The Night of the Generals (41 page)

"Generals' decisions, therefore, are life-or-death decisions. They do not affect the odd individual alone, as in the case of judges and doctors, but thousands of human beings simultaneously. Indeed, the total losses incurred in wars conducted by generals can run into millions.

"Teachers can either spoil their pupils or show them the true nature of beauty, dignity and worth; politicians can either stupefy nations and pander to their basest instincts or rouse them to a genuine sense of freedom and justice; but generals make decisions which directly affect human lives, and continue to do so, again and again, for as long as they remain generals.

"A general knows that in war-time he must be prepared to take this hardest of all decisions unflinchingly. That being so, he has no choice but to approach his task with profound humility. He must be fully aware of his special relationship to the highest price a human being can pay--unless, of course, he is inspired by a ruthless quest for power, fatal stupidity or a penchant, conscious or unconscious, for bloodshed, all of which lead, in the last analysis, to murder.

"It is a cheap excuse, nothing more, to mouth platitudes like "sacrifices are inevitable" or "the innocent always suffer with the guilty" or "human beings are the manure of history because their death prepares the ground for national greatness." In the view of certain historians, the road that leads to a better world has always been paved with corpses--not that they themselves are, or would wish to be, among those corpses.

"Yet how can anyone who remembers his mother, who has known and loved a fellow-being, who knows what children are, even look on human life as a form of war material to be employed with mechanical indifference?

"Such generals do exist, but there are other kinds.

"Some generals are 'soldier's generals' who do their best to live like the humblest private soldier under their command. They try to think like him and they often die like him. General Modersohn (principal character in the novelOfficer Factory, by the same author) was one such, and he is far from unique.

"There are other generals who not only serve their country selflessly and responsibly but whose thoughts range far beyond their immediate horizon, who ponder on the meaning of life, the merits of their nation and their personal responsibility not only toward the individual but toward history as a whole. The men of July 20th, junior officers as well as generals, belonged to this category, as does General Kahlenberge. Many of them proved their worth during their country's lowest ebb and darkest hour.

"Still other generals do no more than act as willing lackeys of the strong-man of the moment. But what may have been understandable in Kaiser Wilhelm's day becomes unscrupulous, if not criminally irresponsible, under a man like Hitler. Utterly foolish as it may seem to us today, some generals genuinely believed in Hitler, not that this was necessarily a mark of dishonour. Others, again, half-believed in him but maintained certain reservations, while still others inured themselves to the idea that it was their patriotic duty to believe in him. General von Seydlitz-Gabler may be classified as one of the latter.

"There were, however, a considerable number who were well aware that Hitler and his clique constituted a danger. In private, they called their Supreme Commander "the sewer-rat" or simply "that swine." They reviled him, abused him or poked fun at him, probably with justification in each case. Yet it is an undeniable and incomprehensible fact that the same generals did not hesitate to send thousands upon thousands of poor, brave, unwitting soldiers to their deaths for the sake of the man they called a sewer-rat and a swine.

"Still other generals were, and are, merely artisans of war--regimental sergeant-majors on a grand scale. They drill their men for a hero's death in the simple belief that they are doing the right thing and are immune to criticism. They have equally simple explanations for their activity and presumably cherish an implicit faith in them. They enjoy talking about love of country, defence of home and hearth, preservation of freedom, call of duty. They spoke of Hitler and Germany in the same breath, never faltered, never erred, and far-sightedly defended the West against Communism. Men like these fight and die, armed with water-tight explanations for doing both.

"It is frightening that men of this type should become generals. In almost every other sphere of life, people are prepared to take such individuals for granted. We are familiar, for instance, with business men who will gladly ruin their competitors for the sake of profit, with industrial tycoons and financiers who try to squeeze out rival concerns with every means at their command and even enlist government support in their endeavours, with public idols who turn out to be monumental fools or ravening sexual hyenas, with corrupt and power-hungry politicians who finally lose their ability to exploit the benign gullibility of the masses.

