Soldier of Germany to Soldier of God - remarkable journey of Fr Franz X Dirnberger (Post 4 of 4)

What if I tell you, a German soldier condemned to die in Eastern Front survived and was instrumental in saving hundreds of girl children condemned to die in remote rural pockets of Madurai?

From being a Wehrmacht soldier under Erwin Rommel to a fighter against female infanticide, Fr Franz X Dirnberger's journey is something remarkable.

Born in a devout Catholic family in Ruhland in Germany in 1916, Dirnberger wanted to become a priest and joined seminary when the great war sucked him into its whirlpool. Mandated to take military training after schooling, all abled-bodied men were recruited into the military machine that churned for the aspirations of Hitler when war broke out in 1939.

After initial training, Dirnberger was absorbed into 87th regiment of the 7th Panzer division headed by the 'Desert Fox' Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.

After short action in France, Dirnberger soon found himself in Eastern Front (the Russian Invasion) in 1942. But the Nazi Germany like Napoleon Bonaparte fell to the Great Russian winter.

On February 2, 1943 when the siege against Stalingrad crumbled with heavy German casualties, Dirnberger was lying in the snow heavily bleeding after hit by bullets in neck and arm. Russians left him to die among the fallen. But it was not his day.

Having lost blood and thirsty, he chewed some snow and mustered his strength to walk back. Next day, his fleeing regimental mates found him walking and took him to hospital. Fighting till the end of war, he ended up as Prisoner of War in the American hands.

During the custody, an American Chaplain learnt that he was studying for priesthood before war and expedited his release. Three years after the war, he was ordained as priest in 1948.

Dirnberger's next leap of faith came in 1970s, when he was asked to travel to India to establish the missions of his congregation. Never been to the country or knowing little English, he came down to India with two young Indian missionaries and he established numerous mission centres in the country in the next span of two decades in spite of suffering a major accident in 1980.

Notable among his missions is 'the Mercy Home' for abandoned girl children in Madurai. In 1987, India Today published the article 'Born to Die' estimating that 1500 girl children are killed in female infanticide in Madurai villages. Having established a mission centre in the hinterland of Madurai at Karumathur then, Dirnberger got into action. During my short association with the congregation, my mentors used to narrate how as the old man in crutches - the fair looking German missionary - went around villages urging villagers not to kill their daughters but hand them over to him. His Mercy Home today is the nodal agency in Madurai District for Tamil Nadu's Cradle Baby scheme and it had saved hundreds of babies which otherwise would have perished.

Dirnberger was asked to return back to Germany and spend twilight years in homeland. But he preferred to stay back in India and breathed his last in the year 1993 at Karumathur, Madurai. The mission centres he established at India and Sri Lanka for the Claretian Missionaries (the sons of Immaculate Heart of Mary) cater to the education and empowerment of the poor communities.

PS: Germany like India is the home of many inventions and philosophies. It had many princely states till Bismarck united them as Prussia. Germans among Europeans are very much family oriented like us. But when the fascism (read Nazism) took over, the God fearing Germans were reduced to beasts unleashing unimaginable terror on anyone branded as 'non-Aryans'. This country today is very much like the Germany of 1930s when the poison was injected in German brains and nationalism was fanned for the ulterior gains. The question remains how it would end here?

Kurt Knispel - the gentleman amidst a dirty war (Post 3 of 4)

How does one feel in spite of excelling in the field but never promoted and sidelined for not aligning with the ideology (destructive) of the majority. Perhaps, Kurt Knispel never minded it all through his short span of life...he was at peace with his conscience.

Kurt Knispel (1921 - 1945) is today hailed as the finest aces of tanks with 168 hits to his credit during World War II. He was a master marksman with extraordinary reflexes and situational presence of mind. At the height of war, Knispel hit an enemy tank as far as from 3000 meters, an impossible feat with those era tanks.

Knispel was born in a small town of Salisov in Czecoslovakia which was later annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938. His father worked in an automotive company and the boy had a passion for vehicles. As the war progressed he soon enlisted in German Army (Wehrmacht) and happily went into Panzer Division (German tank regiment).

Knispel's first action was in Operation Barbarossa, the German offensive against Soviet Russia. He quickly progressed from a loader to gunner and started gaining on his skills with his precision on guns. He soon befriended Alfred Rubel, a young tank commander who remained his friend for lifetime.

Knispel would have quickly progressed in ranks if he had kept quiet like most of people in a fascist regime. On July 26, 1943 while going to war front after collecting brand new Tiger Tank, he heard a painful screaming of a man at Krakow railway station in Poland.

A SS (the same Social Service organization) guard was beating a Russian Prisoner of War to pulp. Knispel couldn't bear the brutality and intervened with a pistol and the SS guard ended up in train rails. For the Nazi ethics, he should have ended up on death row because SS was elite division meant only to exterminate all enemies of the nation (read Hitler).

Knispel's reputation on marksmanship saved his life that day. The German military police and 'high command' took a 'careful note' of him.

Though four commanders recommended him for Knights Cross of the Iron Cross for bravery over course of war, he never actually got it. He was never promoted beyond a 'Feldwebel' (NCO) and got a chance to command a tank at the fag end of life. Knispel continued what he is best at, knocking one tank after another across Eastern Front.

As the tides turned against Germany after the failed invasion of Russia, the retreat became inevitable and Knispel defending a 'Last Stand' at Urbau in German occupied Czechoslovakia ran out of his luck. Mortally wounded after his tank was hit, Knispel died on April 28, 1945 ten days before war ended. Though he was officially credited 168 hits, it is believed he would have scored more than 200. He happily stepped back if someone else claimed for a hit and never bothered about the count. It is also said he never left behind a crew member in the war front.

