END OF A LONG JOURNEY
 |
| EDWARD BECKMANN (1878 - 1962) |
55 Years have passed since my Maternal Grandfather Edward Toby Leonhardt Wilhelm Beckmann died on 29th June, 1962. Born in Hannover ,Germany on 15th March, 1878 , he was 84 years old at death. He was a true old world gentleman, perhaps throughout his life a little too naive for the rough world he encountered.But he did his very best according to the right as he saw it.He and his ever loving and devoted wife lived through very difficult times but their devotion to one another was wonderful to behold.
In the 1950s he typed up an 81 Page Memoir of his adventure laden life, which I have turned into a Blog adding ilustrations of the time where possible and adding a commentary to make for a better understanding of the situations recounted.
His Memoir began here:http://edwardbeckmann.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/an-innocent-abroad-my-memoir_22.html
"....fulfillment of this prediction. Let them turn back to God and repent, not only in words but in deeds and He will hear them, for He is merciful to all those who repent. I am not indifferent to the lot of my Father's people. On the contrary, I commiserate with them, but my loyalty belongs to Australia and our Queen and her family by an Oath that may not be broken. God is just and we must all bow to His judgements.
When I look around the world to-day I fear I have outstayed my time in it. There is so much that we have venerated in our days which has been rudely swept aside. Above all there are the appointments of the Queen and our Governors. Was it not right and proper that the Governor should be chosen by Her Majesty herself? Also there is a continual gnawing at the vitals of the Empire, a continual reducing of the ties of the Empire, till there is nothing left but the hollow rind. And so with everything else. Everything must be modern, as though the old things which our parents handed down to us were worthless rubbish. Ah well, that only proves that my time has outgrown me . As I said before "life is a teacher and Our Lord applies the teaching ." We should learn from Him humility and love for all mankind and submission to God's Will. The one thing most needful for me is that I should orientate myself on the stream of time and profit by the lesson He teaches.
In this spirit, my Wife and I look forward with confidence to whatever our Heavenly Father may yet have in store for us for the closing days of our lives.
Weeping may endure for a night
But joy cometh in the morning.
"..as though the old things which our parents handed down to us were worthless rubbish.."
Dear Grandad,
The final page of your Memoir has been reached.
Continuing on from the last lines of the preceding page you consider the defeat and destruction of your Fatherland in the late War, and you see it as retribution for the persecution of the Jewish people, referring to the Old Testament prophets. The persecution of the Jews by the Nazis was hideous . Yet we should not overlook all the other millions of people the Nazis killed in their time ,in England and across Europe and North Africa and through Poland and into Russia. Nor should we forget the hundreds of thousands of German folk the Nazis condemned to death in their fanaticism - consider the soldiers left to freeze and die at Stalingrad. And much of the destruction in Germany by the Allies was itself morally reprehensible and unjustifiable - sheer revenge - consider the Dresden Firestorm bombing and the obliteration of your own beautiful Hannover.
. What was done to the Jews merited the most severe punishment for those responsible, and Nuremberg procedures delivered that. But I don't see it being because the Jews had been the chosen people.What was done to them was absolutely abhorrent, quite aside from their status in the Old Testament. The Old Covenant had been fulfilled in the Life Death and Resurrection of Christ establishing the New Covenant.The Old Covenant had been completed - the new Jerusalem/Israel is Christ's Church which He established.
The destruction of Germany was no doubt partly Divine retribution for all the sins the Nazis had put in hand ,not just those against the Jews.To the extent that it was excessive it was not of Divine origin but human and , at least in the case of Dresden, I think diabolical.
You had of course, invested your life and emotional commitment in Australia as part of the British Empire. This had seemed something of enduring power and glory. Yet, even as you embraced the Empire, the seeds of its destruction were already sown in its very great extent. Its global reach meant that ultimately it was indefensible, and indeed in the modern world with several new emerging powers of colossal might - Germany united, Japan, the United States - the"Mother Country" was unable to sustain financially the demands of defence.
By the end of the First World War, which had been won only after the might of the United States, generated in its isolated haven, had been thrown into the balance, the "Mother Country"was on the brink of bankruptcy and deeply in debt. The Great Depression exacerbated that position. The advent of the Second World War called for physical and financial exertions of extraordinary extent and again, the victory was only won with the arrival of United States equipment, supplies and men.To achieve this result, the ties of the Empire had been very greatly loosened in many places and almost ignored in others. It is instructive to visit the War Rooms underground in London - in the Joint Chiefs of Staff Situation Room the wall is covered with a vast World Map - there is no AUSTRALIA OR NEW ZEALAND on it!
