Angeniet Berkers, story of Michael Sturm

ANGENIET BERKERS

Story of Michael Sturm

–IT

Michael Sturm
Questa è la storia di Michael Sturm, tratta dal libro fotografico Lebensborn – La politica della nascita nel Terzo Reich
Scritto da Angeniet Berkers

2008

È la vigilia di Natale. Michael Sturm, sua moglie e i loro due figli hanno appena cenato insieme e ora sono seduti comodamente su divani e poltrone in salotto. La musica natalizia risuona nell’aria e la casa è decorata con addobbi festivi. Le luci dell’albero di Natale brillano e si gustano una bevanda deliziosa. La conversazione verte sui tanti parenti ancora in vita e su quelli che non ci sono più. I figli chiedono a Michael: “Papà, raccontaci qualcosa... C’è qualcosa che non torna con la nonna. La nonna aveva il cognome di sua madre, e anche suo fratello e sua sorella sono nati col cognome Sturm. Quindi non può essere stata sposata, giusto?” Michael racconta loro ciò che sua madre gli ha sempre detto: che suo padre era morto il 20 luglio 1944 durante il fallito attentato a Hitler organizzato da Stauffenberg. Lei lo aveva divorziato poco prima e aveva ripreso il suo cognome da nubile – Sturm. Ma i figli di Michael lo esortano comunque a indagare.

Suo figlio passa all’azione e, dopo quella vigilia di Natale, inizia a cercare ufficiali anziani della Wehrmacht su Wikipedia. Inserisce il cognome Sturm, ma non trova nulla. Michael gli suggerisce di provare con L.; quando aveva dieci anni aveva ricevuto una lettera firmata da un certo H. L. e aveva chiesto alla nonna chi fosse. Lei aveva alzato le mani in aria e aveva detto: “C’è un’ombra pesante che grava sulla nostra famiglia! Due giorni dopo, il figlio lo chiama: “L’ho trovato!” Gli mostra un documento in cui si legge che L. è morto non nel 1944, ma nel 1979. Michael non avrebbe mai immaginato di trovarsi di fronte a un passato così ingombrante.

Come si conobbero i suoi genitori non è del tutto chiaro. Tuttavia, si trovavano spesso negli stessi luoghi. Michael e il suo fratellastro lo realizzano confrontando le biografie dei genitori: ovunque si trovasse il padre, la madre non era lontana. Nel 1935, ad esempio, lui frequentava l’accademia militare (Kriegsakademie) a Berlino, mentre lei studiava alla scuola per donne (Reichsbräuteschule) a Schwanenwerder. Probabilmente si incontrarono a Königsberg. All’epoca, il padre di Michael era sposato e aveva tre figli. Viveva con la famiglia a Neubrandenburg, a nord di Berlino. Elsa, la madre di Michael, si sarebbe probabilmente coinvolta nel programma Lebensborn. Forse era responsabile dei bambini rapiti dall’Europa dell’Est, ma Michael non ne è del tutto sicuro.

Michael nasce nel centro Heim Pommern a Bad Polzin, oggi in Polonia. Più tardi viene trasferito all’orfanotrofio Heim Sonnenwiese a Kohren-Sahlis. Una foto di quel periodo mostra che probabilmente era in lista d’attesa per l’adozione, ma per ragioni sconosciute ciò non avvenne. Nel 1945, la madre lo prende con sé e si trasferiscono dalla nonna in un piccolo villaggio vicino Schwerin. Elsa e il padre di Michael rimangono in contatto. Lei riceve regolarmente lettere da lui; la relazione non è un segreto. Dopo la guerra, la madre di Michael scompare – presumibilmente interrogata per le sue attività nel Lebensborn. Quando ricompare nel 1947, Michael si trasferisce con la madre e la nonna a Grünheide, vicino Berlino.

