Volume 19 No 2 • Summer 2010 Friedrich Franz Karl Hecker, 1811–1881 Part II Kevin Kurdylo
As the 150th anniversary of the begin- was convinced that the contract of ning of the Civil War approaches, we the Union could not be broken by a will examine the role German-born minority of states,2 and he believed immigrants played during that histori- firmly that each man should take cal era. The first section of this article on Friedrich Hecker (Spring 2010) his place according to his abilities. examines his career in Europe before Because he felt Sigel was the more he came to this country. This section experienced and competent soldier, focuses on his activities in America. he was prepared to do his part as an infantryman if need be. There were ealizing that Lincoln’s elec- others, including some of his promi- tion as president meant an nent German-American friends, end to compromise on the who felt Hecker should lead his own Rissue of slavery, southern states began troops. to secede from the Union in the first In May of 1861, without Hecker’s months of 1861. Propelled by the knowledge (though capitalizing on same strong beliefs he held during his reputation), recruitment had be- the Revolution of 1848, the fifty-year- gun in Chicago for what was called Colonel Friedrich Hecker old Hecker answered Lincoln’s call the 1st Hecker Jäger [Hunter] Regi- to arms, and he crossed the Missis- ment, later known as the 24th Illinois and not enough privates, and a severe sippi River by rowboat to join Francis Volunteers, and Hecker was offered discipline problem, the latter exac- (Franz) Sigel’s 3rd Missouri Volunteer command of this regiment with the erbated by friction between Hecker Regiment—as a private.1 Hecker rank of colonel. At first he declined, and his subordinate officers. His -de still wishing that someone with bet- termination to have European-style ter leadership skills would be chosen, discipline and order were frustrated INSIDE but attestations of loyalty from Ger- when others would not fulfill the du- man-American soldiers and his own • Digitizing Immigrant Letters ties he gave them. Still wounded by idealism made him change his mind. • Europe’s Revolutions and the the defeat of 1848, Hecker was prone Whatever visions he may have had U.S. Civil War, Book Review to paranoia and explosive outbursts. of leading well-trained men commit- • 1917 Phrase Book He felt that nativist forces in the ad- ted to principles of the greatest good • Friends Annual Meeting ministration were responsible for his were soon shattered by grim realities. • Jewish Girls in Nuremberg lack of supplies, and that immorality The 24th Illinois, comprised pri- during the Nazi Years and laziness were rampant among the marily of German and Hungarian • Ads from Our Archives troops. After seven months, Hecker immigrants, suffered from lack of • Friends Profile: resigned command of the 24th Il- support and supplies, continuous Pamela Tesch linois and returned to his farm, once orders to march, too many officers • Farewell to Dr. Henry Peters Continued on page 4 DIRECTOR’S CORNER
Greetings, Friends Tangermünde, with old city walls and lovely church towers. and Readers! Meanwhile, back in Madison, we ummer has finally come, and have completed some projects and for many of us this means are getting ready for the challenges a change of scenery. I will that lie ahead. The MKI’s twenty- Sspend a couple of months in Europe, fifth anniversary festivities were over including five weeks directing the more than a year ago, but I have just academic program of the Som- finished editing the volume of con- merschule Wust in Saxony-Anhalt, ference presentations from last April in the former eastern part of Ger- (2009), which will appear later this many. Check us out on the Internet year with Peter Lang under the title at
2 REPORT
Minnesota Center Digitizing Immigrant Letters Kevin Kurdylo
n mid-May I was invited to take riences associated with migration. range of ethnic groups, revealing what part in a symposium hosted A preliminary model now avail- the groups have in common or what by the Immigration History able online features approximately is unique to each. As the IHRC elo- IResearch Center (IHRC) at the Uni- 35 letters (dated between 1880 and quently describes it, the project will versity of Minnesota. I was happy to 1960) written to and by immigrants be of interest to those “in an array of visit this important center in our field in North America. The letters are fields related to migration, history, of studies, and to learn about their drawn from six collections held in literature, language and linguistics, significant and ambitious new project the IHRC’s archives and represent geography, communication studies, to digitize and make accessible let- writings in Italian, Finnish, Latvian, anthropology, sociology, and other ters written in languages other than Ukrainian, and Croatian. They were fields . . . as well as a general audience English that were exchanged in the chosen because they succeed in con- that will appreciate the very personal years between 1850 and 1970 by im- veying strong emotional content in and often vivid stories the letters tell.” migrants in America and their loved their descriptions of the life-altering This is a challenging and undeniably ones who remained behind. The proj- emigration experience. Five to seven richly rewarding project. Ethical is- ect’s goal is to transcribe and trans- letters have been selected from each sues of “reading another person’s mail” late samples of such foreign-language collection, and each has been digi- remain important, and, while tran- letters, which are held in archives in tized, transcribed, and translated. scription and translation will occupy North