Whether close by in Ireland, or remotely in Australia or Canada or the Bahamas or the Falklands, let alone India and Hong Kong, the"Mother Country" had in some cases provided nothing, but taken much as in Ireland;or, had given a lot in culture, law and legal system as in Australia and New Zealand whilst taking far more economically through Empire trading regimes and so on. In other historical cases she had acted with total immorality as in the "Opium Wars"against China, when she went to war to force the Chinese to accept the British traded Opium.She had cynically created "countries" in Africa without regard to the rights of the peoples or their existing territories of ancient standing. She had customarily done WHATEVER was necessary to protect her own economic or military interests. "Britannia waives the rules" was in reality no joke.
By the end of World War II she was financially in ruins and, as has been said, had the misfortune to survive the War with most of her outdated, worn-out plant still intact. The "totally destroyed"plant of Germany, Japan and much of Europe had to be re-built from scratch : totally modern and brand new its efficiency, completely outstripped anything the U.K. could achieve.She was further hobbled by the influence of her institutions. These had also survived intact, and particularly by the Victorian era class- obsessed Trade Union Movement.
The rest of the world was looking to break the shackles of the past which had dragged it into these great wars.Hence the movement for change. There was immense confidence and a belief that there had to be a better way.Again, the experience of the war had boosted peoples'confidence in their ability to decide for themselves, many of their superiors and imagined "betters", had failed the test of war as they had more often done in WW I. Enough was enough - authorities came under increasing pressure. The very idea of Monarchy was fading until by our time, the whole enterprise is seen as primarily a tourist attraction, save only for sentimental esteem for the young Queen Elizabeth you knew of - who is still reigning.
When you typed this last page, you were then the same age as I am now .The tendency to devalue old ideas is in effect far more advanced, but largely this is happening in ignorance. For the worst of the present situation is that , for very many in our present society, there is total ignorance of all history, even rather recent history,and an absence of any moral ,ethical or social principles. As a result, public life is being conducted by a broad mass of people largely "winging it" as the phrase goes - making it up as they go along, as if there were no past, no lessons to learn from, no known pitfalls to be avoided, and no guiding principles to follow. The barbarians are not at the gate, they are well inside the walls.And the Keep is besieged.
At our age we are always inclined to cry with Cicero "O Tempora , O Mores"( O the Times, O the Customs). Maybe things are getting worse, and we are like the citizens of Rome as she began to slide into the Dark Ages. Or, very optimistically, things have always been this bad, and we just see them better analysed and publicised to-day.I am naturally an optimist. But in this case, I have my doubts.
And in your conclusion you are so right , we have to place ourselves ultimately at the disposal of God's Will for us.And we must look forward to that joy which "cometh in the morning.".
His Memoir began here:http://edwardbeckmann.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/an-innocent-abroad-my-memoir_22.html
 |
| AWAITING GOD'S WILL |
When I look around the world to-day I fear I have outstayed my time in it. There is so much that we have venerated in our days which has been rudely swept aside. Above all there are the appointments of the Queen and our Governors. Was it not right and proper that the Governor should be chosen by Her Majesty herself? Also there is a continual gnawing at the vitals of the Empire, a continual reducing of the ties of the Empire, till there is nothing left but the hollow rind. And so with everything else. Everything must be modern, as though the old things which our parents handed down to us were worthless rubbish. Ah well, that only proves that my time has outgrown me . As I said before "life is a teacher and Our Lord applies the teaching ." We should learn from Him humility and love for all mankind and submission to God's Will. The one thing most needful for me is that I should orientate myself on the stream of time and profit by the lesson He teaches.
In this spirit, my Wife and I look forward with confidence to whatever our Heavenly Father may yet have in store for us for the closing days of our lives.
Weeping may endure for a night
But joy cometh in the morning.
"..as though the old things which our parents handed down to us were worthless rubbish.."
Dear Grandad,
The final page of your Memoir has been reached.
