Gunther Lutjens: a biography?

[RF]

Has anyone attempted a biography of Gunther Lutjens - I don't specifically mean a potted history of Rheinubung or Operation Berlin, but focussing on his earlier life, his WW1 experiences and the inter-war period?

Such a biography would I think be useful in reducing the enigma of Lutjens as a person.

[Karl Heidenreich]

I agree with RF. We will never understand why Mr. Lutjens acted the way he did if we do not understand him as a commander and a human being. And this is quite important becuase his decisions are still under the critiscism of many, I included.

Best regards

[RF]

As proof of the point, I was in a bookshop yesterday and I noticed a book about ''personal experiences of WW2.''

Included was a chapter on Bismarck, quoting from Alois Haberditz. The author, in his profile of Gunther Lutjens included the sentence ''Gunther Lutjens believed that Germany would lose the war from the start.''

On what evidence? This is not explained! Did Lutjens really think Germany would lose, even at the end of June 1940?

Kennedy in his book repeats this type of line in saying ''Lutjens as usual put the worst possible interpretation on events.''

Was Lutjens really that much of a defeatist? If so then why did Raeder promote him to Flottenchef, and not long after previous promotions?

[justdancin]

Gunther Lutjens had a family to consider and protect.. .. Imagine a concept akin to that espoused in the, "Sound of Music." It's in the past ... just let it go.... please?

Thanks, DL

[RF]

I am not clear on the import of the last post. Please explain.

[Karl Heidenreich]

RF:

I am not clear on the import of the last post.

Neither do I.

[justdancin]

I know what my father & grandfather told me ... both now deceased. My grandfather was A.G. Lutjens, If he had wanted the 'rest of the story' told, he would have done so in his lifetime.

[Karl Heidenreich]

Gunther Lutjens IS an historical figure just like Charles Lindberg, Picasso, Voltaire, Gandhi or thousand others. Their life is a matter of discussion and controversy, which is an intelectual exercise in all mature societies. Anyhow the evaluation is, more than any other thing, of their performance in their roles (as a painter, a musician, a president or in this case,a fleet admiral).
There is nothing we can do about it... there is nothing the world can do about it.

[RF]

The purpose of a biography is to detail a person's life to evaluate who they are as a person and from that to understand not so much what they did but why they believed and acted in the way they did. In the case of Lutjens I think this is significant given his military position and the fact he had direct command of over two thousand men.

I don't seek to judge the man as a person, it is an open ended historical enquiry to find out what happened and why.

Recently I have had occasion to read a book about a very controversial incident in 1940, the circumstances surrounding the sinking of the merchant ship Anglo-Saxon in August 1940. The author, J Revill-Carr, researched the life histories of all the main people involved in this episode, in particular the commander of the hilfskreuzer Widder, Helmuth von Ruckteschell. This individual turns out to be a very complex and contradictory individual, not least in that he was an anti-nazi (on religous grounds) who was also a member of the Nazi Party (a membership concealed from Raeder and the rest of the KM which forbade party political activity) and was accused of war crimes in both world wars. The detailed background is of a creative and artistic intellectual who found himself in situations where he had an almost impossible job to achieve, for whom the description ''loose cannon'' would be very apt. In a military organisation in a position of command it can lead to appalling consequences - as happened to the crew of Anglo-Saxon.
This biography does not excuse the actions of Ruckteschell but puts them in the context of the circumstances he was in, so that there is a record of what caused him to act in the way that he did.

I think in a similar vein a biography of Lutjens may throw more light on the reasons for the military decisions he took, not to rake up on the unpleasant events that happened but to try to understand why they happened.

[justdancin]

This is becoming shorter everytime I write it, only to have it evaporate into thin air, as I click preview or post.

I have only discovered this site, in the process of searching for any family members who may still reside in Germany. My son is stationed at Ramstein AFB, approximately 100 (?) miles from my grandfather's place of birth. I am not having a lot of luck, although my grandfather and father had always told me to find them, if given the opportunity to go over there. The immediate family members that migrated over here, were not prolific and many did not marry at all ... as was the case with my great-aunt Hilda and others. Birth records, etc. were eliminated, they left with what they could carry, not bringing much personal data with them and many variations of our surname began to evolve ... ü became ue, dropped the s, j to z, etc. Most of it, due to the wars and alleged possible 'Nazi' affiliation.

