Harold Vedeler
Working
on a doctoral thesis at the
University
of Wisconsin,
Iowa
native Harold Vedeler was in
Berlin
in 1932 and early 1933, during the Nazis rise to power. With
another student, he stood within a few feet of Adolf Hitler at a
political rally and later reported he was quite dramatic a
performer. Harold was alarmed by the reaction from the
crowd, which was held spellbound. "[Hitler] told them what they
wanted to hear that there was a way for them to rise from their
problems."
After
teaching from 1933 the outbreak of war, Harold began working with
the State Department in 1943, focusing until 1945 on postwar
policies and the de-nazification of
Germany
. He played a key role in mapping
U.S.
policy regarding the peace settlement; at a foreign ministers
conference in
Moscow
he served as political advisor for the negotiation of the post-war
Austrian Treaty. In 1945 he served in the Central European Affairs
Division as an interrogator of war prisoners, including Hermann
Goering. Harold found the fallen Nazi leader cooperative and
willing to talk, even though he came to interviews with a big cape and unfurled [it]
with great flair. Harold interviewed Goering for three and one
half hours on one day and again on another. He later commented:
"What a shame this man was involved in the Third Reich. If he'd
been in a democracy, hed have been an outstanding politician. He
had a very pleasing personality if you could forget the evil side of
him".
One of Harold
Vedelers colleagues was Gustave Gilbert, a
U.S.
interrogator and psychologist who interviewed Goering at Nuernberg
in 1945, when Goering admitted that
Of course the people dont want war. But after all,
it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and
it's always a simple matter to drag the people along
whether its a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament,
or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can
always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All
you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce
the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to
greater danger. It works the same way in any country.
Paul C.
Lutz was a Lutheran pastor in Lime Springs/Iowa when the
United States entered World War II. Rumors began circulating in the small,
mainly Welsh community about the German church and its
German-language services, and Pauls allegedly pro-German views
and supposed lack of patriotism. Later, Paul criticized local
farmers he encountered in the local drugstore for gloating over
the wartime rise in commodities prices. More accusations against
the 38-year-old pastors presumed pro-German sentiment was one
factor prompted
him to enlist as a chaplain in the U.S. Army in 1943. He left
behind his young wife to care for their five sons.
An
extensive tour of duty took him to
Italy
,
France and
Bavaria
which Pauls immigrant grandfather had left in 1855. Near
Munich
, he toured the infamous concentration camp at
Dachau
. Along with providing pastoral
care to U.S. troops for seven months after hostilities ended, Paul
administered Holy Communion to homeless European refugees, acted
as an interpreter between American officers and German government
officials, and helped local churches recover art pieces that had
been hidden away during the war.
At the end
of 1945 Pastor Lutz returned to the
U.S.
and accepted the call to serve a mostly German-American
congregation in Renwick/Iowa. During the war German POWs from
nearby
Camp
Algona
had worked on area farms and formed close friendships with local
farmers, including several of Paul's parishioners.
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