Continuing on from the last lines of the preceding page you consider the defeat and destruction of your Fatherland in the late War, and you see it as retribution for the persecution of the Jewish people, referring to the Old Testament prophets. The persecution of the Jews by the Nazis was hideous . Yet we should not overlook all the other millions of people the Nazis killed in their time ,in England and across Europe and North Africa and through Poland and into Russia. Nor should we forget the hundreds of thousands of German folk the Nazis condemned to death in their fanaticism - consider the soldiers left to freeze and die at Stalingrad. And much of the destruction in Germany by the Allies was itself morally reprehensible and unjustifiable - sheer revenge - consider the Dresden Firestorm bombing and the obliteration of your own beautiful Hannover.
 |
| 12th May,1945 Aerial Photograph of Hannover looking down on the Hauptbahnhof The picture will accept considerable magnification. The destruction is hideous and was totally unnecessary. |
The destruction of Germany was no doubt partly Divine retribution for all the sins the Nazis had put in hand ,not just those against the Jews.To the extent that it was excessive it was not of Divine origin but human and , at least in the case of Dresden, I think diabolical.
You had of course, invested your life and emotional commitment in Australia as part of the British Empire. This had seemed something of enduring power and glory. Yet, even as you embraced the Empire, the seeds of its destruction were already sown in its very great extent. Its global reach meant that ultimately it was indefensible, and indeed in the modern world with several new emerging powers of colossal might - Germany united, Japan, the United States - the"Mother Country" was unable to sustain financially the demands of defence.
By the end of the First World War, which had been won only after the might of the United States, generated in its isolated haven, had been thrown into the balance, the "Mother Country"was on the brink of bankruptcy and deeply in debt. The Great Depression exacerbated that position. The advent of the Second World War called for physical and financial exertions of extraordinary extent and again, the victory was only won with the arrival of United States equipment, supplies and men.To achieve this result, the ties of the Empire had been very greatly loosened in many places and almost ignored in others. It is instructive to visit the War Rooms underground in London - in the Joint Chiefs of Staff Situation Room the wall is covered with a vast World Map - there is no AUSTRALIA OR NEW ZEALAND on it!
Whether close by in Ireland, or remotely in Australia or Canada or the Bahamas or the Falklands, let alone India and Hong Kong, the"Mother Country" had in some cases provided nothing, but taken much as in Ireland;or, had given a lot in culture, law and legal system as in Australia and New Zealand whilst taking far more economically through Empire trading regimes and so on. In other historical cases she had acted with total immorality as in the "Opium Wars"against China, when she went to war to force the Chinese to accept the British traded Opium.She had cynically created "countries" in Africa without regard to the rights of the peoples or their existing territories of ancient standing. She had customarily done WHATEVER was necessary to protect her own economic or military interests. "Britannia waives the rules" was in reality no joke.
By the end of World War II she was financially in ruins and, as has been said, had the misfortune to survive the War with most of her outdated, worn-out plant still intact. The "totally destroyed"plant of Germany, Japan and much of Europe had to be re-built from scratch : totally modern and brand new its efficiency, completely outstripped anything the U.K. could achieve.She was further hobbled by the influence of her institutions. These had also survived intact, and particularly by the Victorian era class- obsessed Trade Union Movement.
The rest of the world was looking to break the shackles of the past which had dragged it into these great wars.Hence the movement for change. There was immense confidence and a belief that there had to be a better way.Again, the experience of the war had boosted peoples'confidence in their ability to decide for themselves, many of their superiors and imagined "betters", had failed the test of war as they had more often done in WW I. Enough was enough - authorities came under increasing pressure. The very idea of Monarchy was fading until by our time, the whole enterprise is seen as primarily a tourist attraction, save only for sentimental esteem for the young Queen Elizabeth you knew of - who is still reigning.
When you typed this last page, you were then the same age as I am now .The tendency to devalue old ideas is in effect far more advanced, but largely this is happening in ignorance. For the worst of the present situation is that , for very many in our present society, there is total ignorance of all history, even rather recent history,and an absence of any moral ,ethical or social principles. As a result, public life is being conducted by a broad mass of people largely "winging it" as the phrase goes - making it up as they go along, as if there were no past, no lessons to learn from, no known pitfalls to be avoided, and no guiding principles to follow. The barbarians are not at the gate, they are well inside the walls.And the Keep is besieged.
At our age we are always inclined to cry with Cicero "O Tempora , O Mores"( O the Times, O the Customs). Maybe things are getting worse, and we are like the citizens of Rome as she began to slide into the Dark Ages. Or, very optimistically, things have always been this bad, and we just see them better analysed and publicised to-day.I am naturally an optimist. But in this case, I have my doubts.
And in your conclusion you are so right , we have to place ourselves ultimately at the disposal of God's Will for us.And we must look forward to that joy which "cometh in the morning.".
No comments:
Post a Comment