"In the realm of generalship, however, we cannot afford any imperfections, ambiguities or inadequacies. The price of failure has to be paid in blood, and errors which might be termed 'human' in any other sphere of life are fatal here. In the final analysis, generals are entrusted with the fate of nations, and it is they who make the ultimate decisions.

"Generals are unable to look into their soldiers' eyes while making such decisions, yet if they do not think of them while doing so they have failed both God and their fellow-men. Countries and nations--even generals--depend for their existence on the individual soldier. Anyone who sees fit to burn human beings like coal is not a human being himself.

"Even when generals are ready to die for their men, it does not follow that they know how to live for them. To do this successfully entails at least an attempt to convince the soldier that he is not just another entry in a casualty list.

"Some generals, perhaps a substantial number, try to cultivate this state of mind. Others have abandoned the struggle, and still others regard the questions as one of supreme indifference. The dead of their divisions and armies are merely laurel-leaves in the victor's crowns which are their constant preoccupation. Their path is paved with corpses.

"From such an assortment of men, all of whom bear the common title of general--unjustifiably, since one is unlike the next, all are dissimilar, and insignia of rank are no indication of merit--from such an assortment of men, constantly exposed to the gravest and most extreme demands, there sometimes emerges a human enigma.

"Ever since the beginning of time, humanity has occasionally thrown up creatures of appalling and monstrous perversity. Some of them have been called kings, others statesmen; at least one was a Pope and others have been soi-disant scientists or outwardly respectable citizens. Some, needless to say, have been soldiers.

"Tanz was the personification of war--of a war which was nothing more nor less than a cruel, pointless, uncontrolled blood-bath. A man who devotes himself to war in the same way as others fall prey to an irresistible vice is exactly like someone infected with the plague, syphilis or any other virulent disease.

"Thus the face of the general named Tanz--christened General Totentanz ('Dance of Death') by one of his men--was merely the mask of war, an iron mask concealing blood-lust, destruction--perhaps, even, Hell itself."

FINAL REPORT

ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS RELATING TO THE "TANZ CASE"

Statement by Wyzolla, made a few days after the foregoing events and taken in West Berlin at a so-called emergency recording session: "It was like this: I only did my duty in the East, that's all. Of course, I had a good think about things--saw a lot of mistakes, too. Wyzolla, I said, that's not right, you can't do things like that. What mistakes? Well, for instance, take all this fuss about war-mongers. Take Adenauer, for instance. He's one--yes, that's what they tried to make out. Well, I thought it over and I said to myself: Wyzolla, I said to myself, that can't be true. How can a man who's never seen service be a war-monger? And they said to me: There you are -that's just it."

"And so it went on. I got pretty puzzled sometimes, I can tell you. For instance, they told me Krupp was a war criminal. Well, I found that easier to believe--all those guns and so on. But then I read something about the Leipzig Fair--and what do you think it said? Krupp was exhibiting there. Yes, sir, in the German Democratic Republic. Well, I reckoned that if Krupp was a war criminal and in the G. D. R. as well he couldn't be in West Germany. So which side are the war criminals on? You see how they pull the wool over your eyes?

"You want to know how I joined the army? I was drafted. No nonsense about volunteering. The most you can say is, I joined up to avoid being sent to a forced labour camp or a uranium mine as an enemy of peace. What's that, press-ganged? Yes, that's right. Not that I've got anything against military service as such. Someone's got to do it, but not on the wrong side. Anyway, now I'm--what do you call it?--following the dictates of my conscience.

"I don't know a thing about Tanz. Orders are orders and duty is duty. I was his driver, that's all."

Letter from Prévert's secretary to a newspaper editor who had requested answers to specific questions: "... M. Prévert greatly regrets that he is unable to accede to your request. His visit to Berlin in July 1956 was of a purely official nature. M. Prévert considers that it would be improper to disclose any details, especially as no written notes were kept and he was not engaged in any specific inquiries.

