Tired & Weary Day.

Tired & weary I plodded home from the museum, my bones less pained than my muscles.  Weariness began last night when a knock came on the door around ten o'clock. Two friendly members of the constabulary were enquiring about my neighbour, who has not been seen since, he and her have been up to something somewhere.  Half dressed, I was watching football in bed, and a I explained to them I was on a football planet not one concerning neighbours.  I missed the last two minutes of the game because of them!
I also failed to sleep for ages and woke at eight this morning with a sponge for a brain, at work they said this was not unusual.  Not only was I kept busy I had to buy my lunch rather than eat at home because of staff shortages.  However the day was profitable and we took a decent amount of cash and the girls have been preparing for tomorrows 'John Ray Day.'

This ought to be a good day as many are interested in this nature lover however the wee pony seen above, used as therapy for injured kids and others will not make it, some thieving rat stole their truck and trailer!  I suspect however the stall holders who arrive and those who drop in will have a decent time.  I will be even more weary by the finish.

 
What a interesting little book this is.
Usually books about Adolf concern his rantings and world domination plans but here we see another side of the man who would have ruled Europe.  
Christa Schroeder began work for the early Nazi Party years before the war, this for work as it was hard to find and not for ideological reasons she claims.  In this she might be right as it appears she comprehended or cared little for what was happening outside of the Leadership bubble in which she operated.  Once she had climbed the heights to be one of Hitlers favourite secretary's she was then unable to leave even if she wished.  Hitler and he alone decided who came or went.
Her shorthand skills were important during the early years as she took dictation, typed out his speeches ad retyped as he amended them time and again.  Surely during this period she grasped something of the intentions of the man?  Surely she realised where Germany was headed?  At the end of the war she was interrogated by the allies and one suggested that she could be regarded as 'dumb!'  It is possible she really did not comprehend what was going on even though she saw the control of Ukraine and in the end the devastation of Berlin.  It is possible her life was too close to Hitler himself and under his spell as many were to be objective about what she saw around her, maybe she shared a mental outlook that ran through Germany at the time, one that is difficult to explain.

This is not a straight forward book more a collection of typed notes that were published some years ago, later translated into English.  These notes she put together to put some stories right and others to explain her position.  Many in Germany were doing that after the war.  These contain stories about the various campaigns where the backroom staff followed the chief to his headquarters even though he rarely made use of them.  Hitler kept his office staff separate from the real business at hand and used them as a way of escape from the trials of taking others land ans killing the population.  These girls were a sort of middle class escape where he met them daily for tea and cake and talk far removed from war.  Politics and military matters were never discussed here, art, plans, architecture (Adolf saw himself as an architect not a painter), history and all sorts of subjects were given his views, views he studied by voracious reading and by memorising large amounts of detail so he could spew it back as his own.
Hitler was the centre of the life in this 'Bubble,' many wished to be there so they could stake a claim for position, few were true friends to others.  The people of the circle are mentioned by Christa with particular care for the women, is she bitchy or were the men of little interest to her?  None wanted her even though a few were kind towards her.  
This book could be seen to glamorise a man who caused millions of deaths however it fails to do so by revealing his selfish obsessions at all times.  His personality shines through in spite of the tea and cake, the kissing of ladies hands (he was Austrian after all not Prussian) and generous gifts to one and all.  Those who offended him especially by disagreeing were not invited back, even Christa was  
'blackballed' for a year for talking back, Adolfs inabilities and weaknesses and limited outlook are always on show in these pages.  His brutal attitude to opposition, his reliance on his own 'will' and his lack of real deep care are clear to see.  It is a wonder people stuck close to him, a wonder he had so many followers.  That is the thing people believed in him, his ability to convince and carry an entire nation led them to destruction.  Christa working alongside him does not appear to carry any insight into faults re his agenda, as indeed did many others.

A lesson here for us all.  The world follows all too easily the leaders it chooses, deep thought and conscience are not always brought into place.  Right and wrong are concepts that can easily be amended to suit our purposes and concern for others fades when our advantage appears.