting to using the German language only, even in private conversations. Meanwhile, I had 25 minutes left to our departure from Tannenberg; on the one hand, then, I would have to hurry to be able to view the inside arrangement of the memorial, on the other, it would be compromising to demonstrate ignorance of something everyone was supposed to know, while a retreat from the gate seemed utterly disappointing. First and foremost, however, it was practically unfeasible physically, so after a moment of hesitation, I drifted on with the crowd towards the opening of the gate. I rushed through it just at the moment when the policeman's attention was absorbed by 2 other people who simultaneously burst into the interior with me. He, in turn, did not pay too much attention to me, as I was not yet within the walls. Here, though, I learnt that there were no entrance fees and the third policemen was just to help with keep order. The inner courtyard, located on the same level as the entrance, had a the shape of a regular octagon with a large square in the centre, elevated on natural stones; it accommodated a gigantic wooden cross. After emerging from under the vaulted (Sic!) |
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