Mission to Pomerania
Where Bonhoeffer Met the Holocaust
What an unlikely combination -- the convoluted history of an ancient
land on the shores of the Baltic Sea and a recent journey to modern
Poland.
Yet there was an inevitability in the chain of events
leading to this journey, and subsequently to this book. Well over a
decade ago I became aware of a common thread linking one family of the
German aristocracy to the failed plot to kill Hitler, and to Dietrich
Bonhoeffer --- theologian, conspirator, and finally martyr. So enamoured
was I with this curious triangle that I wrote a book about it ---
Matriarch of Conspiracy, Ruth von Kleist 1867-1945 . Most of this
family saga is set in Pomerania, home of the protagonist and the home
away from home for Bonhoeffer in his last years of freedom.
Thus, over the years I have visited this Pomerania, which is now the
northwest corner of Poland. I have also puzzled at Bonhoeffer's rather
sudden change from a theologian/teacher trying desperately to keep his
church free of Nazi influence to a man willing to sign on to a deadly
consiracy.
Why this sudden change in a man who earlier had been
an internationally respected pacifict? It didn't take much research to
pinpoint the pivotal event. It occurred in Pomerania just after
Kristallnacht 1938. Bonhoeffer unexpectedly came upon the
still-smoldering ruins of the synagogue at Koslin. Within a few weeks he
was talking seriously with men already plotting to bring down the Nazis
by clearly nonpassive means.
So the issue comes to mind: Is it
valid to memorialize the places of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life and
ministry without at the same time acknowledging the Jewish communities
almost within shouting distance? We believe it is not, and by we
I mean the individuals and orghanizations who underwrote six
memorial plaques, the Polish authorities who gave permission to place
each one, and the travelers from three nations who carried plaques to
Pomerania, not knowing what to expect.
It turned out to be a
lovefest all the way --- a conflicted and often tragic history
culminating in four days of adventure and reconciliation. That is what
this journey was all about.
Mission to Pomerania
Where Bonhoeffer Met the Holocaust @ $14.95
spiral bound, ISBN 0-9612776-7-X
When ordering, add $3.00 shipping for a
single copy, $1.00 for each additional copy.
Mission to
Pomerania Where Bonhoeffer Met the Holocaust may be ordered by mail,
phone, or email from
Kenwood Publishing
1314 Marquette Avenue #1206
Minneapolis MN 55403