America, Europe, and Asia. The Web pages include historical a great deal of time and effort, simply An interactive and contextual Web background and contextual infor- locating the letters may be a daunting site will be developed to encourage mation on the letter-writers, their task. Libraries, archives, and institutes the preservation and use of these and migrations, homelands, and lives, as are easy to identify and contact, but other letters by diverse audiences, well as the locations in which the let- how do we gain access to all those let- including teachers, students, family ters were originally written. Letters ters held in family collections, bound historians, and genealogists. by those writing in the German lan- with ribbon and stored in boxes in The letters reveal the very hu- guage—as well as many others—will attics and closets? man side of globalization during a be included in years to come. As the The IHRC’s pilot project may be period when pen, ink, postal ser- digital resources grow, researchers viewed at vices, and steamships provided the will be able to compare and contrast
3 again disillusioned.3 acknowledge the response of eth- tary action, at the Battle of Chancel- Nevertheless, Hecker’s eagerness to nic groups to the call to arms. The lorsville. take part remained, even in the face promotion of Franz Sigel to major A surprise attack at twilight by of repeated defeats and his advancing general was likely such an instance— Confederate forces under “Stone- age and declining health. He was a the enthusiastic loyalty of German wall” Jackson fell upon the exposed man who lived for action; accord- Americans for this leader of the position of the XI Corps, and chaos ing to his friend Caspar Butz, who Baden revolutionary forces ensured resulted as panicked Union soldiers visited him in the winter of 1861, his usefulness despite his lackluster scattered and fell back through the Hecker was oppressed by inactivity performance in the Union army. And ranks. Seeking to rally his troops, “as the world around him glows with it is possible Carl Schurz was calling Hecker grabbed his regiment’s flag the flames of war.”4 Butz and oth- in a part of the considerable political and stepped forward with a loud cry. ers—including Carl Schurz, Lorenz debt owed him by Lincoln when he Finding his way impeded by retreat- Brentano, and Emil Preetorius—were received his first military commis- ing Union soldiers, he mounted his working on Hecker’s behalf to find sion. Hecker, who at first was eager to horse to encourage his men. He was him a new military position, writ- join the Union army as a private, was then shot in the upper thigh and fell ing letters and petitions, and putting elected colonel by his soldiers, ac- from the saddle. In a fitting twist on editorials in the German-American cording to the rules of volunteer regi- the story of a bullet being stopped newspapers. Immediately following ments; but a promotion to brigadier by a Bible, the fiercely anti-clerical Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation general would have to come from Hecker was saved from a more seri- in September 1862, a new Hecker authorities in Washington. Sabine ous wound by his snuff box. regiment, the 82nd Illinois, was or- Freitag writes that Hecker was cared for in Wash- ganized. The ethnic makeup of this Hecker probably never de- ington by his brother-in-law, Dr. regiment, like the 24th, was predomi- sired anything more in his Heinrich Tiedemann; he later went to nantly German—along with some life than an official promo- Philadelphia with his sister Charlotte. Swiss, Irish, and Norwegians—and it tion. It would have been a During his convalescence he was also included a Jewish company or- repayment for his patrio- incensed by articles in the English- ganized and outfitted by the Chicago tism as well as a personal language newspapers, led by an of- 5 community. The 82nd fought in a compensation for his defeat ficial report of General Hooker, that remarkable number of military en- at Kandern. He would have blamed the fiasco at Chancellorsville gagements during its term of service regarded it as deserved offi- on the cowardice and deficient pa- (both under Hecker’s short period of cial recognition for a citizen triotism of the XI Corps’s “running command and also later), including who had committed himself Dutchmen.” Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Chat- selflessly to the common Hecker returned to his regiment tanooga, Lookout Mountain, Resaca, good and the preservation in early July, and, according to his New Hope Church, Kolb’s Farm, of the republic.6 adjunct Eugen Weigel, he fell “once Peachtree Creek, Sherman’s March more into his madness about in- to the Sea, and Bentonville. Hecker The 82nd Illinois was part of the trigues. . . he thinks everyone in the served as colonel of the 82nd only 3rd Division of the XI Corps of the world wants to be rid of him.” 8 And until the beginning of 1864, when Army of the Potomac, and the 3rd with the publication of another of- he once again resigned, this time Division was under the command ficial report by General Hooker—this 7 because he felt himself mistreated by of Carl Schurz. At the beginning of one critical of operations at Wau- his superiors, and especially because 1863, the entire XI Corps, as part of hatchie, Tennessee, in late October of he had been passed over for promo- the Army of the Potomac, came un- 1863—Hecker’s sensitivity to nativist tion. der the command of Major General prejudices was elevated to outrage at The government did use military Joseph Hooker. In May of that year, what he considered an insult to his promotions and distinctions to Hecker saw his most dramatic mili- honor and a threat to his chances for
