Hermann Ebeling (journalist)

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Hermann Ebeling (born August 10, 1909 in Neuwegersleben ; † April 25, 1980 in Dietzenbach ) was a pedagogue, journalist and university professor. He emigrated to France in 1930 and from there to the USA in 1941. In the early 1950s he was an American liaison officer on the board of the German Coordination Council of the Societies for Christian-Jewish Cooperation (DKR) and was a co-founder of the Week of Fraternity in 1952 .

The time until 1932

Hermann Ebeling comes from an Evangelical-Lutheran family and attended a middle school in Hecklingen from 1916 to 1923 . Since the parents moved their place of residence, Ebeling became a pupil at the upper secondary school in Schöningen from the school year 1923 . Here he passed the Abitur in February 1930.

In April 1930 Ebeling began to study educational science at the Technical University of Braunschweig , due to the poverty of his parents with a state scholarship. He describes his time at the university and its end very carefully in the two résumés written in the USA:

“I have been interested in political problems since I was a teenager, and in Germany I particularly fought against the danger of National Socialism. Due to my political activity at the 'Technische Hochschule' in Braunschweig , where I was a member of the student parliament and chairman of the only anti-fascist student group, the Nazi government of the state of Braunschweig, established by the elections on September 14, 1930, took away my state scholarship and forced me with ending my studies for good in November 1932. "

It may well be that Ebeling had already realized when writing his résumé that it was not appropriate to position oneself too far left politically in the USA because it was "the only anti-fascist student group" of which he was chairman the socialist student group Braunschweig . It was only in his 1975 résumé that he confessed to this membership and also to his membership of the SPD , which he had left because of "differences [...] in questions of the political struggle against the Nazis", and of the Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (SAP) .

Gretel Fuchs (* 1910), daughter of Martha Fuchs, was also a member of the socialist student group . After the death of her father, Otto Grotewohl , who was also from Braunschweig, was the guardian for her and her two siblings. Gretel Fuchs was active with the Kinderfreunde and had graduated from a high school graduate course at Berlin's Karl Marx School in 1930 . She studied educational science at the Technical University of Braunschweig until 1932 , and since then she and Hermann Ebeling have been a couple - married since October 11, 1934 - who denied them together for almost fifty years.

Exile in France and the Saar area

After his relegation from the university, Hermann Ebeling went to Paris in November 1932, where he hoped to work as a correspondent for German newspapers. As a result, he avoided the risk of falling victim to the Rieseberg murders , which killed ten of his political friends from Braunschweig. “My friend Gretel Fuchs, later my wife, was arrested and locked up. I was wanted. So I stayed in Paris and became the first German emigrant. It's not my merit. "

The Rieseberg murders happened on July 4, 1933, and soon afterwards Gretel Fuchs must have followed Hermann Ebeling to France. Hermann Ebeling had meanwhile made contact with a group of young left-wing intellectuals, was in contact with Angelica Balabanova and got to know Simone Weil . At that time he represented the positions of SAP and later recalled the early days of his exile in Paris and the changes that were emerging within the emigrant community:

“Before Hitler, there was a non-partisan socialist group in Paris, the name of which I cannot remember. I was elected its chairman. With increasing mass emigration from the Third Reich, the group was then quickly changed structurally. More and more, the communists spread their stupid theses about social fascism and the impending demise of the Hitler dictatorship through an imminent revolution of the German working class. The group perished as a result, and the political life of the German emigration then took place in the parties. "

Perhaps it was these experiences that moved Hermann Ebeling and Gretel Fuchs to move to the French-occupied Saar area in November 1933 ; he himself spoke of the chance of being able to earn some money there. Ebeling was able to teach from November 3, 1933 to March 1, 1935 as a "substitute teacher at the schools opened by France in the Saarland through the Treaty of Versailles", the so-called Domanial schools. In his 1941 résumé, he acknowledged that he had been active in propaganda in the run-up to the Saar referendum for the “status quo”, that is, for maintaining the League of Nations mandate and against joining the German Reich.

After the Saar referendum, there was no longer any security for the German emigrants in what was now German national territory. From the two résumés and his article about Simone Weil the following stages of the following exile emerge:

  • Immediately after the Saar referendum, he was placed in a Camp d'Hébergement ( internment camp ) in Strasbourg .
  • Summer 1935, together with Gretel, tutor of friends at La Roche sur Yon in the Vendée .
  • Then stay in Poitiers .
  • “In the summer of 1936 we looked after Parisian working-class children in a summer colony in St. Gile Croix die Vie on the Atlantic coast and then accompanied them back to Paris. We stayed here until the Nazis fled us again. ”It was
    during this time that he worked for the magazine of the Free German Youth , since 1936 with the Paris SAP group, and worked as a correspondent for the SAP central socialist organ     Arbeiter Zeitung , his work as editor of the Paris daily newspaper and his membership in the Association of German Emigrant Teachers .
  • Before he fled the Nazis again, in 1939 he taught German, Austrian and Czechoslovak refugee children aged 17 to 20 in French at a school in Paris named after Zadoc Kahn .
  • Hermann Ebeling was interned from September 1939 to April 1940 and was then Prestataire , a kind of civilian auxiliary service provider , with the British Expeditionary Corps in France.
  • Grete Ebeling also had to spend some time in Camp de Gurs , probably after the occupation of Norway by the German Wehrmacht , i.e. after April 9, 1940. By a happy coincidence, she and her husband, who was now at liberty, met during her Interned together again and went to Marseilles. Here they worked until they left France for room and board in the children's colony in Les Caillols ( 12th arrondissement (Marseille) ) run by the Quakers .

The full breadth of the fate of the emigrants only unfolds in an interview that Hermann Schnorbach conducted on March 4, 1977 with Hermann and Grete Ebeling.

