THE ORIGINAL SIN OF THE I NTELLECT
51
Hitler? Just look at yourself-were you able to live according to your
anthroposophical precepts here at the front? No, you are putting the
cart before the horse; for all this the premises, the material basis, must
first be created. Mankind must be freed from the slavery of capital–
ism. We will abolish war by abolishing its causes. Right now we
have no time for your transcendental problems. Under Communism,
when the premises have been created, when men are free and able
to live in peace, then we will have time for that." He talked on
about a flowering of art and science that would surpass all expecta–
tions.
Now, toward the end of my interrogations in prison, the com–
missar argued in a similar fashion, though it is true that he denied
the existence of the supra-sensible; some day all phenomena would
be explainable in materialistic terms. Thus I never suspected that
the lieutenant who had been born in Erfurt might have been an
exception. In contrast to everything that I had expected of the
NKVD, that I had seen and heard myself in prison, the very fact
of these nightly discussions was surprise enough in itself. They
culminated in a remark by the captain that on the basis of my eleven
days' and nights' interrogation they had come to the conclusion
that I had not been an SS member, an officer, or a spy.
This was, of course, exceptionally welcome news. Since, more–
over, I had long realized and confessed that I was a partner
in Hitler's criminal attack on the peace-loving Soviet Union,
the fatherland of all workers, and that I had personally transgressed
against them, especially by my radio propaganda activity, the fact
that I had not previously known Marxism-Leninism and had become
a war criminal unconsciously counted in my favor.
If
I were now
honestly willing, on the basis of my new knowledge, to renounce
Hitler and to direct all my energies toward the rectification of my
really unforgivable crimes against the Soviet power, there might
be a prospect of releasing me from prison. On the assumption that I
might have a genuine interest in a thorough study of Marxism–
Leninism, I would be given the opportunity of attending a school
set up especially for that purpose.
I was interested. But even if I had not been, the naivete of this
psychology made me wonder.
It
was the fifth month of my imprison–
ment, and chronic heart complaints indicated that I was at the end