4 promotion.9 Following a court of inquiry— which exonerated both Hecker and Schurz—Hecker requested an honor- able release from military service, The Hecker monument in which was granted. His support- Benton Park, St. Louis, ers tried to have him promoted to designed by Ernest C. Janssen. brigadier general even after his res- A granite obelisk bearing the ignation, but without success, even dates 1848 (German Revolu- tion) and 1861 (Civil War), though the recognition would have as well as a bronze portrait of honored the entire German popula- Hecker in relief (sculpted by tion of Illinois. Charles Steubenraugh), the memorial was dedicated in Hecker returned to his farm and, 1882 before a crowd of 15,000 despite bouts of ill health, resumed people. his successful career breeding fine horses and cattle and growing ex- cellent grapes for wine. When the economic woes of the 1870s began to affect him, Hecker capitalized on his health had greatly deteriorated. His oratorical skills, making the rounds lungs were infected, and his breath- as a lecturer, often on behalf of the ing was difficult. By March of 1881 Republican Party. While the lectures he knew he did not have long to live. did earn him a fair income, Hecker In a letter to Caspar Butz he declares, any battlefield; instead, it is rooted in also viewed them—in his typically “the old machine is finished. March his devotion to ideals—in the New idealistic manner—as a way to en- will take me. My pains in the heart World particularly his resistance to lighten the people and promote civic and lungs are such that I have given slavery—and his willingness to act virtues. His topics included women’s up hope of recovery.”11 He died on upon those ideals. He is honored as rights (he was against them), railroad his farm in Summerfield, Illinois, on a hero, and through the acclaim ac- monopolies and markets, the impor- March 24th. His funeral is described corded to his life and experiences, the tance of separating church and state in the memoirs of Gustave Koerner: achievements of the Forty-Eighters both in Germany and in America it was a momentous affair, attended as a group have been recognized. (especially in the matter of educa- by more than a thousand people, Their efforts in the years leading up tion), and the influence of journalists. including representatives from to the Civil War, as well as their ac- The latter topic revealed a personal Hecker’s regiments; Turners; mem- tions during the conflict, changed the interest of Hecker’s, as he made fre- bers of several German, French, and course of our country’s history. But quent contributions to the German- Swiss republican associations; and beyond assisting the Union cause, language press, often generating con- friends and admirers. Koerner writes their dedication and commitment troversy with his strident attacks on that “it was a singular coincidence also succeeded in transforming them the Catholic Church and his strong that Hecker . . . was taken to his rest into citizens with full allegiance to opinions on other matters. by a guard of honor commanded by their new homeland. As Ella Lonn Hecker’s disdain for religion col- one of the stoutest of Confederate has written, “As a result of the war ored his thoughts of death; he affect- soldiers.”12 they abandoned completely the lin- ed a crude man-of-the-earth attitude, Hecker’s status as an icon in both gering hope of a renewed revolution stating that most of humanity in the German and American history does in Germany. . . . In truth, they now end is nothing “but dung, muck, not rest upon his achievements on dust, dirt.”10 By late 1880 Hecker’s Continued on page 14
5 BOOK REVIEW
The Influence of the European Revolutions of 1848–1849 on Antebellum America Cora Lee Kluge
Distant Revolutions: 1848 and the a transnational context,” rather than played by the Forty-eighters in Challenge to American Exceptional- “as separated from the rest of the American events of the mid-nine- ism. By Timothy Mason Roberts. world” (p. 2), he uses “both the news teenth century was not so unknown. Charlottesville: University of Virginia and images of those revolutions and “Who could have foreseen,” asks Press, 2009. xi + 256 pp. $40.00. certain significant European revolu- Edmund J. James, President of the tionaries who crossed the Atlantic” here is a great deal to praise University of Chicago and Professor (pp. 19–20). Beyond Louis Kossuth, in this monograph, written of Political Science, speaking at me- however, he names only a couple of by historian Timothy Mason morial services for Carl Schurz, “significant” European revolutionar- TRoberts. Looking beyond national that some insignificant ies who brought information to this boundaries, the author persuasively skirmishes in Southern Ger- country, essentially remaining blind argues that the American conflicts many and some brief brawls to the fact that an estimated 2,000 to culminating in the Civil War were an in the streets of Berlin and 4,000 of them had come to the Unit- extension of the European rebel- a few other German cities ed States as refugees and remained as lions of 1848–1849. More narrowly in the year 1848 were des- influential citizens. Roberts’s knowl- defined, Roberts’s topic is Americans’ tined to set in motion forces perceptions of and reactions to these which on the bloodstained “distant” revolutions against Euro- According to Roberts, the battle-fields of the new pean monarchies. The uprisings were Civil War was “America’s world were to turn the scale welcomed at the beginning, until ultimate response to the again and again in favor reports of violence shocked Ameri- 1848 revolutions.” of freedom and unity and cans into seeing things in a different crown at last