“Grete and Hermann Ebeling […] were interned in several French refugee camps after their escape from Saarland in 1935 […]. In the first camp in Strasbourg they opened a school and a kindergarten. After moving to eastern France, to La Roche sur Yon, they tried to get in touch with the local teacher training college, which they found out by chance. On a joint initiative, a school and a children's home were set up in the camp, and Ebelings were entrusted with the management. Besides, the French teachers took great care of her. When the long school holidays began in France, they were invited to his country house by a Paris school director who had been friends from earlier times and they were officially employed as private tutors. With that they escaped the camp. After the end of the vacation, when her hosts returned to Paris, Hermann Ebeling rattled off on his bicycle in the nearby city of Poitiers to find everything that had any work to be done. Lo and behold, a coffee distillery, Café Montou, actually hired him. Hermann Ebeling worked there as an accountant until he was fired because of a row. After that they made a living from selling reverse glass paintings from their neighbors and from selling ties and men's and women's underwear on the fly. Grete Ebeling took care of the supplies, Hermann Ebeling went from school to school and from teachers 'meeting to teachers' meeting and offered his laundry, sometimes on the market square. 'I must also say, however, that the teachers there were extraordinarily kind. Yes, were in solidarity. They just bought out of solidarity. ' Later in Paris, Mrs. Ebeling worked as a cleaning lady in the vegetarian restaurant of the ISK , Mr. Ebelíng worked as a proofreader for the German émigré newspaper 'Pariser Tageszeitung', for the SAP press he wrote articles on youth issues. "

This “vegetarian restaurant of the ISK” was the “Restaurant Végétarien des Boulevards (d'aprés Bircher-Benner) 28 Boulevard Poissonniére” operated by Erich Lewinski and his wife Hertha, with whose income many émigrés secured their livelihood and finance political work in exile was contributed. Marta Rodenstein, Heinrich Rodenstein's wife, also works here from time to time .

Adoptive Parents in Troubled Times

In his résumé in 1941, shortly after entering the USA, Hermann Ebeling emphasized his interest in “modern political youth problems”: “My special interest is in modern political youth problems. After 1933 I dealt specifically with the new ideas and methods of youth education in Germany, published various articles on this question in current newspapers and published the magazine 'Freie Deutsche Jugend' in Paris. I am also interested in bringing up disabled children. "

What makes you sit up and take notice in this quote is the last sentence, the emphasis on the interest in “raising disabled children”. There was no recognizable reference to this topic in his previous life, not even in his school activities. The key to this interest comes from the personal memories of Gretel Ebeling.

In 1939, after the outbreak of World War II, Hermann Ebeling was already in the internment camp, a German man, a Jew, who was completely unknown to her, appeared at Gretel Ebeling's house, who explained to her that he and his wife had to disappear. The problem: you have a spastically paralyzed child and need someone to take care of it.

Gretel Ebeling allowed herself to be persuaded despite her own uncertain situation. Her interned husband, to whom she communicated this in a letter, was not enthusiastic, but the child, a girl whose name Gretel Ebeling did not mention, but who according to Hermann Ebeling's résumé from 1941 was Jeanne Tugendtrajch, born on January 5th 1939 in Paris, acted, was just there. Shortly thereafter, Gretel Ebeling had to go to Camp de Gurs , and she handed the child over to someone else in care.

After they were released from Gurs and reunited with their husband, they found the child again in Marseille. They were able to convince the American consul to also issue a visa for the child and traveled with him to the USA via Spain and Portugal. It was operated on for the first time a few months after arriving there.

“She has had a lot of operations. It helped her, but not really got her going. Today the child, which was one year back then, has turned 45, is now here in Germany with me and is now in an orthopedic institution because I no longer have the strength to do all of this and we visit each other. She took our name and is actually adopted. So, everything has been done legally. She has been part of our family for 44 years. And so we traveled all over the world with the child. This is a Jewish child, and for us it was a matter of course, it was completely unimportant. "

Emigration to the USA

According to Gretel Ebeling's account, it was only by chance that they found out that their names were on a list that was posted in the American consulate and guaranteed them visas for the USA. On whose initiative this happened remains unclear, she speaks of a list of particularly companion Germans that was compiled at the instigation of a committee jointly operated by American churches and trade unions. Hermann Ebeling mentions an "emergency rescue visa" in his résumé, which suggests that the Ebelings received support from the Emergency Rescue Committee . What followed was the usual and arduous route via Spain to Portugal, where they started the crossing from Lisbon. On June 3, 1941, they reached New York on board the Nyassa .

The start into a new life began with the support of the Unitarian aid organization Unitarian Service Committee and the Quakers. The latter brought the Ebelings to Haverford College , where they were first made familiar with US customs and traditions. Your English teacher there was Christopher Isherwood . After the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Ebelings were classified as enemy aliens , but were still lucky. They found a job in a slum area of Philadelphia . In a Quaker settlement , Hermann Ebeling looked after mainly black young people between the ages of 14 and 20, while Gretel Ebeling looked after the children of kindergarten age. They could also live and eat there for free, but only received a symbolic amount as remuneration, since they were accused of having no American upbringing experience. In addition, Hermann Ebeling studied social groupwork at Temple University in Philadelphia from the winter semester 1941/42 .

The economic situation of the Ebelings improved somewhat when Hermann Ebeling received the offer to work in a boys club in another part of Philadelphia. Here, too, he worked in the slums, this time mainly with young people of Irish and Italian origin. In early 1943, Hermann Ebeling was drafted into the US Army , but not into a fighting unit, and he met Golo Mann here . When he joined the US Army, he lost his status as an enemy alien .

Hermann Ebeling did military service from 1943 to 1946 - initially at the rank of private , and finally as captain . His unit, which was part of the Office of Strategic Services , was tasked with finding survivors from the concentration camps who were on American search lists at the end of the war in Europe. In the course of this investigation he came back to Braunschweig for the first time and learned of the fate of his mother-in-law Martha Fuchs, who had survived the Ravensbrück concentration camp and a death march and found her way back to Braunschweig via Berlin. Thanks to his military position, Hermann Ebeling was able to bring his mother-in-law to Switzerland for a six-week recreational stay. During her stay in Switzerland in October 1945, Martha Fuchs wrote down her memories of her imprisonment in the camp and sent her transcript to her daughter Grete, who lived in New York.

