Stauffenberg, Sobieski, and Lepanto
To the Carlton Club for an oversubscribed dinner moderated by Michael Binyon with Liam Fox and yours truly speaking about the Middle East. When my turn came I shyly pointed out that I was honoured to be invited because the usual subject I’m asked to discuss is Paris Hilton or jail. “Why don’t you do just that?” yelled someone from the audience.
Oh well, not everyone is as polite as Sergei Cristo, the big shot at the club who had the temerity to invite me. Unsurprisingly, the Middle East seems to be on everyone’s mind nowadays, everyone except Paris Hilton’s, that is. I suppose 2001 will go down as a footnote in history because of the twin towers disaster, just as 2003 will be remembered as the year Uncle Sam launched his worst thought-out invasion ever. There are years which are momentous in historical importance and others less so. Depending on whose side you’re on, 1948 was anathema to Muslims, as Israel was created, although 1917 was hardly better, what with the fall of the Tsar and the Balfour Declaration. As a wise man pointed out in the Sunday Telegraph, all these dates rubbed the Muslims the wrong way, but it seems to me everything we do rubs them the wrong way, even when our girls take their clothes off and sway to the music of rock. (If you call that swaying).
No, my favourite dates differ from those of Mohammed or Hassan. I like 732, as in Charles Martel in Tours; 1683, as in Jan Sobieski in Vienna; and the best of them all (because it took place in my back yard) 1571, as in Don John and the Battle of Lepanto. Of all the battles, this was the one that saved the Christian West. It was a naval encounter even more important than Salamis, when we Greeks wiped the floor with those Persian interlopers. The West was lucky in having one of the greatest Popes of all time, Pius V, who named Don John of Austria as commander,an inspired and brilliant choice. Pius, in his six short years as Pope, published the works of Thomas Aquinas, excommunicated Queen Elizabeth and promulgated the Council of Trent. Not bad for a simple and aged Dominican priest by the name of Michael Ghislieri. Everyone who was anyone joined the Holy League—even the effete and treacherous Venetians—and with the extremely good looking and gallant Don John at the head the Christians met the Turkish hordes in the Gulf of Patras. (A Greek proverb has it that Pan Patriki Putana, or all women from Patras are whores, but I for one disagree. If it were true, we would have lost).
But I have to be careful. I can no longer be judgemental, even of suicide bombers of last week’s vintage. Judgemental is an American invention, the final, idiotic word of censure in the relativist age. So far be it from me to criticise these bums who come over to our shores and blow themselves up while putting firework manufacturers out of business. To the contrary, I salute them, as I salute criminals, knife wielders, illegal immigrants, Salman Rushdie and so on. Talk about bull---t, we’re swimming in it up to our necks, and my worry is that I’ve got a particularly short one.
But back to modern history this time. Tom Cruise is about to begin filming in Germany, and he’s portraying non other than the great Claus von Stauffenberg, the officer who tried to assassinate Hitler. When I rang my friend Elizabeth Stauffenberg Roberti—her father was Claus’s brother and was also put to death after the July 20 plot—she did not seem too perturbed that Cruise would play her uncle. “He is a foot shorter but what the hell…” My problem with Cruise is not his religion, far from it, but his mannerisms. I don’t think he is capable of playing an upper class Wehrmacht officer of noble background. It takes more than acting lessons to do that. Stauffenberg was very handsome and a great hero, something perhaps a Gary Cooper could bring across, but not Cruise. Mind you, I hope I’m wrong, but I wouldn’t bet on it. A German journalist was not pleased by the choice. “It is like casting Judas in the role of Jesus.” Easy Trigger. It’s not as bad as all that, but they should have got Leopold Bismarck for the role.