the forces of light: as a dangerous antithesis to the the North with victory and gradual and peaceful changes that edge of the role of the Forty-eighters thus deal a death-blow to typified this country’s history. Never- appears limited. His only comment one of the most horrible and theless, through the 1850s, America’s about Carl Schurz, for example, is revolting forms of human liberal leaders were grappling with that his connection with the Forty- slavery. And yet so it was. slavery, abolitionism, and growing eighters “suggests” their importance (Deutsch-Amerikanische divisions between the North and the “to the formation of the Republican Geschichtsblätter, July 1906) Party and the radicalization of the South; and because of recent events For James the influential refugees antislavery movement after 1848” in Europe, violence and war were from the European revolutions of (p. 184). And the Turnvereine he de- increasingly viewed as a means of ef- 1848–1849 became the deciding fac- scribes—surprisingly—as “Free Ger- fecting change. Incidents in “bleeding tor in the policies of the Civil War man Societies” that “brought radical Kansas” and at Harper’s Ferry were era. They were idealists, not com- ideas to the South,” including some signs of this. Roberts states that the promisers; they were willing to stake far-fetched notions, “such as popular Civil War was “America’s ultimate their lives and their careers once referenda as a basis for U.S. constitu- response to the 1848 revolutions” (p. again—as they had in Europe—on tional amendments, abolition of the 20). the side of the Union and of freedom. presidency, and government owner- Nevertheless, from some points of James would agree with Roberts that ship of railroads” (p. 128). view, Roberts’s work falls short. To there was a connection between the interpret American history “within More than 100 years ago, the part Continued on page 15
6 COLLECTION FEATURE
“Where Is the War Ministry?”: Useful Phrases in German, 1917 Cora Lee Kluge
International Conversation Book: Year 19181 lists twenty-four titles in English–French, English–German, the category of phrase books alone, Combined. Words and Phrases Used not including the one we now pos- in Military Operations and in Every- sess, most of which are for learning Day Intercourse with the Pronuncia- French, though some are for Ger- tion Made Easy. Philadelphia: John C. man. They bear wonderful and—at Winston, 1917. 118 pp. least to my modern ear—marvelously misleading titles: “French Tips for or my birthday this year one the American Soldier and Sailor,” of my sisters gave me a copy of “My French Companion,” or “French, the pocket-sized book named à la Française.” Beginning in 1917, Fabove, which immediately intrigued numerous Student Army Training me, especially because of its publica- Corps courses in foreign languages tion date: 1917. She had found it at a were also established in leading edu- flea market somewhere and thought cational institutions in the country, of me—and of the MKI, where it and the methods of teaching modern will find its home. This little booklet, foreign languages were (once again) according to its preface, is “designed under review. Thus those of us who to be of use to officers and men of the have learned—or even taught—about “Yetzt ist er ausser Schussweite” (It regular and medical service, com- the strong nativist sentiments of this is out of range now). Of course, all missary, transport, and aviation, in period that nearly meant the end of of the German phrases come with a relations with the French and Belgian foreign-language instruction in this suggested pronunciation: the laun- Allies and enemy prisoners.” country may have to rethink things. dress = dee vesh’er-in; the butcher More familiar than special conver- What sort of phrases can one learn = dair fly’sher. But would I really sational language programs during from the German portion of my little need to say “ine’a shtat’ bom-bar- World War I for members of the booklet? There are three pages under deer’en”—or ask for “das kreeks’ min- military are those that were insti- the category of “arrival”; three un- niss-tair’-ee-oom”??2 Maybe I better tuted during World War II, when der “wounded”; and more than five stick to learning from our modern the United States, realizing that flu- under “military terms.” Useful terms phrase books . . . ency in foreign languages was vital for “after an action,” filling more than to members of the military stationed two pages, include “Ihr seid geschla- in Europe, made them a priority NOTES gen” (You are defeated); “Der Sieg ist 1Published in New York by Dodd, Mead, and in the Army Specialized Training unser” (The victory is ours); “Tragen Co., 1919. Program (ASTP). And yet, a quick Sie ihn in das Feld-lazarett” (Carry 2These phrases mean “to bomb a city” and “the check proves that there was indeed him to the field hospital); and “Habt war ministry.” a sudden market in 1917 for phrase Ihr die Bruecke zerstoert?” (Did you books, brief grammars, dictionaries, destroy the bridge?). In the category and texts containing reading selec- “the airman,” one finds a charming tions. Frank Moore Colby’s New quaintness, as well as mistakes: “Ich International Year Book: A Compen- bin Fluegler” (I am an airman), or dium of the World’s Progress for the
7 REPORT
Impressions of the 2010 Friends Annual Meeting in Milwaukee Antje Petty