Critical support for the reconstruction in West Germany

Hermann Ebeling finished his military service in 1946 and returned to the USA - but only for a short time. As Assistant Director of the Unitarian Service Committee (USC), he returned to Germany on August 27, 1946 to organize relief operations there and worked as a USC representative in CRALOG , the Council of Relief Agencies Licensed to Operate in Germany . As its representative ( "Hermann Ebeling - Représentant du CRALOG auprès du Gouvernement Militaire"), he coordinated from Mainz to work in the the French-occupied zone belonging Rheinhessen , four more CRALOG Representatives were responsible for the other districts of the French occupation zone. In the estate in the Federal Archives in Koblenz there are copies of Ebeling's extensive correspondence from this time, which show that he also made great use of his opportunities to revive earlier contacts and make new ones. Many letters are about support measures ( CARE packages ) and help for acquaintances or acquaintances of acquaintances, including comrades from the Braunschweig period. Some examples:

  • He corresponded and was good friends with the writer Erna Sternberg , née von Pustau (1903–1969), the second wife of Fritz Sternberg Erna von Pustau's best-known work is the book How it happens , written together with Pearl S. Buck . Talk about the German people 1914-1933
  • Written contacts existed with, among others, Alexander Mitscherlich , Leo Regener , Hermann Kristeller, who emigrated to the USA, whom he supported in asserting restitution claims in Worms, Heinrich Galm , pastor Kurt Müller in Stuttgart and Paul Wilhelm Massing .
    On May 23, 1947, Mitscherlich sent him a concept for a youth settlement in which neglected young people are to be looked after and rehabilitated. He invited Ebeling to the founding meeting of an association of the same name in Heidelberg. On June 6, 1947, Ebeling replied and showed interest, but referred to his early departure for the USA.
  • In a letter written in Kassel on May 20, 1947, Erich Lewinski, whom Ebeling had known at least since they were together in Paris (see above), thanked “dear Hermann” for his help and reported on a visit by Arkadij Gurland , who “for is a project in Germany ". As early as May 23, 1947, Ebeling reported in detail to his wife Grete about a meeting with Gurland, who was leaving because he had to be in Washington on July 1. Ebeling wrote about Gurland, who was in contact with Heinrich Rodenstein's Braunschweig district: “I have the impression that Gurland would really like to go to Germany if he could only find a reasonably well-paid (ie in dollars) job. He will visit you if he should return earlier than me. "

With all these activities there was obviously enough time to enjoy the pleasant side of life. Ebeling's correspondence contains innumerable orders and invoices for wine. The supplier was almost exclusively the Ernst Jungkenn winery in Oppenheim , which later also became a supplier to the federal government.

Hermann Ebeling was very active as a journalist in these post-war times, often under the pseudonym Henry Wilde . Articles of his appeared in the Sunday mail , among others . The Sunday paper of Germanness in America . In the December 8, 1946 edition, he is referred to as "Special Correspondent Henry Wilde". The article is a sharp examination of the French policy on Germany and the French attempts to gain “European supremacy and global political importance”. For Wilde, behind this there is "a negative, devastating spirit" that does not lead to "giving Germany an economic and ultimately also a political opportunity".

An earlier article, probably from January 1946 and also from the Sunday paper , deals with the deaths of 34 Germans on a refugee transport. Even if the subtitle says, "Russian and Polish authorities are vying with the Nazis in cruelty", the dealings of all Allies with the German prisoners are discussed beyond the current case and the behavior of the three Western powers is also criticized. “None of the occupying powers has a white vest. All have more or less participated in acts that are not far from the Nuremberg definition of the 'crime against humanity'. "

A third, completely undated article is a replica. It sees itself as the "answer to many readers" who have commented on earlier articles by Ebeling / Wilde. Above all, he defends himself against the accusation of not having dealt with the fate of the Germans in the Soviet occupation zone, or inadequately, and often cites himself with excerpts from an article in the Sunday paper of June 25 without giving the year.

“One of the weakest links in the oppressive chain of tyranny in Soviet Russia is East Germany ... In the unfortunate part of Germany east of the Elbe live German men and women who hate communism just as much as the Berliners or their compatriots west of the river. They have the same desire to be free in an independent and undivided Germany. If today they are struck with the dumbness of terror, why should their inner attitude differ from that of their brothers and sisters in the Rhine, Hesse or Lower Saxony? And the weakest point in the weakest link is the Oder-Neisse question. […] In the Potsdam Agreement of arbitrary victory, German territory was divided up, separated, placed under foreign administration and millions of people were expelled from the country. Nobody asked the question of law. Where was the outcry of offended world conscience? Where was - and remains - the American protest against the atrocities and crimes against humanity committed as a result of Potsdam? "

The Potsdam Agreement is a dictate for him, Germany united within the borders of 1936 and free from Soviet rule is his goal. However, he remains skeptical about rearming . But is that why war? “Basically, I am of the opinion that the understandable fear of a tragic fratricidal war cannot lead to a renunciation of the demand for freedom. It would be tragic and painful for us German-born Americans to have to take part in a war against our old homeland. But we did not fight against the Germans, but against a system from which the Germans also had to be liberated. ”This“ tragic and painful situation ”could arise again if - starting from East Germany -“ the Soviet Union breaks the war off the fence, indirectly like in Korea ”. But: “We all wish that we lived in a time that would be less pregnant with painful and tragic problems.” In conclusion, he promises to soon want to deal with a problem “that each of us has encountered from time to time. The understandable reluctance of the Germans to take on new military adventures is interpreted as cowardice ... or ingratitude, although not long ago people were indignant about the ineradicable German militarism. "

In these post-war years, Hermann Ebeling / Henry Wilde was not only active in the German-language American press, but also in the émigré press, especially in the Argentina magazine Das Andere Deutschland (La Otra Alemania) . In issue 134 of January 15, 1947 there appears an article “by our special correspondent Henry Wilde”: All about the French zone . In it he describes in detail the social situation within the occupation zone and clarifies the differences between the relatively little destroyed southern zone around Freiburg, Baden-Baden and the Black Forest and the catastrophic conditions in the northern zone , the industrial conurbations between Ludwigshafen and Koblenz.

