My Boy

Background: The Frauen Warte was the Nazi Party’s biweekly illustrated magazine for women. This is a poem from August 1938 that expesses the Nazi wish to have as many children as possible. I’ve opted for a fairly literal translation rather than attempting poetry myself.

I received an interesting e-mail from a colleague of the boy about whom this poem was written, who is now a teacher in Germany. He is the only son of the Werner vom Hofe, who was also a teacher. The son interpreted his father’s poem as expressing joy at the birth of a son, although the way he expressed his joy was certainly influenced by Nazism.

The source: Werner vom Hofe, “Mein Junge,” NS Frauen Warte, (7), #4 (2nd August issue, 1938), p. 97.

My Boy

Now I live in you.
You shall and will live on
In times I will not see.
How wonderful that is!
It is as wonderful as in the old sagas,
When each tribe strove
To ensure its bloodline did not perish.

Still, you are yet small.
How could you know
That you are a branch on a large tree!
But the day will come
When I must tell you
That not only you,
But your fathers also will be judged by your deeds.

No, you do not yet understand that.
You dream and play throughout the day.
But when you understand,
Then I will know
That in each heartbeat in you and me
That keeps us living,
Also flows a drop of eternity.

[Page copyright © 1999 by Randall Bytwerk. No unauthorized reproduction. My e-mail address is available on the FAQ page.]

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