n a beautiful, sunny first ferent occupants of the house and the What the pictures did not show were day of May over seventy stories of the efforts of the Museum colors. Having heard that this room Friends of the Max Kade to restore the Mansion to the way was referred to as the ‘red room,’ OInstitute gathered at the Captain it was when the Pabst family lived the Museum commissioned fabric Frederick Pabst Mansion in Mil- there. for furniture and drapes, exactly waukee for the annual meeting. The There is, for example, the “parlor,” replicating the original patterns in Mansion had brought in a number a French Rococo room that was the pinkish-reddish tones. No sooner of volunteers who expertly guided private domain of Mrs. Maria Pabst. was the parlor restored to its “original us through the house in groups of It was used for afternoon socials and look,” however, when a swath of the 12 to15 people. And what a house as a retreat for female guests after original fabric surfaced-and it was it is! Everybody was impressed by dinner. When the Museum wanted green! the different character of each room, to restore this room a few years ago, After the hour-long Mansion the quality of the workmanship, the it had a number of black-and-white tour, the Friends gathered for their decorations and furnishings, and pictures that showed exactly what business meeting. We reflected the technological features that were furniture stood where, what art on a busy year at the Max Kade state-of-the art at the time. Equally was on the wall, and what patterns Institute and looked forward interesting were the stories of the dif- were used in fabrics and wall paper. to another busy year that will Photo courtesy of Jim Steakley. Jim of courtesy Photo
The MKI Annual Meeting at the Pabst Mansion.
8 Photo courtesy of Ellen of courtesy Soto. Photo
A bit of Europe in Milwaukee: Mader’s Restaurant. be dominated by the Institute’s Southern German meal, wine and impending move as well as the beer, and a good time. It was a great “Library Project” campaign. Also, day, and we are especially grateful three Board of Directors members to Peter Arvedson, who organized were elected to second three-year everything and made the whole event terms: Peter Arvedson, Charles run smoothly. Thank you, Peter! James, and Karyl Rommelfanger. The business meeting was followed by a 30-minute presentation on the history of the Pabst Mansion by the Mansion’s historian, John Eastberg. At a brief gathering of Photo courtesy of Jim Steakley. Jim of courtesy Photo the new Board afterwards, the following officers were elected: President, Karyl Rommelfanger; Vice President, Charles James; Secretary, Gary Gisselman; Treasurer, Peter Arvedson; Assistant to the Treasurer, Peter Monkmeyer. All business taken care of, the Friends moved to Mader’s restaurant, where they enjoyed a traditional
Celebrating in style at the Annual Dinner.
9 REPORT
The Fate of Young Jewish Girls at a Secondary School in Nuremberg during the Nazi Period Carolin Tappe
ccounts of what happened in the Findelgasse School during in 1935, Jews officially became sec- to the Jews in Germany and the year 1933–1934, together with a ond-class citizens, and communica- in German-occupied coun- number of reports sent in by survi- tion between them and non-Jews was Atries during the Third Reich usually vors as their reactions to question- declared a punishable offense. The either take the global approach (the naires. These shed light on their atrocities of Crystal Night, the night millions of victims of the Holocaust life at the school and outside the of the 9th to the 10th of November or the thousands who shared this classroom after the rise to power of 1938, finally persuaded most Jews or that common experience), or National Socialism, and relate how still living in Germany that they no else they focus on the stories of an some escaped the cruelty of the Nazi longer had a future there. In all, 5,638 individual or a very small group. A regime to begin again in another thin volume published as a collabora- country. tive report by a group of students When Adolf Hitler came to power in Nuremberg is different. The in 1933, the Jewish girls of the Fin- students had asked questions about delgasse School immediately experi- Jewish students at their school* dur- enced dramatic changes in their daily ing the period from 1933 to 1945, lives. The school’s liberal principal, at a time when it had been a public Fritz Uhlemayr, lost his position and school for girls named Städtisches was replaced by Dr. Anton Lämmer- Mädchenlyzeum mit Mädchenreal- meyer, a Nazi who led the school re- gymnasium Findelgasse (hereafter lentlessly according to the principles “Findelgasse School”): whether Jew- of the National Socialist Party. He ish girls had been enrolled, and also began with a full analysis of the po- what had become of them. When litical views of all his colleagues and it became clear that the subject had arranged the removal of those who not been investigated and little was were “unreliable”; his next goal was known, a three-year school project to expel the Jewish girls. began to take shape that involved Meanwhile, outside of school the difficult archival research, occupied lives of the Jewish students became many hours of the students’ time, increasingly difficult. Their parents’ and culminated in the publication of businesses were boycotted, their priv- the report. The work was assisted and ileges to practice their professions supported by many groups, including were revoked, their personal proper- librarians, survivors’ organizations, ty was seized, and many were forced city officials, translators, publishers, to leave their homes to live in one or and local businesses. another of the city’s fifty-two Juden- “Verfolgt, vertrieben, ermordet” häuser (Jews’ houses). When the (Persecuted, Banished, Murdered) Nuremberg Race Laws were passed contains short biographies of the 120 Findelgasse School in Nuremberg with the Jewish synagogue Jewish students who were enrolled (destroyed in Crystal Night) in the background. Photograph from 1918.