A curiosity occurs in issue 136 of La Otra Alemania of February 15, 1947. It contains an article by Henry Wilde (Crimes against humanity - but not by Nazis) and by Herrmann , without establishing a relationship between the two authors -Ebeling-Frankfurt : German anti-fascist fighters . The editors announce this title as a rubric under which “some sketches by our colleague Hermann Ebeling on the struggle and victims of unknown proletarian fighters of the German resistance movement” will be published in the next issues. Ebeling's first contribution is to the resistance fighter and Buchenwald prisoner Max Meyer from Kassel, while as Henry Wilde he writes about the inhumane conditions during the refugee transports from the east, in which many civilians died after days in freight wagons and at temperatures well below zero . But he also denounces the practice of repatriation of prisoners in the West, especially those from France, which would take place under comparable circumstances that violate human rights, and he complains about the incomprehensibly long internment of the anti-fascist prisoners of war from the penalty battalion 999 . His conclusion: "It remains that the legal conception of those who appear as the occupying power in Germany is far removed from the legality that is seen at least in America, England and France as a precondition for civilization and the rule of law."

Hermann Ebeling later remained a critical observer of the Allied policy on Germany in his own articles and letters to the editor and warned that “we, tempted by justified indignation and indignation at the inhuman crimes of the Hitler regime, have lowered ourselves to the moral level of what we are doing condemned and punished sharply. ”He sees this danger primarily in the acceptance of the division of Germany and the accompanying expulsion of millions of Germans from their homeland. When Ebeling wrote this, however, he was no longer in Germany. His deployment there ended in 1947, which his Final Report on Mission in Germany for the USC of September 1947 gives information about. In the USA he worked until 1949 as Assistant Director of the USC.

Christian-Jewish cooperation

In his 1975 curriculum vitae, Ebeling referred to himself as one of the directors of the National Conference of Christians and Jews (NCCJ) for the period from 1950 onwards . The NCCJ , which has called itself the National Conference for Community and Justice since 1998 , is an organization whose history dates back to the mid-1920s in the United States. The NCCJ was an organization founded in 1927 in response to the rising racist nationalism in the country, specifically in response to the anti-Catholic religious fanaticism that was spreading through national politics at the time when Catholic politician Al Smith was a Democratic Party candidate ran for the presidency.

In the run-up to this presidential election in 1928, which Al Smith lost, the NCCJ was constituted in 1927 . Its founders included Jane Addams , Charles Evans Hughes, and Benjamin N. Cardozo . Her goal was to bring the most diverse people together in order to overcome interreligious divisions, racial problems and social and economic barriers between people of different faiths, cultures and ethnicities. Another founding member was Everett R. Clinchy (* 1896 - † 1986), who was President of the NCCJ from 1928 to 1958 . In the early 1930s, Clinchy was part of The Tolerance Trio , which campaigned for the introduction of a Week of Fraternity in the United States. This idea was favored by President Franklin D. Roosevelt , who made an official statement on National Brotherhood Week in 1934 . From then on this week was celebrated annually.

After the end of World War II, the USA began to establish the ideas represented by the NCCJ in Germany as well - according to Werner Jochmann also as a reaction to the fact that "the Americans had failed with the denazification and re-education policy in their zone of occupation". And Josef Fotschepoth states: "Christian-Jewish societies were founded on American initiative and were part of the democratization concept of the American occupying power in Germany." The ideological path in which this moved is illustrated by the example of a declaration by Harry S. Truman , who 1951 took over the honorary chairmanship for the American Week of Fraternity:

“The survival of freedom in our world depends on the ability of free people to agree on a common program to support the democratic institutions that promote and maintain freedom. This joint program requires the development of our military potential and the strengthening of our economic institutions at the same time. In order to be able to steer these efforts in the interest of freedom, we have to assert our superior moral position, which unites us in our common cause. "

In Germany, the idea of ​​Christian-Jewish cooperation fell on fertile ground with an “almost exclusively from middle to upper middle class circles”. But resistance soon arose, mainly due to the strongly centralized and poorly democratically legitimized organizational structures with which the NCCJ liaison officers wanted to enforce their ideas in Germany. Since 1948 this has been " Methodist Pastor Carl F. Zietlow as one of the long-time directors of the North Central Region of the NCCJ". When he returned to the USA in 1951, Hermann Ebeling was his successor in October 1951 and took over "at the request of the board of the German Coordination Council [...] to prepare and coordinate the first nationwide week of fraternity ". Ebeling remained an American liaison on the board of the DKR in Bad Nauheim until April 1954 .

Foschepoth leaves open how big Ebeling's contribution was in the creation of this first Germany-wide week of brotherhood , but he sees him "more than his predecessor, permeated by the idea of ​​world brotherhood rather than mere cooperation between Christians and Jews" and the event in 19 federal republican ones Cities became a success that also paid tribute to Federal President Theodor Heuss . For Ebeling, the main aim of the events was to “create a moral climate that is conducive to advertising and expansion work”, but after this first nationwide week of fraternity the voices among local societies also increased for Christian-Jewish cooperation, who critically dealt with the NCCJ and the American brotherhood concept, which was instrumentalized as American propaganda in the Cold War . Ebeling's role in these disputes is unclear, but in 1956 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon for his services to Week of Fraternity .