And speaking of Bismarck, I am off with them to Rome for the Valentino three day bash to end all bashes. I will be reporting on it next week, but in preparation we had a very jolly lunch at the Bismarck house in order to get our livers acclimatised to booze. Nick Scott, an old Etonian, was telling a schoolmate of his, George Moreton, about how hard it was for Boris Johnson to be the editor of the Speccie because Boris was Lyndon Johnson’s nephew. “Jesus Christ,” said George. “And,” continued Nick, “it got more complicated because of Barry Lyndon…” “F-----g right,” said George,and we all collapsed in tears of laughter. See you in Rome.
Comments
The “effete and treacherous” Venetians fought the Turks in 1470, 1538, 1570, 1620, 1645-1669, 1684-7, and 1714-8. No one in Christendom fought the Turks more or were as tenacious in an asymmetrical conflict that pitted a city state against a great empire. Tactically speaking, the Battle of Lepanto was won by the gunfire of the Venetian great galleys, which sailed first into battle and broke the Turkish line. Eviva San Marco!
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Liam Neeson would be perfect. Tall, thin, commanding, wise sounding - pure alphaness.
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How about a much younger Sean Connery (tall and lean) role-playing Stauffenberg, or even Peter O’Toole? Did you see him in “The Night of the Generals”?
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There’s a great pic of Liam Neeson in a German officer’s uniform that can be googled. Neeson is probably among best choices.
Cruise is not right at all. Off the bat, he lacks the right stature, demeanor and presence for the part. Besides, he brings too much of himself to screen for a serious historical film (he doesn’t play a role; he plays himself playing a roll).
This could be a great film, but given the early indications, it won’t be. Too bad.
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How about Jim Cavaziel? Remember him?
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Yeah, Jim Caviezel could do it.
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Caviezel would be perfect. And, as some of you who
are not privileged enough to have been born Hungarian
may not know, it was actually Hungary that defended
the West, and particularly Vienna,
from the muslim hordes. Unfortunately, we lost
our King at the battle of Mohacs. But back then,
when women were made of sterner stuff, they took
the places of their fallen men and poured boiling
oil on the necks of these infidels as they stormed
the castle walls.
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Stauffenberg was my hero too,(I am not German) and I remember quite well how Allies were thoroughly embarassed by his attempt on Hitler’s life. They really didn’t want to hear that anti-Hitler Germans existed.
I suppose it would have been awkward to explain those savage bombings of German civilians. So, there was an eerie silence, as though, they were afraid Hitler might be dead and this would spoil their ‘unconditional surrender’ fun.
I am certainly not going to see the movie which I am sure will be the usual Hollywood trash. Stauffenberg is one of the true romantic hero (perhaps the only authentic one) of the WWII and to see Tom Cruise inpersonnatig him would be a real sacrilege.
Americans have no concept of what a real aristocracy is about, and that is why all their historical movies are regularly rubbish. They think Bush and Kennedy families are those.
There are only three cathegories Americans recognize: the good, the bad and the rich. What escapes them is -the noble.
And,that is why we have Abu Ghraibs and Guantanamos.
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My only question is how they will work the holocaust
in to be the central message of the film. It WILL be
in there.
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Unlike Taki, I had a cheap, caffeinated beer with my
quasi-gourmet dinner. I must say that while Taki
never fails to open the bottle, the rest of you
make the drinking of it even more enjoyable!
Peter RV’s comments as well as Lane’s—really,
everybody’s—are icing on the cake. I still think
one of the best vehicles for the salvation of the
West is a cable channel dedicated to Conservatism
and Christendom. If that doesn’t work, how about Rum,
Romanism, and Rebellion? All we need is a multi-
billionaire with a vision and a faith and a sense of
history. Shouldn’t be too difficult? Then again....
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Not everybody sees Stauffenberg as a hero and growing up in postwar Germany I knew quite a few Germans, actually the majority of his generation, who saw him as a traitor to the German people. On top of that, if he saw the dire need to liberate his countrymen against their will from the tyrant, why didn’t he stay with the bomb, to ensure that Hitler would die in the blast?
In contrast to Taki, I do have more respect for these “bums, who blow themselves up” to rid their country of foreign invaders or tyrants.