10 Jewish inhabitants of Nuremberg left the city between 1933 and 1939, and at least 2,326 of Nuremberg’s Jewish population died in the Holocaust. In the early years after the Nazi takeover, a number of the Findelgasse School’s Jewish students attempted to complete their education at other institutions, including the more lib- eral Labenwolfschule in Nuremberg or the Jewish school in Fürth, for which there was a long waiting list. A Jewish vocational college was also established in Nuremberg in Septem- ber 1934, and professional retraining for adults as well as secondary school completion for those who had been Photo of one class of the Findelgasse School, 1933. Numbers 1 through 7 are Jewish students, expelled was offered for a while. Ap- and number 8 is their Jewish teacher. parently, a number of Jewish girls chose an apprenticeship, a nurse’s 1939, while many of their relatives NOTE training program, or a course in a remained in Germany and died in “Verfolgt, vertrieben, ermordet”: Das Schicksal der Jüdinnen an einer Nürnberger Oberschule Jewish housekeeping school that had the Holocaust. Some of the students *1933–1945. Ed. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Schulge- been established in 1926 near Mu- remained in England permanently, schichte des Städtischen Sigena-Gymnasiums nich. Nürnberg unter der Leitung von Wolf M. or later emigrated to Canada or the Hergert. Nürnberg: Sandberg Verlag, 2007. In the final analysis, the only escape United States. 111 pages. from the terror of life as a Jew in In all, of the 120 Jewish girls in Germany was to leave for a far-away the Findelgasse School in the year Carolin Tappe grew up in the village of place, as emigration to a neighbor- 1933–1934, at least eleven died in Danstedt in former East Germany. She ing country such as the Netherlands, the Holocaust, while only one of the spent a year in Ohio (2007–2008) and returned to the United States (fall, 2009) to France, or Czechoslovakia usually girls managed to survive in Germany. begin undergraduate studies in the field of resulted in falling victim once again The others succeeded in emigrating, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation in the to the racial fanaticism of the Nazi though in some cases the informa- College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. regime. The biographies of some tion trail stops at the German border. of the students of the Findelgasse Some went to Palestine, many to the School shed light on how they fled, United States, and some to South sometimes before or without their Africa, South America, or Australia. families. A number of them gave All were touched in some way by the notice of their direct departure to Holocaust, many losing parents or the United States, but many of them siblings. moved first to another country to This well-researched and well- continue their education, to work, or documented report sheds light on to receive special training before they aspects of the Nazi period from a eventually found their way to Amer- perspective we have not encountered ica. The so-called “Kindertransporte” elsewhere. We hope that before long brought a number of the school’s someone will undertake the job of students to England in 1938 and translating it into English.
11 PAGES FROM THE PAST
From the MKI Library Archives: Pages from the Arkansas German-Language Press
Cora Lee Kluge Stuttgart, Arkansas, which lies about 70 miles southeast of Little Rock, today has a population of ap- proximately 10,000 people. It was given its name by Adam Bürkle, a minister from Stuttgart, Wurttem- berg, in 1880.