The following years led to a loosening of ties to the NCCJ and the World Brotherhood Organization. American financial support ended in 1952, and the DKR was funded from federal funds from then on. Hermann Ebeling returned to the USA in 1955/1956. In previous years he had published and translated some writings at Christian Verlag , which belonged to Knud Knudsen , "the literary director and first managing director of the German Coordination Council", which dealt with the subjects of human relationships , human rights or brotherhood (see: Works ) .

Hermann Ebeling, who did not have a degree, seems to have used the years he spent for the NCCJ in Germany for his personal further education. In 1974 David Hyatt wrote that Ebeling had studied social sciences from 1951 to 1955 at the University of Frankfurt , albeit without a degree.

New tasks in the USA

After his return to the USA, Hermann Ebeling remained director of the NCCJ until December 1974. In addition, Human Relations (HR) became his specialty and professional field of activity. He has taught HR courses for schools, churches, youth and police officers and since 1962 has led summer courses for police officers and educators ("Police and Community Relations") at the private Adelphi University on Long Island . From this university Ebeling was appointed " Adjunct Professor of Human Relations", actually a title for lecturers and private lecturers, which later did not prevent him from calling himself a professor or being called a professor.

As a lecturer at the police academies for the New York districts of Nassau County and Suffolk County , he gave courses on reducing tensions between police and minorities and on issues of professional ethics ("Police-Community Dialogues", "Ethical Awareness Workshops"). In addition, he was on the road with lectures and speeches, which mainly dealt with educational issues. For American television stations he developed and produced 52 half-hour programs on human relations problems. He describes himself as a “specialist in 'the workshop way of learning' and Socratic teaching methods ”.

In his letter from March 1974, already quoted several times, David Hyatt was about arranging an honor for Hermann Ebeling, probably in connection with his retirement from the service of the NCCJ . The addressee of his letter, Allyn Robinson, was the president of Dowling College , closed in 2016 , and Hyatt suggested that Ebeling be awarded a doctorate: “I know of no man who is more educated, more gifted, or more worthy of the honor of a PhD . I hope your committee will see the benefits of such an honor for a man who, while humble in wealth, has made an important contribution to better human relationships not only in the United States but throughout the world. ”

The Dowling College followed Hyatt's request and appointed Hermann Ebeling on May 26, 1974 to honorary Doctor of Humane Letters . At Christmas 1974 he returned to Germany with his wife and adopted daughter.

Back in Germany

Why the Ebelings returned to Germany is just as unclear as the choice of their place of residence in Dietzenbach. And that he “is modestly in wealth”, as Hyatt wrote, must have quickly become apparent. His often quoted curriculum vitae from January 1975, the letterhead of which deliberately identifies him as Adjunct Professor and Honorary Doctor of Human Letters , served to help the sixty-six-year-old get a new start in his professional life in Germany. One section is devoted to what he hoped for in the new phase of his life: “Inclusion in human relations endeavors, for example participating in or leading conferences, meetings, working groups through academies, conference centers and centers, private organizations, professional and business associations , Authorities, etc .; is also prepared to speak primarily (and initially) on American problems; would like to work as a writer and journalist; is looking for work opportunities with a stronger bond (peace and conflict research, teaching, handling international problems of a religious and social nature, human relations, etc.). Consultation and planning of human relations projects. ”Heinrich Sülzer describes the material need behind it and the failure of these hopes three and a half years later:“ After his retirement - both draw a pension from the USA and are badly affected by the dollar devaluation - hoped to be able to offer his skills in Germany. Apparently, however, there is no great need for his knowledge here, because so far he is still waiting for offers. "

There remained crumbs, many letters to the editor and the promise of Horst Köpke, the then column head of the Frankfurter Rundschau (FR), to be able to write on a fee basis for the FR. However, this did not stop him from becoming politically active again. As early as January 2, 1975, Heinrich L. Bode, who was friends with the Ebelings, had the SPD sub-district Offenbach-Land the “revival of SPD membership and Crediting of the replacement times of comrade Prof. Dr. Herm. Ebeling "announced

And also in January 1975 Ebeling dealt with Heinrich Böll in a six-page manuscript, of which it cannot be said whether it was ever published . On March 8, 1970, he had given the address to open the Week of Brotherhood in Cologne's Gürzenich , which was later published in a book that Ebeling got his hands on at Christmas 1974. “The first book after I finally and finally returned to my 'old homeland' after more than forty years of emigration, Heinrich Böll's difficulties with brotherhood landed on the Christmas table. I was startled - this concerned me. Then I read the address that Böll had given at the opening of the Week of Brotherhood in March 1970 in Cologne. And I read it with sadness. "

Heinrich Böll "was one of the founding members of the Cologne Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation" in Cologne and appeared "in 1956 [...] for the first time publicly as a speaker on the occasion of the Week of Brotherhood". With his 1970 speech, however, he made a break - not with the idea of ​​brotherhood, but with the way in which it is remembered annually. He opposes the well-worn rituals of the events with keynote speakers, “if possible those with names, if possible those that are out of the ordinary and yet at the same time are framed by their names. There is a tried and tested old guard who has to give their names on every humanitarian occasion; Outrage and anger at their humanitarian tremolo are beginning to sound worn out. […] We are not locked up here, only framed, and this framing in protocol, program and clothing actually contradicts the subject of the discussion, the brotherhood, which we show once a year like a votive picture during the pilgrimage week. “As still a member of the Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation , he feels indirectly responsible“ for this framework, from which I publicly, not secretly, say goodbye, from which I do not want to fall out, but rather step out. It is not a farewell to the matter, not a farewell to people, just from this framework. ”And this matter is discussed many times in his speech. He doubts whether it is justified to commemorate the victims of the past genocide, "if it can be proven that we are unable to help peoples who are dying in our present beyond the limits that our charitable impulse is set by domestic and foreign policy considerations" . Regarding the Biafra War , which he had in mind with this sentence, and many other omnipresent violations of the commandment of brotherhood, Böll comes to the conclusion: "I allow myself [...] in 1970 to express myself, emphatically and definitively to remove a framework that thus opens a week of fraternity. I propose that the organizers forego names and frames in future and let a Bundeswehr soldier, a Bundeswehr deserter and a conscientious objector speak about brotherhood. These three, each in his own way representing an ostracized minority, can do it better than me. "