Nel 1948, viene battezzato per la seconda volta, stavolta senza il rituale delle SS, comune nelle case Lebensborn. Viene chiamato con i nomi di tutti gli uomini importanti della vita di Elsa. Sul certificato di battesimo si legge che la madre era sposata – una bugia. Elsa non è mai stata sposata. Solo nel 1951 la madre si registra a Grünheide. Prima era registrata presso la madre. Forse, suppone Michael, non voleva essere rintracciata. Da bambino, Michael spesso si sente indesiderato, dato che trascorre i primi anni della vita in orfanotrofi. Si chiede spesso perché non potesse vivere con la madre. Quando finalmente lo fa, lei è fredda, e tra loro non si sviluppa mai un rapporto stretto. Tuttavia, Michael cresce senza mai mancare di nulla. La madre gli trasmette l’amore per la musica classica, lo veste sempre ordinato. Ha tanti giocattoli e gli oggetti più moderni, tanto che i compagni di classe vogliono andare a giocare a casa sua – anche se alcuni hanno paura della madre, che appare altezzosa. Elsa tiene a sottolineare che proviene da una buona famiglia.

A 13 anni, Michael trova un cofanetto di pelle con una pila di fotografie nell’armadio della biancheria della madre. È solo in casa. Più tardi le chiede spiegazioni. Elsa gli dice che l’uomo nelle foto è suo padre e che era coinvolto nell’attentato a Stauffenberg nel 1944. Era morto per questo. Elsa sostiene di averlo divorziato prima e di aver ripreso il cognome da nubile. Michael le crede e non dubita più. Non vuole riaprire ferite né cattivi ricordi.

Dopo la guerra, Elsa torna a lavorare in un ruolo simile: diventa responsabile dell’economia domestica in un orfanotrofio per figli di giornalisti dell’ADN (Agenzia di stampa della DDR). I genitori lavorano all’estero durante la settimana. Elsa resta in servizio lì fino alla pensione e muore nel 1989.

Quando Michael vuole sostenere l’esame di maturità, non gli è permesso: suo padre era un alto ufficiale della Wehrmacht. All’epoca, si dava priorità ai figli di contadini e operai.
Poiché non può frequentare la scuola desiderata, una zia lo invita con la madre a trasferirsi nella Germania Ovest – era ancora possibile prima del 1961. Ma Elsa rifiuta categoricamente. Michael ora sa perché: temeva che scoprisse il passato del padre. Dopo le superiori, Michael diventa apprendista meccanico. Vuole poi studiare ingegneria meccanica, ma prima deve svolgere due anni di servizio militare. È un periodo duro, ma alla fine decide di restare nell’esercito. Si addestra a Dresda, ignaro che suo padre aveva lavorato negli stessi edifici. La madre è contraria, ma Michael insiste. È difficile, anche perché suo padre era stato un alto ufficiale nazista. Poiché non conosce ancora la verità, lo difende. È convinto che il padre volesse porre fine alla guerra. Racconta questo agli ufficiali durante il colloquio. A quanto pare, li convince, e può diventare ufficiale: nessuno collega il nome L. a Michael Sturm. Dopo 30 anni, lascia l’esercito e fonda un’agenzia commerciale per fornitori internazionali di mobili.

Nel 1978, quando vuole sposarsi a Rostock, gli chiedono il certificato di nascita. Lo richiede al comune di Połczyn-Zdrój (ex Bad Polzin, in Polonia), dove risulta nato. Riceve un documento dal municipio, ma è in polacco e non riesce a leggerlo. L’ufficiale di Rostock dice che va bene lo stesso. Solo anni dopo scopre che quel documento dichiarava che non esiste alcun certificato di nascita a suo nome.

Nel 2008, dopo quella vigilia di Natale, Michael si iscrive a un forum militare online (Wehrmachtsforum) e riceve un messaggio da J. L. che chiede perché stia cercando suo nonno. Nella loro famiglia nessuno conosce Michael Sturm. Inizia così uno scambio di lettere ed e-mail. Michael chiede a J. delle foto del padre. Dopo averne scambiata una con la propria, non c’è dubbio: L. è suo padre. Non serve nemmeno il test del DNA. Le due famiglie si riuniscono e visitano insieme la tomba del padre di Michael. Anche i figli di Michael partecipano. Da allora, mantiene contatti regolari con i suoi tre fratellastri e sorellastre. Michael continua le ricerche e contatta di nuovo il municipio di Połczyn-Zdrój: davvero non esiste alcuna registrazione? Poco dopo, riceve conferma: durante la guerra vi era una casa Lebensborn. Le registrazioni erano separate, per garantire l’anonimato delle donne.

