Diary December 15th: Suicide, train, Margot Käßmann, Karl Dönitz, submarine, Laconia disaster, 1942, Spandau Prison, Berlin, Pamela Falcon, Percy Duke “Percival”, Purple Rain, Prince, The Voice Of Germany, TV
[take the photo (shot by my wife) as a metaphor for my following diary words: there’s a shade behind all lights]
Our train was 90 minutes late. A young man had made suicide jumping suddenly on the railroad track waiting behind a curve in a tunnel. The driver of the engine still was shocked. All passengers too. We discovered a lonesome woman on a bench waiting quietly. She was the famous German ex-bishop Margot Käßmann. We talked with her about suicide short before Christmas. Three and a half hours later, the train made 250 km/h again, I remembered, because we came near to Spandau Prison, the discussion of the evening before I had: with the grandson of Karl Dönitz (leader of Germany after Hitler’s death). He (like us) had seen the movie about the submarine / U-boat U-156,shooting down the ship Laconia. After that human disaster (the German submarine U-156, trying to rescue many people from the ship Laconia, was attacked by US-bombers) Karl Dönitz gave the order, not to rescue enemies swimming in the ocean. 1942. The train reached Berlin. Thousands of bureaus with light. Countless merry-go-rounds: Christmas time. In the bed of the Hotel room on TV my local hero Pamela Falcon lost her singer’s battle versus Percy Duke called Percival, they had – in the TV channel Pro7 show called “The Voice Of Germany” – to perform PURPLE RAIN by Prince. Another day was gone.
Related articles
- pamela-vs-percvial (www.the-voice-of-germany.de/video)
- The End of the War for Hitler (egrejeen.wordpress.com)
- Romance of the rails on new Moscow-Paris train (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- How was Berlin Airlift important to the Cold War (wiki.answers.com)
- Why was the Germans only lead by Hitler (wiki.answers.com)
- A horrifying history of the Reich’s violent end (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- Berlin lights up for the festival (travelnews.britishairways.com)
https://twitter.com/#!/frizztext/status/147600540996608000
Flickr Comments 
the translation was not clear .. but I think I felt a great sadness.
the days go by and leave both of us …. something that is not cleared.
Buongiorno e un sorriso 🙂
vento
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the photo (shot by my wife)
as a metaphor for my diary words:
there’s a shade behind all lights …
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That…I like a lot: It wil fill the space, next to “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light get’s in” (Leonard Cohen- Anthem)…. Indeed the sadness behind the joy….Some cannot balance it, the joy around them is too appeasing – oppressing; The shade before the everlasting darkness. Very nice essay Frizztext, very nice indeed.
Thanks
George.
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similar to Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem” lyrics is the German writer Roger Willemsen with his book DER KNACKS – I’m influenced from both with my today’s writing and my personal topic and angle of view “there is a shadow behind every light …”
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Very powerful indeed…
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There is a thinly veiled curtain between one person’s joy and another’s sorrow.
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“I wish there were a silver lining in every cloud…even in the clouds that place themseved between us and the night skies…”. I have to read more of Roger Willemsen’s poetry.
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Roger Willemsen, Der Knacks
(translated maybe:
the shock, the fixed memory,
posttraumatic stress disorder,
the fugue etc.)
maybe one day they will translate these reflections …
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I feel like I’ve been on a train going through a long dark tunnel. Thanks for shinning your light for me so I know there’s and end! Great post. Love to you my Frizz family.-WATW
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Excellent posting. The face of this season is joyous, but behind the facade can be a totally different theme…
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“There’s a shade behind every light.”
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Nice shot Dietmar!!!
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Thanks so much for including this shot of the ever-revolving lighted “rides” high above the dark gloomy building. A very good reminder after reading the train ride essay. Every time I see a new NASA telephoto of a “new” black hole, I am reminded that dark and light always accompany each other in the universe, both outside and inside ourselves.
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So sad to read this… Did it happen recently? The holidays can be tough for some people. 😦
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I remember reading this, but hadn’t listened to the Bobbie McGee. Beautiful playing.
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