For Ebeling, the form of Böll's address is “brilliant, the argumentation is emotional, if not to say flimsy”, and this because she misunderstands “the deeper meaning of such a week”. Böll's suggestion to let social minorities have their say at such events is for him “a poetic gimmick, it is absurd”. He is committed to the appearance of "well-known personalities [...] in order to draw the attention of a mostly materially committed society to ethical and religious values". For Ebeling, the Week of Fraternity is “an educational opportunity to raise the total ethical consciousness of mankind in a non-hypocritical way: that man is or should be brother of man, that our humanity unites and obliges us all. And when I say this, I don't always need to emphasize that it goes beyond national limitation, reality, possibly ugliness. Somehow I have the feeling that Böll, perhaps apart from some formulations, is essentially entirely in agreement here. If we correct wrongdoing and complacency, all that remains is the enduring ideal of human brotherhood. Böll remains committed to the matter. "

Böll remained thing connected as not least shows an event on his 100th birthday, in the form , however, as the Week of Brotherhood is also committed in 2019, continues to dominate Ebeling pragmatism in the tradition of American roots of the event. Speaking at the central opening ceremony of the Week of Brotherhood 2019 in the State Theater Nuremberg: " FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER , Federal President, DR. MARKUS SÖDER , Member of the State Parliament , Bavarian Prime Minister, DR. ULRICH MALY , Lord Mayor of the City of Nuremberg, RABBINER PROF. DR. ANDREAS NACHAMA , Jewish President of the German Coordination Council ”. Sawsan Chebli gave a laudation, Amelie Fried moderated and the Nuremberg State Philharmonic provided the background music. "Afterwards reception of the Bavarian Prime Minister and the Lord Mayor of Nuremberg."

In mid-1979 Ebeling's old friend David Hyatt, president of the NCCJ and the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ), brought him up for the management and programming of the ICCJ. Ebeling is interested, but Franz Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord is very reserved about this proposal for the ICCJ . Less than a year later, Hermann Ebeling died and was buried in the Dietzenbach cemetery. In a letter to Gretel Ebeling, Willy Brandt praised him as a friend "who will remain a dear companion in my mind."

Works

In the digital holdings of the German National Library (DNB), some articles that Ebeling wrote for the journal Das Andere Deutschland (La otra alemania) are available:

  • Nazi methods in France , in: La otra Alemania, Vol. 7, December 15, 1945, No. 108, p. 7. (under the pseudonym Harry Wilde)
  • New American literature on Germany , in: La otra Alemania, Vol. 8, August 1, 1946, No. 123, p. 14. Review of three American books on Germany after the end of World War II.
  • In the USA it begins to get dark , in: La otra Alemania, Vol. 8, July 15, 1946, No. 122, p. 3.
  • A dangerous woman , in: La otra Alemania, Vol. 8, August 15, 1946, No. 124, p. 6. The article deals with the fate of Martha Fuchs.
  • German anti-fascist fighters , in: La otra Alemania, Vol. 9, April 1, 1947, No. 139, p. 14.
  • German anti-fascist fighters , in: La otra Alemania, Vol. 9, April 15, 1947, No. 140, p. 11. Ebeling turns against the disdain for the achievements of those who worked as anti-fascists against Hitler. Using the example of a post-war event, the article turns against the equation of perpetrators and victims when viewing Germans from an American perspective.

Further publications by Hermann Ebeling:

  • Editor and editor of Everett R. Clinchy: Handbuch für Menschenrechte ( Handbook for Human Relationships) , Christian Verlag , Bad Nauheim, 1951. The original title of the book was A handbook on human relations and was published in 1949 in New York by Farrar, Straus & Co. There were also several editions of the German version.
  • Human Relations in Germany , Christian Verlag, Bad Nauheim, 1954. The DNB catalog here makes a reference to another Clinchy title: Better living through cooperation . Which original title was the basis is unclear.
  • The problem of the German mixed race children. For the second conference of the World Brotherhood on the fate of mixed race children in Germany on December 4th and 5th, 1953 in Frankfurt am Main, Vereinigung für Brüderliche Vernahmung, Frankfurt am Main, 1954.
  • Do you know your rights? Human rights and fraternity, historical development up to the present , Christian Verlag, Bad Nauheim, 1956.