"M. Prévert also regrets to inform you that the files appertaining to the murder in the Rue de Londres in July 1944 are not available for inspection. He is only at liberty to tell you that, as far as the Sûreté is concerned, the matter is closed and is no longer being treated as an unsolved case.

"Furthermore, M. Prévert wishes to draw your attention to the fact that the name Hartmann, which figures repeatedly in your questions, does not appear in our records. No one by that name had anything to do with the abovementioned case or any other case within our jurisdiction. Assertions to the contrary may render you liable to severe penalties. M. Prévert hopes that you will profit by his advice..."

Closing remarks from Kahlenberge's lecture: "... I venture to submit, therefore, that it is impossible to dismiss all that has happened in the past few decades as a tragic and deplorable, but unique and exceptional phenomenon. What confronts us is the dissolution of a social stratum which has been inexorably bypassed--perhaps I should say, trampled upon--by the march of history. Within the brief span of half a century, the German officer has had to come to terms with Prussia, Kaiser and Reich, with the Weimar Republic, with Hitler, with democracy and, finally, with ideologies and power blocs which span whole continents.

"It is stupidity, self-delusion or conscious deception to go on talking of the good old values--e. g., of a tradition which people not only cherish but propose to borrow from substantially in future. What could be more ridiculous than to put yesterday's bankrupt in charge of tomorrow's business?

"Only fundamental changes in structure can produce new and hardy growth. We do not want a further instalment from a torn, dog-eared, obsolete history book. We must have the courage to make a fresh start, deliberately and unflinchingly. The alternative is self-destruction."(This lecture was never delivered.)

Excerpt from Frau Wilhelmine von Seydlitz-Gabler's diary: "I have seen many things in my time, but the Tanz affair shook me to the core. He was such a magnificent person. I was one of the last people he spoke to. 'Dear lady,' he said, 'how wonderful it is to be among friends again.' He was chivalrous to the very last.

"Herbert considerately spared me a last sight of the man we had valued so highly. 'Remember him as he was', he said. Herbert is like that.

"Kahlenberge--my friend no longer--thought fit to tell us a story like something out of a penny dreadful. It was so indelicate and disrespectful to the dead that I was speechless with anger. Herbert merely nodded and said: 'Who knows the real truth about anything?' "

From a letter to the Author by Herr Kahlert, the historian, dated 18th December 1961: "... I can assure you that I followed the events in question very closely, if only for academic reasons. Exhaustive inquiries have led me to conclude that the suppositions still entertained by a few individuals today--entirely without justification, I hasten to add--spring from a series of fortuitous coincidences and questionable deductions.

"To sum up the result of my investigations: General Tanz was not murdered by either side. Furthermore, there is no question of suicide. I can adduce a whole mass of convincing evidence, all of it psychologically sound, to support my contention. I will not go into details here. Suffice it is to say that, judging by his natural disposition (on which there is ample corroborative evidence), Tanz was not the sort of man to raise a hand against himself.

"The only valid inference is that it must have been an accident, probably caused while cleaning a pistol.

"As for the absolutely fantastic allegations made by Hartmann, I believe I have already made it clear that I had ample opportunity to study that unfortunate individual at close quarters. He has undoubtedly had a hard time, but my sympathy for him cannot be allowed to obscure the plain and unvarnished truth: the man is a pathological liar."

Remarks made by the popular recording star Britta B. during the later stages of a party held in honour of an internationally famous film actor on the occasion of the première of an American film dealing with the rehabilitation of Germany: "He was crazy about me--General Tanz, I mean. Not that he showed it, of course, but a woman can tell these things, deep down inside.

"The press breathed down my neck for days afterwards. Well, it was only to be expected with a sensation like that, wasn't it? It didn't last long, though. The story only made the front page for one day. They ran it on the inside pages for the next three days, and two or three weeks later the subject was dead as a door-nail. All the same, my disc--you know, Kiss me when the sun shines, kiss me in the rain--stayed in the Top Twenty for nearly four months. Just shows you, doesn't it?