the tin drum die blechtrommel
DESCRIPTION
A lecture which reveiws the effect of the loss of the Eastern Territories on German families through the fil The Tin DrumTRANSCRIPT
© University of Reading 2006 www.reading.ac.uk
14 April 2023
Die BlechtommelIcon: The Lost East
Richard McKenzie
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The Lost East
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The Lost East
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The Lost EastThe Potsdam Accords
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The Lost East• Approx 11,329,676
Heimatvertriebene recorded in 1950
• Lived in emergency accommodation around Germany
• Umsiedler –
E Germany• Heimatvertriebene –W
Germany
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The Lost East• Strong political force in W Germany
– Held 27 seats in Bundestag in 1953
• Presented as the heart of German suffering• East presented as idyll• Approx 10 films made about the flight of
eastern territories
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Die Blechtrommel
• W German• 1979• Oscar Winner• Volker Schlöndorff
b1939• Günter Grass
b1927• Novel 1958• Set in Danzig
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Die Blechtrommel• A sexualised German fairy tale without a happy
ending• Sex used to show conflict and attraction
between cultures• Sex used to mark changes in time
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Die BlechtrommelThe mythical lost East or the wild East ?
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Die BlechtrommelThe mythical lost East or the wild East ?
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Die Blechtrommel
A Hymn to Danzig• Kashubian• Polish• German• Jews• Free?• Live in confused
harmony• Forced to choose by
Nazis
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Die Blechtrommel
The Ridiculous Nazis• Grotesque• Vicious• Seductive• Destructive
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Die Blechtrommel
The Terrible Choice• Jan Bronski
– Polish
• Alfred Matzerath– Nazi
• Agnes Matzerath– Can’t choose
• Grandmother– Kashubian
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Die Blechtrommel
Victims• Jews• Markus• Bronksi• Poles• Matzerath• Maria• Oskar’s
Grandmother• Danzig
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The Soviets• Liberators or Perpetrators?
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Die BlechtrommelThe East-Paradise Lost ?
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Conclusion• Lost eastern territories a confused mix of
cultures• Ridiculous Nazi’s seduced Danzig and the
people paid the price for seduction with lives• Germans, Jews, culture victims• Now a paradise lost• Soviet perpetrators not liberators• East gone for ever