swell

  • Central database of the Federal Archives (BArch): Overview of the Hermann Ebeling estate - holdings BArch N 1374 /, Hermann Ebeling estate:
    • Holdings BArch N 1374/3: Publications - typewritten manuscripts, newspaper clippings (mostly copies), handwritten notes. In this:
      • Article under the pseudonym Henry Wilde in the Sonntagsbltt (1946-1947)
      • Hermann Ebeling: Simone Weil - A reminder (The copy of a journal article does not reveal where the article was published; it was probably written down in 1977, since it referred to a book review from January 1977.)
    • Holdings BArch N 1374/12: Press clippings collection Volume 1: 1946-1948.
    • Holdings BArch N 1374/13: Press cuttings collection Volume 2: 1949
    • Holdings BArch N 1374/14: "NCCJ - The National Conference of Christians and Jews" - handwritten notes, reports, correspondence and newspaper clippings (mostly copies)
    • Holdings BArch N 1374/16: Correspondence 1976-1980
    • Holdings BArch N 1374/19: Correspondence from 1947
    • Holdings BArch N 1374/20: Biographical information (including curriculum vitae, publications, documents, newspaper clippings)
    • Holdings BArch N 1374/24: Publications. In this:
      • Final Report on Mission in Germany for the USC, September 1947.
      • Changing Concepts of Law and Order in the USA after World War II.
    • Holdings BArch N 1374/33: "Doktorhut - Verleihung" - including certificate, photo and correspondence
    • Inventory BArch N 1374/48: Correspondence, e.g. Part in English, including many letters to the editor in which he opposes the image of Germany in America that was widespread in 1946/1947.
    • Holdings BArch N 1374/49: Personal memories of Grete Ebeling (undated transcript of an interview with Grete Ebeling, dated by the Federal Archives to approx. 1987. In the interview, in relation to the child adopted by the Ebelings - Jeanne Tugendtrajch, born on 5. January 1939 in Paris - there is talk that it has just turned 45. That suggests the year 1984/85 as the origin of the interview.)
  • Hildegard Feidel-Mertz / Hermann Schnorbach: teachers in emigration. The Association of German Teacher Emigrants (1933–39) in the traditional context of the democratic teachers' movement , Beltz Verlag, Weinheim and Basel, 1981, ISBN 3-407-54114-7 , p. 229.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In the holdings BArch N 1374/20 (see sources ) there are a total of 3 CVs, the first two of them in English: one from 1941, which was probably created in connection with his entry into the USA, a second from 1942, written as Student at Temple University in Philadelphia , and finally a third from January 1975, written after his return to Germany and obviously with the aim of being able to gain a professional foothold here again. The first two résumés each end with a kind of affidavit: "I Swear that the above statements have been made thuthfully to the best of my knowledge memory."
    In the following text, reference is made to these sources only in the case of direct quotations.
  2. ↑ For the history of this school in Schöningen see: Chronik des Anna-Sophianeums
  3. ^ Curriculum vitae from 1941, holdings BArch N 1374/20. "Since my youth I have been interested in political problems and in Germany I fought especially against the danger of Nazism. Because of my political activity at the "Technische Hochschule" of Braunschweig where I was a member of the Students 'Parliament and president of the only anti-fascistic students' group, the Nazi government of the state of Braunschweig, established by the elections of September 14, 1930, took away from me the state scholarship and thus forced me finally to discontinue my studies in November, 1932. "
  4. ↑ a b c d Heinrich Sülzer: New start in the old home. The emigrant couple returned after 42 years in the USA , Offenbach-Post, July 27, 1978
  5. ↑ inventory BArch N 1374/49: Personal memories of Grete Ebeling, P. 30
  6. ↑ a b Hildegard Feidel-Mertz / Hermann Schnorbach: Teachers in Emigration , p. 229
  7. ↑ Hildegard Feidel-Mertz / Hermann Schnorbach: Teachers in Emigration , p. 229
  8. ↑ a b c d inventory BArch N 1374/3: Hermann Ebeling: Simone Weil - A memory
  9. ↑ Certificate from the “Chef du Service de l'Enseignement Général aux Mines domaniales française de la Sarre”, issued in Saarbrücken on January 31, 1935, in: inventory BArch N 1374/20
  10. ↑ There is only one article about it in the English-language WIKIPDIA: en: Sozialistische Arbeiter-Zeitung . The digitized editions of the newspaper are in the archive of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung : Sozialistische Arbeiter-Zeitung: SAZ; Central organ of the Socialist Workers' Party in Germany
  11. ^ Curriculum vitae from 1942, holdings BArch N 1374/20
  12. ↑ a b Holdings BArch N 1374/49: Personal memories of Grete Ebeling, pp. 2-4
  13. ↑ inventory BArch N 1374/49: Personal memories of Grete Ebeling, P. 26
  14. ↑ Hermann Schnorbach: Interview with Grete and Hermann Ebeling on March 4, 1977 , in: Hildegard Feidel-Mertz / Hermann Schnorbach: Lehrer in der Emigration , pp. 90–91
  15. ^ Antje Dertinger: The three exiles of Erich Lewinski, Gerlingen 1995, p. 103.
  16. ^ Antje Dertinger: The three exiles of Erich Lewinski, Gerlingen 1995, p. 104.
  17. ^ Curriculum vitae from 1941, holdings BArch N 1374/20. "I am especially interested in modern political youth problems. I made a special study of the new ideals and methods of youth education in Germany after l933, publishing various articles on that question in current papers and editing the periodical "Freie Deutsche Jugend" in Paris. I am likewise interested in the education of retarded children. "
  18. ↑ Deviating from this clinical picture, Hermann Ebeling also mentions "the brain-damaged (including my daughter)" in a manuscript from January 1975 in connection with ostracized minorities. ( Difficulties with brotherhood. A yes-word to the Week of Brotherhood 1975 , manuscript, January 13, 1975, in: inventory BArch N 1374/13)
  19. ↑ Holdings BArch N 1374/49: Personal memories of Grete Ebeling, pp. 26–27
  20. ↑ inventory BArch N 1374/49: Personal memories of Grete Ebeling, pp 7-8
  21. ↑ a b curriculum vitae from 1942, inventory BArch N 1374/20
  22. ↑ Gretel Ebeling spoke of Friday June 13th, which is a correct date according to the perpetual calendar , but the Ellis Island database records June 3rd as the arrival date. The Nyassa was the formerly German ship Bülow from the so-called Feldherren class . At the same time as the Ebelings, Kurt Salomon Maier also crossed the Atlantic on board the Nyassa .
