Ernst von Salomon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ernst von Salomon (September 25, 1902 - August 9, 1972) was a German writer and one of the assassins of Walther Rathenau.

He was born in Kiel, the son of an officer. From 1913 he was a cadet in Karlsruhe and Berlin-Lichterfelde; from 1919 Freikorps ("Free-Corps") in the Baltic and Upper Silesia.

He received a five year prison sentence in 1922 for taking part in the plot to assassinate Walther Rathenau - he had organized a car for the assassins. The courts at this time were sympathetic to right-wing radicals. In 1927 he received another prison sentence for an attempted feme murder (paramilitary "self-justice" in Weimar Germany), and was released after a few months - he had refrained from the murder when the severely wounded victim, Wagner, pleaded for his life, which was acknowledged by the court.

From 1933–1945 Salomon resented Adolf Hitler and wrote for cinema. His spouse Ille Gotthelft was Jewish but was not harmed due to his support. Von Salomon later described how they were both assaulted by American soldiers when they were arrested, were called "Nazi swines", how he was lambasted and his spouse Ille sexually assaulted.

Salomon was interned by the Americans from 1945–1946.

In 1951 he published the book "Der Fragebogen" ("The Questionnaire"), in which he publicised his answers to the 131 point questionnaire every German had to answer after the war about his relationship to the Nazi Government for purposes of denazification. A famous public discussion of the book took place in Cologne main station, organised by bookseller Gerhard Ludwig. This may be seen at one of the first steps in German post-war education in Democracy. In his book he questioned the wisdom of the questionnaire by asking whether the Americans are fit to evaluate Germans about democracy while the USA itself contains many deficits towards democracy.

Salomon died in Stoeckte near Winsen.

[edit] Bibliography

Die Geächteten (translated at The Outlaws) (1930), a fictionalized account of Ernst von Salomon's adventures as a Freikorpskämpfer.
Die Stadt (The City) (1932)
Die Kadetten (The Cadets) (1933)
Putsch (Coup d'Etat)(1933)
Der Fragenbogen (The Questionnaire or Answers to the 131 Questions of the Allied Military Government “Fragebogen”) (1951).

Note: this bibliography is incomplete.

[edit] Quotes

Anyone who judges Freikorpskämpfers by the standards of the civilization it was their task to help destroy is utilizing the standards of the enemy.
The blood surging through our veins was full of a wild demand for revenge and adventure and danger…We were a band of fighters drunk with all the passions of the world; full of lust, exultant in action. What we wanted, we did not know. And what we knew, we did not want! War and adventure, excitement and destruction. An indefinable, surging force welled up from every part of our being and flayed us onward. ("Die Geächteten", 1930)
It was no inspired, controversial political idea that spurred us to protest. The actual cause lay simply in despair, which is never articulate. ("Die Geächteten", 1930)