Nel 2009, contatta l’Istituto storico militare dell’esercito tedesco a Potsdam (Militärhistorisches Institut der Bundeswehr). Gli dicono i nomi degli uomini ritratti in una delle foto che aveva trovato: il comandante della 11ª armata, colonnello generale Ritter von Schobert, e il conte generale Sponeck. L’istituto prosegue l’indagine. Emergerà che H. L. era Capo di Stato Maggiore della 4ª armata, sotto il comando del generale Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller, durante la guerra. In Ucraina e a Creta, L. era vice comandante, corresponsabile di esecuzioni e stragi, come quella nel villaggio di Anogia, a Creta. Michael non sa se suo padre abbia mai impugnato un’arma, ma è molto probabile. Era anche a Rotterdam durante i bombardamenti. Alla fine della guerra, H. L. viene fatto prigioniero dagli americani, ma riesce a fuggire misteriosamente nei boschi della Germania del Nord.

Dopo la denazificazione, riceve una pensione regolare per alti ufficiali della Wehrmacht fino alla morte, nel 1979. Per Michael è incomprensibile. Di recente ha appreso quante esecuzioni furono ordinate da suo padre. Lo racconta con le lacrime agli occhi. Da bambino, Michael percepiva che il passato era un tabù. Non osava fare domande alla madre. Anche in famiglia non se ne parlava, ma ora sa che molti erano coinvolti, alcuni erano nazisti fanatici. Uno zio era consigliere agricolo dell’esercito con grado di generale, e gestiva i territori agricoli conquistati in Polonia, Russia e Ucraina. Fu prigioniero per tre anni. Il marito della sorella di sua madre era avvocato e notaio, e gestiva i beni confiscati agli ebrei, consegnando case e terreni ai nazisti.
“Che famiglia... niente di cui andare fieri,” dice Michael.

Nonostante la verità indicibile che scopre, è grato ai figli per averlo accompagnato in questa ricerca. Ha ricevuto grande sostegno dalla moglie e dai figli. Il figlio ha viaggiato fino a Kaliningrad (ex Königsberg) e a Creta per vedere i luoghi dove il nonno è stato. Non ha rivelato la sua origine tedesca. Ha trovato una lapide con l’ordine dato da Müller: sterminare l’intero villaggio e giustiziare tutti gli uomini. Il padre di Michael aveva redatto e pianificato quell’ordine. Anche la figlia di Michael e il suo compagno hanno visitato Anogia. È stato un giorno cupo per entrambi, sapendo che molti anziani del villaggio probabilmente avevano perso familiari nell’attacco. Michael non ci è mai andato. Non se la sente ancora, nonostante gli dicano che forse lo aiuterebbe a elaborare tutto.

Ricostruire i pezzi del mosaico della sua storia, e quella dei suoi genitori, è difficile da accettare. Durante la nostra conversazione, si vede quanto gli costi parlare del passato. “Riemerge sempre,” dice. Ma proprio questo lo spinge a raccontare. Tiene regolarmente lezioni nelle scuole, parla con gli studenti. Vuole evitare che simili tragedie si ripetano, e invita le famiglie a raccontarsi la propria storia. Anche se è difficile, per lui è fonte di forza.

–EN

Michael Sturm

This is the story of Michael Sturm, from the

Lebensborn photo book ‘Birth Politics in the Third Reich’

Written by Angeniet Berkers.

2008

It is Christmas Eve. Michael Sturm, his wife and their two children have just eaten dinner together and have settled down on sofas and armchairs in the living room. Christmas music is playing and the house is festooned with decorations. Lights are burning in the Christmas tree and they are enjoying a delicious drink. The conversation revolves around the many family members who are still alive and those who are no longer here. The children ask Michael: “tell us dad, something doesn’t add up with Grandma. Grandma had her mother’s surname, her brother and her sister were also named Sturm at birth. In that case, she can’t have been married, right?” Michael tells them what his mother had always told him: that his father died on 20 July 1944 during the Stauffenberg assassination attempt on Hitler. She had divorced him just before and had taken her maiden name – Sturm – again. Michael’s children urge him to investigate, nonetheless.

His son puts his money where his mouth is and, after that Christmas Eve, searches for senior Wehrmacht officers on Wikipedia. He enters the name Sturm in the search engine but finds nothing. Michael asks him to enter L.; as a ten-year-old boy he once received a letter from one H. L. Michael and had then asked his Granny who that was. She threw her hands up in the air and said, “There is a big shadow hanging over our family!” His son called him two days later. “I found him!” He shows a document stating that L. died not in 1944 but in 1979. Never could Michael have imagined that he would stumble upon such a fraught past.