  23. ^ A b Holdings BArch N 1374/49: Personal memories of Grete Ebeling, pp. 21–22
  24. ↑ a b c d Letter from David Hyatt, NCCJ, to Allyn Robinson, Dowling College, March 12, 1974, inventory BArch N 1374/33: “Doktorhut - Verleihung” - including certificate, photo and correspondence
  25. ↑ Holdings BArch N 1374/49: Personal memories of Grete Ebeling, p. 27 ff.
  26. ↑ a b c inventory BArch N 1374/24: Final Report on Mission in Germany for the USC (September 1947)
  27. ↑ inventory BArch N 1374/19: Correspondence from 1947
  28. ^ Erna von Pustau in the catalog of the DNB
  29. ^ German biography: Fritz Sternberg
  30. ↑ How it happens in the DNB catalog
  31. ↑ The Jews of Worms: Family Kristeller
  32. ↑ Silent Heroes Memorial Center: Kurt Müller (1902 - 1958)
  33. ↑ "The Ernst Jungkenn winery, which has been located here for more than 80 years, was once a supplier to the federal government and a wine exporter to the USA, Great Britain and Tanzania." (Quoted from the website of the advertising agency BRANDMAID located there ). The winery itself doesn't seem to exist anymore, but Ernst Jungkenn is an honorary citizen of Oppenheim and a street is named after him.
  34. ↑ The Sonntagspost belonged to the National Weeklies, Inc. publishing group from Winona (Minnesota) , which published several German-language titles. See: Journal Database: Title of National Weeklies, Inc. and State Historical Society of North Dakota: Newspapers in Winona County
  35. ↑ In the text there is the sentence: "Let us assume, however, that the Soviet Union starts the war by the fence, indirectly possibly as in Korea ...". This could be an indication that the article was written in or after 1950, i.e. after the outbreak of the Korean War .
  36. ↑ a b c inventory BArch N 1374/3: Article under the pseudonym Henry Wilde in the Sunday paper
  37. ↑ La Otra Alemania is part of the Exilpresse Digital collection of the German National Library (DNB). The essays by Hermann Ebeling / Henry Wilde can be researched via the DNB search portal.
  38. ^ Exilpresse Digital Collection : La Otra Alemania , issue 136, February 15, 1947, pp. 8–9
  39. ^ Henry Wilde: Memorandum on American policy on Germany , Sunday Post, August 1948 (inventory BArch N 1374/12)
  40. ↑ a b c d inventory BArch N 1374/20: curriculum vitae, January 1975
  41. ↑ See the article in the English-language WIKIPEDIA: en: National Conference for Community and Justice
  42. ↑ a b c Did you know it's National Brotherhood Week? . "The NCCJ was an organization founded back in 1927 in response the racial nationalism that was rising up in the country, and specifically to respond to the anti-Catholic religious bigotry which at that time had injected itself into the national politics when Catholic politician Al Smith was running for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. [...] Their members were committed to bringing diverse people together to address interfaith divisions, race relations, and social and economic barriers between people of different faiths, cultures, and ethnicities. "
  43. ^ University of Minnesota Archival Collection Guides: Everett R. Clinchy papers, 1919-1975
  44. ↑ Werner Jochmann: Foreword to: Josef Foschepoth: In the shadow of the past , pp. 7-10
  45. ↑ Josef Foschepoth: In the shadow of the past , p. 11
  46. ↑ Harry S. Truman, quoted from Josef Foschepoth: In the shadow of the past , p. 142
  47. ↑ Josef Foschepoth: In the shadow of the past , p. 13
  48. ^ Scientific service of the German Bundestag: The societies for Christian-Jewish cooperation and the week of brotherhood
  49. ↑ a b Josef Foschepoth: In the shadow of the past , p. 145 and p. 244
  50. ↑ Josef Foschepoth: In the shadow of the past , p. 146
  51. ↑ Josef Foschepoth: In the shadow of the past , p. 147 ff.
  52. ↑ In an email from the Ordenskanzlei Bundespräsidialamt dated November 14, 2019, it was confirmed once again that "Mr. Ebeling was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by the Federal President on January 9, 1956 at the suggestion of the then Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs".
  53. ↑ Josef Foschepoth: In the shadow of the past , p. 15
  54. ↑ Josef Foschepoth: In the shadow of the past , p. 14
  55. ↑ All of the following activities come from his curriculum vitae from 1975 (inventory BArch N 1374/20: curriculum vitae, January 1975)
  56. ↑ For this university see the article in the English WIKIPEDIA: Adelphi University or the website of the Adelphi University
  57. ↑ Extensive material on this can be found in the Federal Archives: Holdings BArch N 1374/34 - 46
  58. ↑ For this college see the article in the English WIKIPEDIA: Dowling College .
  59. ^ Letter from David Hyatt, NCCJ, to Allyn Robinson, Dowling College, March 12, 1974. "I know of no man more erudite, more gifted or more deserving of the honor of a doctoral degree. l hope your Committee will see the virtue of bestowing such an honor on a man, who though humble in wealth, has made a major contribution to better human relations not only in the US but throughout the world. "
  60. ^ Letter from Horst Köpke dated January 27, 1975, holdings BArch N 1374/14
  61. ^ Letter from Heinrich L. Bode dated January 2, 1975, holdings BArch N 1374/14. For Heinrich L. Bode see: Heinrich L. Bode 80 Years , Das Reichsbanner, No. 1, 32nd year, September 1988, p. 5
  62. ↑ a b Difficulties with brotherhood. A yes word for the Week of Brotherhood 1975 , manuscript, January 13, 1975, in: inventory BArch N 1374/13
  63. ^ A b Heinrich Böll and Christian-Jewish cooperation
  64. ↑ The life and work of Heinrich Böll - a chronicle
  65. ^ Heinrich Böll: Difficulties with brotherhood , p. 67
  66. ^ Heinrich Böll: Difficulties with brotherhood , p. 68
  67. ^ Heinrich Böll: Difficulties with brotherhood , p. 69
  68. ^ Heinrich Böll: Difficulties with brotherhood , p. 71
  69. ^ Program for the opening of the Week of Brotherhood 2019 in Nuremberg
  70. ^ Letter from David Hyatt, June / July 1979, holdings BArch N 1374/16: Correspondence 1976-1980
  71. ^ Frankfurter Rundschau, May 2, 1980
personal data
SURNAME Ebeling, Hermann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Henry Wilde
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American educator, emigrant, journalist, activist of Christian-Jewish understanding
DATE OF BIRTH August 10, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Neuwegersleben
DATE OF DEATH April 25, 1980
Place of death Dietzenbach