hese charming advertise- to get [some good deals]”! ments appeared on 10 Sep- In our second ad, we are told we do tember 1908 in the Stuttgart not need to take a trip to Chicago to TGermania of Stuttgart, Arkansas. In purchase our wallpaper. Instead, A. the ad above, D. E. Mahle, furniture A. Swartwood suggests “Buy wallpa- dealer and undertaker, announces a per of me”—which we understand to sale and offers 10 percent off items mean “Buy wallpaper from me.” Like such as a “refrigerator” and a “lawn Mahle’s ad, this one is loaded with schwing”—words that would not non-German words and phrases. have meant much to a speaker of “Wandpapier” (wallpaper) is not a German in Germany. Other items German term, and “Wandpapier bei are also available, and customers Mustern” is a little oblique (wallpa- should just come in to be convinced per according to patterns?). Just tell that the shopkeeper can satisfy them. him what colors you want, so that it Not only Mahle’s vocabulary, but harmonizes with both your “carpet” also his word order and his idiomatic (again, not a German term) and your phrases are a little wobbly. Neverthe- furniture. Mr. Swartwood is an expe- less, at least his promises are ap- rienced paper hanger, who also hangs pealing: “Prices are right”—“Quality “imitations and stained glass,” and he satisfies”—“Now is your opportunity uses “Collier lead” in all of his paint!
12 FRIENDS PROFILE
Pamela Tesch Antje Petty
elcome back to Wiscon- sin! When Pam Tesch was an undergraduate Wstudent in the German Department at the University of Wisconsin– Madison finishing her Bachelor’s of Science in German Literature and Math, she took a class with Professor Charlotte Brancaforte, then Direc- she and her family returned to then mostly spoke English instead of tor of the Max Kade Institute, who Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, where German in their daily lives. German told her about “the little cottage in Pam teaches as a substitute teacher was still spoken in the household, but the woods” as she called it, which in the Oconomowoc Area School less often, and mostly with German at that time offered Saturday Ger- District, does Old-German-script friends and relatives. Now Pam and man for children and functioned as transcriptions and translations into her husband Tod have their own a place where faculty could carry out English, and writes for children. children who are learning German, German-American research.When She has recently published a poem too. Her son Sam (14) is taking Pam returned for a Master’s in Ger- in Highlights (see
13 3 Continued from page 5 The events surrounding Hecker’s resignation Farewell to are complex, and while his complaints about Dr. Henry Peters definitely became a part of America, conspiracies may be overstated, administrative delays were indeed vexing. Even the lieutenant accepting this as the future home for Henry A. Peters, Jr., long-time mem- governor of Illinois, Francis A. Hoffmann, was 13 ber of the MKI Friends, died on June themselves and their children.” criticized by Hecker for “neglecting his duty.” 5. Dr. Peters was born on December According to Edmund J. James’s Interestingly, Hoffmann wrote several books 31, 1920, in Oconomowoc, WI, and statement (cited in part one of this for the German-speaking farmer under the article), the Forty-Eighters were pseudonym Hans Buschbauer. grew up in the house established by 4 sometimes “obstinate and difficult Sabine Freitag, Friedrich Hecker: Two Lives his grandfather, who had emigrated for Liberty, trans. from the German and edited material.” Nevertheless, James be- from Germany in 1850. Following his by Steven Rowan (St. Louis, MO: St. Louis father, who had a medical practice in lieved that “this very defect was Mercantile Library, University of Missouri–St. their home, Peters studied medicine perhaps an outgrowth of their Louis, 2006), 237. 5 at the University of Wisconsin–Mad- virtues. [The Forty-Eighters] might Lieutenant Colonel Edward Selig Salomon not have been the tower of strength of the 82nd Illinois was also Jewish. An im- ison, graduating in 1943. He served they were for the Union cause if migrant from Schleswig-Holstein, he later in the Navy from 1945 to 1948, when became commander of the regiment and a they had not had the very defects he became a faculty member in the brevet brigadier-general; after the war he was UW Medical School. As a doctor, which sometimes irritated and tried governor of the Washington Territory and a 14 Peters was world-renowned in the us.” This seems to be an especially California legislator. Two of his cousins were fields of neuromuscular disease and apt assessment of the fiery, impulsive, Union generals, while the third, Edward Salo- and complicated figure Friedrich mon, was the eighth governor of Wisconsin. neurotoxicology, and was one of the 6 Hecker. Freitag, 249. foremost authorities on the medical 7Sigel commanded the XI Corps from June disorder porphyria. He provided free 1862 until April 1863, just before the Battle of NOTES medical consultation throughout Chancellorsville. Sigel’s replacement, Oliver 1Missouri was a contested state with divided southeastern Turkey and worked to Howard, was viewed with suspicion and dis- loyalties, but it was kept under Union control trust by the predominantly German-ethnic provide medical services through in part through the actions of its German soldiers of the XI Corps. the Wisconsin-Nicaragua Partners immigrant citizens, particularly Franz Sigel. 