How his parents met is not entirely clear. However, they are both regularly in the same places in the country. Michael and his half-brother realise this when they compare the dates of the biographies of Michael’s mother and their father. Wherever his father is, his mother is never far away. In 1935, for instance, he is at the war academy (Kriegsakademie) in Berlin while his mother is at a school for women (Reichsbräuteschule) in Schwanen- werder. They probably met in Königsberg. Michael’s father is married at that time and has three children. He lives with his family in Neubrandenburg, just north of Berlin. Elsa, his mother, probably got involved in the Lebensborn programme. She was possibly responsible for the kidnapped children from Eastern Europe in Lebensborn, but Michael is not entirely sure.

Michael comes into the world at Heim Pommern in Bad Polzin, now Poland. Later, he is transferred to Heim Sonnenwiese, a children’s home in Kohren-Sahlis. A photo from that time shows that he was probably on a waiting list to be adopted, but for unknown reasons, this did not happen. In 1945, he is picked up by his mother and then goes to live with his grandmother in a small village near Schwerin. Elsa and Michael’s father stay in touch. She regularly receives letters from him; the affair is no secret. After the war, Michael’s mother disappears and is presumably questioned about her activities for Lebensborn. When she reappears in 1947, Michael moves with his mother and grandmother to Grünheide near Berlin.

In 1948, he was baptised for the second time, this time without an SS ritual as was common in Lebensborn homes. Michael is named after all the important men in Elsa’s life. His baptism certificate states that his mother was married, which turns out to be a lie. Elsa was never married. It is only in 1951 that Michael’s mother registers, in Grünheide. Before that, she was registered with her mother. Possibly she didn’t want to be found at the time, Michael thinks. As a child, Michael often feels he is not very wanted, as he spends his early years in children’s homes. He often wonders why he was not allowed to live with his mother. When he finally does live with her, she is distant; they do not build a close relationship. However, Michael is well looked after as he grows up; he is never short of anything. She instills in him an interest in classical music, and he always looks neat and tidy. Michael has lots of toys and is provided with all the latest items, making his classmates eager to come and play with him. However, they are also a little afraid of Michael’s mother. Elsa can sometimes come across as feeling superior to other people. She also feels the need to make it clear that she comes from a good family, and emphasises this.

When he is 13, Michael finds a stack of photographs in a leather box in his mother’s linen cupboard. He is alone in the house, rummaging around in the cupboard. Later, he asks his mother about it. She tells him that it’s his father in the photos and that he was involved in the events at Stauffenberg in 1944. He had died as a result. She had previously divorced him and had taken her maiden name again. Thanks to his mother’s explanation, Michael never doubts about this again. He doesn’t want to reopen any wounds or bad memories either.

After the war, Elsa goes back to work in a similar job. She is head of economics in a children’s home. It is a special children’s home; children of journalists from the ADN (Allgemeiner Deutscher Nachrichtendienst), the news agency of the GDR (German Democratic Republic) – come there during the week. The parents of those children work abroad during the week. She continues working here until her retirement, and dies in 1989.

When Michael wants to sit his A-levels he is not permitted to do so because his father was a senior officer in the Wehrmacht during the war. It was common at the time for children of farmers and workers to be given priority for higher education. As Michael is not allowed to attend the school he wants to attend, his aunt invites him and his mother to come and live with her in West Germany. Before 1961, this was still possible. Elsa absolutely does not want that; on no account will she move to the West. Michael now knows why she didn’t want to at the time; she was afraid that Michael would find out what his father did during the war, and that he would start investigating him so that the truth would come out. After secondary school, Michael ends up becoming an apprentice mechanic. He then wants to study mechanical engineering, but has to complete two years of military service first. It is a tough time, but he subsequently

decides to join the army professionally. He does his training in Dresden, not realising that his father once worked in the same barracks. His mother is not happy about his decision to choose this route for his life, quite the contrary, but Michael perseveres. It is not easy, also because his father was a senior officer during the Nazi regime. Because he does not yet know the truth about his father, he even defends him. Michael is convinced that his father did his utmost to end the war. He tells the examining officers that his father had changed his mind towards the end of the war. This is convincing enough for him to be allowed to become an of!cer, because no one associated the name L. with Michael Sturm at the time. After 30 years, he decides to leave the army behind and establishes his own trading agency for international furniture suppliers.