My grandfather had an old box of letters and photos in his basement shop, most had been rerouted via someone in New York. He died in 1990 and nobody seems to know what happened to it; the basement was damp and everything was mildewed. My aunt and uncle (from grandpa's second marriage) cleaned the house out and as neither read or speak German, would not have realized their significance, hence tossing them out. I read and discussed, the majority of them 35 years ago, while I was up there helping my father with some home maintenance. As far as I know, I am the only one left, who heard the stories, having spent the majority of my time with my father (DOD 1984) while growing up. My father's step-mother, was not exactly proud of our heritage and played it down, in her household, as much as possible. There may yet possibly exist, an old scrap book salvedged from my great-aunt's effects ... a lot of the photographs had been torn out, but, captions written beneath them remained. My mother (82 years) is currently in a home with alzheimers and can't remember yesterday, so where it may be in her boxed up possessions, is yet to be determined.

What I am trying to say is this, as far as I know, there is not enough 'evidence' left, to write a personal biography of Günther Lütjens. Everything I was told, or read, is heresay and would not even be admissable in Wikipedia! The events that transpired 100 years ago are in the past ... nothing but 'folk tales' now ... and without the evidence to back them up, should remain that way. I will say this, he never intended to remain in Germany. He stayed behind to assist the rest in their 'escape' from a situation, that they were beginning to find intolerable. Events transpired that prevented him from following ... A 'fatalist' he may have been to many, but, he had lost his first 'battle' at an early age and was forced into a life he had never envisioned. Thus, depending on your point of view, to some he was a 'Hero' !!

[Bgile]

A real shame you have lost so much precious info about your heritage. There are so many things that get thrown out by well meaning people ...

[RF]

I agree.

[Antonio Bonomi]

Ciao all,

I think I am one of the most interested person on knowing more about Admiral Gunther Lutjens as well as on Kpt Harald Netzband.

Both those officers according to my personal opinion due deserve a more careful look bout their military careers.

It is easy to be on the right side on the right moment for a soldier.

Much more difficult is to try to be yourself on your soldier life, .. despite your opinion about the side you are into.

I agree about this statement : " .... to some he was a 'Hero' !! ".

Ciao Antonio

[justdancin]

All of you know more about his military career than I do. He never accepted the Nazi regime, nor agreed with the "Kristallnacht" programs. That is history. I know about his youth, he was very intelligent, he read a lot, he loved music, played the piano and a tenor banjo (which I have). One of my sister's has the old family Bible, containing birth/death records, that is all there is... additional birth records, ID's, etc. were destroyed when they left Germany. He was very loyal and dedicated to his family, helping them to 'escape' Germany and a political situation that was escalating out of control after the turn of the century, while covering up for their absence. He intended to follow, but was caught and more or less, forced to join the German Navy. His plans to do so were unwavering for many years, unfortunately, he was either on a ship in the middle of the ocean, or continually watched. His letters, which were re-routed through someone in New York, still stated this wish into the late 1920's, becoming less evident with time, as he became resigned to his fate. Letters from the 1930's, expressed a growing concern for the fate of Germany, the brain-washing of the youth, the tightening of miltary control over the population, and the politics that were against his beliefs ~ morally and ethically. He performed his duty to his country, but did not agree with the politics behind the war.

As I said before, this is all heresay, the letters are gone and I don't believe there is anybody else left alive who ever read them. Those involved are dead, and I still haven't successfully found any immediate family left over there. For whatever reason, this might help to understand the man behind the uniform. Why he felt as he did about circumstances beyond his control. It is of little historical value otherwise. It's just a sad tale, of a sad man, who became a victim of circumstance. One who sacrificed himself for those he loved, and became a hero to many others as well. May he rest in peace!

Thanks, D. A. 'Lütjens'

(had my father and grandfather not changed the spelling)