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Many honourable Germans of the Nazi era performed heroic and charitable deeds which have never seen much light of publicity. Somewhere in Dr Viktor Frankl’s book, “Man’s Search for Meaning”, in a footnote he mentioned an anecdote about an SS officer at one of the death-camps, who used his own money secretly to smuggle medicine to the prisoners. When that particular camp was liberated by the Americans, Jewish prisoners told the Americans what that SS officer had done for them, and they asked the Americans to spare his life and liberty. The Americans did so, and then that former SS officer assisted the Americans in rehabilitating the health and welfare of the former prisoners.
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Stauffenberg was an oath-breaker, an attempted murderer, and a traitor to his nation as well as the legitimately elected leadership of his country. He is the antithesis of honor.
His motivation to cold-blooded murder was not for the sake of Jews, Gypsies, or other such wonderful folk. He thought he could prevent Germany from losing the war by murdering Hitler (the Americans had just invaded France). Of course, this would not have stopped the war in any event as Churchill made clear on several occasions before and after the attempted murder.
Moreover, he was not a democrat or proto-American. Stauffenberg was a staunch nationalist whose last words were God Save Holy / Sacred Germany. Its therefore poetic justice that the “sexually confused” Tom Cruise, who is also a member of a bizarre American $ cult, will portray this “great” man. I hope Stauffenberg can witness the memorialization of his legacy from Hades.
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The Nazis “legitimately elected”? After gaining power as a plurality, they exploited weaknesses in the Weimar constitution to ban all other parties—using a manufactured “emergency,” the Reichstag fire, to violate the entire spirit of that constitution and construct a sickening totalitarian state. They systematically betrayed everything that is truly German—Christianity, the ancient Teutonic resistance to centralized authority, the local cultures and liberties, the sanctity of the family, the honor of the German army. Oh yes, and they murdered millions of Jews (including war veterans with the Iron Cross), Gypsies, Slavs and handicapped Germans. They planned to sterilize any German with a congenital disease, including cardiovascular problems. They embarked upon the mass slaughter of Poles and Ukrainians, intending to empty thousands of square miles for “colonization”—a social experiment every bit as monstrous as anything Stalin or Pol Pot attempted. They corrupted the Army by forcing officers to swear allegiance not to Germany but to the psychopath who’d seized power there. Stauffenberg, a Catholic aristocrat, organized resistance forces (anti-Communist and anti-Nazi) in Ukraine before trying to cut off the monster at its head and save Germany the murderous bombing by the Allies and the mass-rape and murder (1 million German dead post war) that would come with Soviet occupation. And Mr. Sepp holds him in contempt. Well, Herr Sepp, F**** YOU!
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What’s with the f-word? Please. I hear it enough as it is. This is not the place.
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I agree with Mr. Zmirak 200%. Sepp seems to be one of those old, washed out old Nazis who keep refighting Stalingrad in their wrecked, confused minds.
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Hitler and the NSDAP were democratically elected. When Marshall Hindenberg invited Adolf Hitler to form a government it was to general rejoicing. Count Stauffenberg was a traitor to
Germany. The officer class was full of
aristocrats in all military spheres, and
also as volunteers in the Waffen SS, indeed a large proportion of the medical
corps were nobles. They saw their duty
as being first and foremost to rid the
the world, and especially Christian
Europe of Bolshevism. Theirs was a glorious defeat. One need only look
at today`s world to see how much we need the return of a man of Adolf Hitlers
calibre.
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To this you can read and download the book “Worm in the Apple” on:
http://www.wintersonnenwende.com/scriptorium/english/archives/worminapple/wa00.html
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quote:
“A Greek proverb has it that Pan Patriki Putana, or all women from Patras are whores”
Interesting article but this prverb is non-existant, literally a total fallacy.
The proverb is part of the well known 52 p’s about Patra:
“pais pas poustis Patrinos, palias poutanas paragios”
“every youth of Patra is gay, apprentice of an old whore”
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