WE ARE OPEN - WEEK TWO - MILITARY SERIES: HANNS AND RUDOLF - May 19th - May 25th - Chapter(s) Two and Three: 2: Hanns, Berlin, Germany, 1917 and 3: Rudolf, Berlin, Germany, 1918 (17 - 43) No Spoilers, Please

[Nita]

Chapter Two: (2: Hanns, Berlin, Germany, 1917)

Chapter Two describes the childhood of Hanns Alexander, born on May 6th, 1917, fifteen minutes before his twin brother, Paul, at his parents' expansive apartment on the Kaiserallee, in West Berlin. The chapter discusses the home life of young Hanns, which was relatively care-free. His father was usually busy practicing medicine, and his mother was very indulgent, allowing Hanns and his twin to play all sorts of pranks.

Chapter Three: (3: Rudolf, Berlin, Germany, 1918)

Chapter Three follows the events of Rudolf's life from 1918 through July 14, 1928. During this time, he escaped from Damascas. Not knowing anything but the military, he joined a Freikorp group, which was fighting the Bolsheviks (mostly Russian) and the Latvians. At the time of the fighting, the Germans adopted a new constitution forming the Weimar Republic. Rudolf later joined the National Socialists and was involved in the killing of a man who had betrayed a former fellow soldier. He was sentenced to ten years in prison, but his term was commuted to four years. This was a very eventful time for Rudolf.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Excellent comments all.

[Kathryn]

Still fashionably late over here.

Just a few chapters in and I'm really impressed with the level and quality of research that Thomas Harding was able to put into this book.

Also striking (unless I've missed it) is that there hasn't been a mention of either Rudolf or his parents having antisemitic leanings. However, I can see how his military background would encourage/lead him to join the National Socialist party.

[Vincent]

Kathryn wrote: "Still fashionably late over here.

Just a few chapters in and I'm really impressed with the level and quality of research that Thomas Harding was able to put into this book.

Also striking (unl..."

Not denying the persistent anti-semitism that was existing in Europe (and elsewhere) I think that the growth of anti-semitism came with Hitler's use of that as a building block and that the Hoss family - as many other Germans were lured into it - herded you could say -

The Americans demonized the Japanese during WW II. During WWI the Germans and their pack were "the Hun".

I would guess that the crux of the family's anti-semitic learnings were the long promoted story that the Jews killed Christ - but that doesn't mean that the Hoss family of others had tremendous anti-Jewish sentiments before they were stoked up.

[Bryan]

Indeed, Vince, Hitler probably had them early on and absorbed the anti-Semitic messages from politicians at the time he was in Vienna. The racism/hate spread pretty quickly it seems with Hitler flaming it.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Rudolf's last name for our purposes in this discussion should be spelled Hoess. We were spelling it a variety of ways. But Hoess it is.

[Whitney]

It was interesting to learn a little bit about Hans' background in chapter 2. I am looking forward to the next chapter about him, as I feel like I do not have a great understanding of him yet. I agree that he seemed spoiled, but how that influences a person later in life can depend on many factors. I am curious to learn more about him.

Chapter 3 brought out a lot of different events for Rudolph. I don't really know anything about the Freikorps, so I found that part really interesting. I could see how it might seem like a great option to a young man who fought in WWI. They would use skills he had, he felt part of the group, and it was a job when there weren't a lot of viable options.

As for Rudolph being shocked by the murder of the family even though he has also murdered someone, I agree that it seems contradictory at first. I do think it had a lot to do with him viewing the man he killed as a traitor and the family was innocent. Also, he was trained from a young age to "immediately comply with all wishes and orders of my parents"(p8). That training could easily be transferred to another authority figure, such as a leader in the military, which could make orders to kill a person deemed a traitor seem like the right thing to do.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Rudolph may have simply seen this job as a career opportunity - however, it took him down a dark and lonely road which resulted in his death.

It is funny how "moral codes" and "rationale" can be argued from both sides. Rudolf's immediate family saw a loving man who was loved back while the inmates of Auschwitz saw an evil and despicable human being who lacked empathy and was a killer.