When Michael wants to get married in Rostock in 1978, they ask for a birth certificate. He applies for this at the municipality of Połczyn-Zdrój, a town in Poland that was known as Bad Polzin, as his passport states that he was born there. He is sent a document from the town hall but he cannot read it, as it is in Polish. According to the Rostock official, it still suffices. Only years later does he learn that the document states that there exists no birth certificate of him at all.

When Michael applies to an online army forum, the Wehrmachtsforum, after that Christmas Eve in 2008, he receives a message from J. L. asking why he is researching his grandfather. In their family, no one knows the name Michael Sturm. This begins an exchange of letters and e-mails. Michael asks J. about photos of his father. After Michael sends back a photo of himself and his father, there is no doubt and no need for a DNA test; L. is his father. This brings the two families together. Jointly they visit Michael’s father’s grave. Michael’s children also come along. Michael has been in regular contact with his three half-brothers and sisters ever since. He continues his research in his hometown and contacts the municipality of Połczyn-Zdrój again. Is there definitely no record of a registration or birth certificate? Not long after, he receives word that there was a Lebensborn home in the town during the war. Lebensborn homes worked with their own administration to ensure the anonymity of the women, says the municipal employee.

In 2009, Michael contacts the army’s military institute (Militärhistorisches Institut der Bundeswehr) in Potsdam. They tell him the names of the men with whom his father is shown in one of the photos he had found in his mother’s wardrobe: Commander of the 11th Army Colonel General Ritter von Schobert and General Count Sponeck. The institute conducts further investigation. This shows that H.L. was under the command of General Infantry Fr.-Wilhelm Müller as Chief of the General Staff of the 4th Army during the war. During his time in Ukraine and Crete, H.L. is deputy to this commander and jointly responsible for executions and the liquidations in the village of Anogia in Crete. Michael does not know whether his father himself held a weapon in his hand, but there is a good chance of this. Michael’s father is also in Rotterdam during the bombing of the city. At the end of the war, H.L. is taken as prisoner of war by the Americans. He escapes under mysterious circumstances as an ordinary soldier

to the forests of northern Germany.

After his denazification, he receives the usual pension for senior Wehrmacht officers until his death in 1979. This is beyond comprehension for Michael. Recently, he heard how many executions were the result of his father’s orders. He recounts this with tears in his eyes. As a child, Michael instinctively feels that the past should not be discussed and does not dare ask his mother any questions. Within his family, the past is not discussed either, even though Michael now knows that everyone was involved and that some were even fanatical Nazis. For example, Michael’s uncle was the Army Chief Agricultural Councillor with the rank of general.

He was responsible for consulting on the construction of the Westwall and Ostwall. He arranged the distribution of conquered agricultural areas in the east in Poland, Russia and Ukraine. He spent three years in British captivity. His mother’s sister’s husband was a lawyer and notary and was responsible for the confiscated property of Jewish citizens. He arranged for houses and land to be handed over to the Nazis. “What a family, no reason to be proud of it,” Michael says.

Despite the indescribable truth he discovers, he is very grateful to his children for starting this investigation with him. Michael enjoys a great deal of support in his quest from both his children and his wife. His son even travels all along the Baltic coast to Kaliningrad (Königsberg) to see all the places his grandfather has been. Later, he also travels to Crete, where he visits the places where the liquidations took place. He does not reveal his German origins there. He finds a memorial stone with a fragment written on it of the order given at the time by Friedrich Wilhelm Muller to liquidate the entire settlement and execute all the men. Michael’s father had been responsible for planning and drafting the orders. Michael’s daughter and her partner also travel to the Greek village of Anogia. This is a dark day for both of them. They are aware that many of the older people they encounter have probably lost family members in that terrible attack. Michael has not been there; he is not yet able to, despite often having been told that this might help him cope better and to find a way of coming to terms with it all.

The discovery of mosaic pieces of his past, of his mother’s and his father’s history, is hard for Michael to take in. During the conversation, it is noticeable how difficult it is for him to accept what his father did. It resurfaces again and again, he says. At the same time, this drives him to tell the stories about his father. He therefore regularly gives guest lectures at primary and secondary schools and engages with students on the topic. He wants to prevent something like this from ever happening again in this world, and he wants to encourage other families to talk to each other about their own history. Although it is sometimes tough for him, he gains a lot of strength from it, too.