8Quoted by Freitag, 244. of the Alliance for Progress. He was Trained at the military academy in Karls- 9Freitag points out that Hooker’s accusations known as a physician with a kind ruhe, Sigel had led revolutionary forces in actually applied to Schurz and not to Hecker Baden and, like Hecker, enjoyed hero status bedside manner, always listening to (pp. 245-246). Once again, the circumstances among the German-American population. his patients. surrounding Hecker’s resignation are too Though now an educator in St. Louis, Sigel complicated to convey in this short article. Peters’s warm baritone voice was was involved in military training at the city’s 10Freitag, 435. greatly appreciated by audiences of Turnverein, and he helped to rally Missouri 11Freitag, 437. the Madison Symphony and Chorus Germans when Lincoln called for troops to 12Gustave Koerner, Memoirs of Gustave and the Madison Opera. He also defend the Union. Sigel’s military record as a Koerner, 1809–1896: Life-Sketches Written at commanding officer is less than glowing, -al honed his skills in painting and pho- the Suggestion of His Children, vol. 2 (Cedar though his ability to motivate and recruit Ger- tography, and was interested in gene- Rapids, IA: Torch Press, 1909) 659–660. man immigrants kept him in service. A popu- 13Ella Lonn, “The Forty-Eighters in the Civil alogy and spending time with family lar slogan among Sigel’s men was “I fights mit War,” The Forty-Eighters: Political Refugees and friends. He will be missed. Sigel!”—a phrase denoting German-American of the German Revolution of 1848, ed. A. E. Recognizing Dr. Peters’s interest in pride that was used in a sentimental ballad as Zucker (New York: Columbia University Press, his German heritage, the family sug- well as in a Confederate song that made fun of 1950), 218. the German-speaking soldier. gests that Friends of the Max Kade 14Quoted by Hildegard Binder Johnson, “Ad- 2Hecker especially detested the notion that Institute make contributions in his justment to the United States,” The Forty-Eight- an aristocracy of Southern slaveholders could ers: Political Refugees of the German Revolution memory to the MKI Library Project jeopardize the Union; this was a hierarchical of 1848, ed. A. E. Zucker (New York: Columbia through the University of Wisconsin structure abhorrent to Hecker’s conception of University Press, 1950), 67–68. Foundation. For more information, democracy. please call 608-262-7546.
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Continued from page 6 several pages in Roberts’s work, but of what can be done if one looks be- without mention of her association yond national borders, as well as an revolutions of 1848–1849 and the and collaboration with Forty-eighter inspiration to continue to work in the American Civil War; but unlike Rob- Mathilde Franziska Anneke. Ottilia same direction. If only for this rea- erts, James locates the connection Assing’s name does not come up at son, his monograph should be given squarely with Forty-eighters residing all, either together with that of Fred- a place on our bookshelves. in this country. erick Douglass or separately. And Students of German-American one should not overlook the literary, Continued from page 2 history will not be satisfied with Rob- historical, and journalistic reports erts’s work. There was a great deal German Americans points the way concerning events in America that more contact between liberal move- toward understanding many other were published in Europe by German ments in Europe and in America ethnic groups. Americans, all of which would ex- than one finds revealed here—and German-American studies is an pand the transnational perspective. the transnational exchange went in expanding field, and we find that we This study concerns at best Ameri- both directions. What about reports are both challenged and enthusiastic cans’ English-language perceptions of in German-American newspapers about what we do. Our paths are and reactions to the European revo- concerning revolutionary movements crossing again and again—with those lutions of 1848–1849. Except for one in Europe and political issues in of colleagues in other departments article in Italian, there are no foreign- America? What about the enormous and in other parts of the world; our language texts in Roberts’s entire direct influence on American politics country’s German heritage with its 30-page bibliography. Nevertheless, of figures such as Reinhold Solger Anglo-American heritage and its those of us who see German-Ameri- and Carl Schurz, or Friedrich Kapp’s many other ethnic backgrounds. can studies as a field that illuminates well-known treatment of the slavery Until we meet again: work hard, American history will welcome Rob- issue? Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s work have fun, and do stay in touch! erts’s contribution as a confirmation with the women’s movement is given —Cora Lee
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The MKI Library Project Capital Campaign
Are you . . . passionate about history? . . . interested in America as an immigrant country? . . . intrigued by the experiences of your German ancestors? . . . concerned about the preservation of American print culture?
If so, please support the MKI’s Library Project for • a state-of-the-art facility in our new quarters on UW–Madison’s central campus; • new acquisitions; • an endowment to support library staff.
This is a three-year fundraising campaign. Tax-deductible contributions can be made to the MKI Library Capital Cam- paign Fund at the UW Foundation. For more information, contact Antje Petty at (608) 262-7546 or