Knispel's mortal remains were finally found in a church cemetery at Vrbovec in 2013 and moved to the military cemetery at Brno in 2014. Knispel had a mind of his own and he believed in ethics of war as a soldier. He remains a legend among the tank crews.

Pic courtesy: Wikipedia

Rommel - the legend who went behind a wrong 'leader' (Post 2 of 4)

When fascism reaches its mad frenzy it starts consuming its own flesh.

Erwin Rommel, Nazi Germany's most decorated Field Marshal, was facing it on October 14, 1944 when two of Hitler's aides have given him three choices in which suicide was on top. They have even brought a cyanide capsule for him.

Unlike the other generals of Wehrmacht (German Army) who mostly hailed from aristocracy, Rommel carved his way to become a military genius from humble background. His method of penetrating into enemy lines and quickly reaching flanks to throw surprise attack from rear has turned him a national hero by end of World War 1. His book on Infantry Attacks is famous text book in military schools.

Hitler had great admiration for Rommel and vice versa because they were aware that both of them came from streets.

Post WWI, while Hitler blamed Bolshevik and Jews for all the unrest, thereby fanning nationalism for his manipulation, Rommel knew it was the hungry stomachs causing that all.

In spite of admiring Hitler, its still doubtful how much Rommel imbibed his Fuhrer's ideology. Rommel's Africa Corps have a reputation of treating the Prisoners of War with dignity and not indulging in war crimes especially against Jews. Rommel still date is a discussion of complexity.

After the failed 'July Plot' to assassinate Hitler by Claus von Stauffenberg and team, Hitler and his aides initiated a largest purge and killed some 20000 Germans and the purge has come to Rommel's house. Though adored by his soldiers and subordinates, the Field Marshall had many enemies in high circle close to Führer. Couple of conspirators spurted out his name during interrogation though its widely believed Rommel had no role in the plot. There were numerous attempts on Hitler in the past and Wehrmacht staffers were aware of it.

He was given choices of committing suicide whereby his family and staff would be spared or he face 'Public Court' (our courts are actually heading here) for a 'trial'.

Rommel chose to kill self and save family and staff. For having missed to plan for Normandy action, he was expecting a suspension in fact (he returned home for wife's bday that day) and for all the adulation he had for Hitler, he could never believe he was given a death warrant. It is said the Field Marshall had a smile of contempt on his face post death, may be he knew where his Fuhrer was heading to.

No matter what, Rommel's legacy lives even today and so the notoriety of Hitler. For all the good skills Rommel had, he believed a wrong 'leader'.

Pic courtesy: Wikipedia. Rommel pushes his car caught in slush along with his staff. His leadership style was to lead from front and treat his subordinates with respect, a trait I aspire.

Random thoughts on 'July 20' Plot (Post 1 of 4)

Today marks the 76th Anniversary of the 'July Plot' which if succeeded would have ended the Great War one year in advance and saved millions of lives from the unnecessary blood shed though it was clear by 1944 that Hitler's Germany has almost lost the war.

The man behind July Plot, Claus von Stauffenberg, was associated with the conspirators of German Resistance against Hitler for long but couldn't bring himself to be convinced that Hitler should be eliminated. He was enamored by the 'Furher' and his principles (very much like here now) but the course of war and the brutalities of SS Division (initially started as a social service organization to help in conducting the Nazi meetings) against Jewish people turned Stauffenberg aghast.

A devout Catholic, he couldn't stomach the extreme cruelty of Nazi regime and after severely wounded in his African campaign, losing an eye, hand and fingers, Stauffenberg became a ringleader of conspirators to eliminate Hitler and bargain an armistice with Allies.

On July 20, 1944 Stauffenberg almost succeeded in assassinating Hitler if only the suitcase in which he planted the bomb was not moved by another colonel in the Wolf's Lair in Prussia. Having left the Lair, thoroughly convinced of the plot success, Stauffenberg initiated Operation Valkyrie to take control of Berlin.

Hitler inadvertently survived the plot and all the conspirators were quickly rounded up. Stauffenberg was held after a brief gunfight and put before a firing squad. The film 'Valkyrie' staring Tom Cruise vividly captures those last moments. I like the particular scene where Stauffenberg tells very much shaken General Olbricht, 'look into their eyes and they will remember you' before he was grabbed by the shooting squad.

Stauffenberg and his team reminded to world that not all in Germany agreed with Hitler's brutalities and there were good Germans who risked their lives to prove the world it's not Hitler's Germany altogether.

With so much of hatred in vogue again, we need good people like Stauffenbergs in this world and people whose minds are not clouded with pseudo nationalism, racism and casteism. It's also imperative that Stauffenbergs should act bit more swiftly before it's too late

Politics behind a Pachyderm's unfortunate end

Almost a week after the ill-fated elephant died of eating the cracker stuffed pineapple, so much of vitriol flows into social media and celebrities joining the bandwagon expressing the grief over the cruel death of pachyderm.

For many, the imagination will be ripe where the hapless elephant seeking food came to door steps and some cruel hooligan (possibly dark skinned thanks to filmdom or a skull cap man thanks to right-wing propaganda) fed the pineapple stuffing it with crackers with an evil smile. Let's cut the crap.

The day when one encounters a lonely wild elephant...it's the day to meet the creator. Unless the animal is merciful and in good mood or lady luck comes in favour, it will be the end.

So no one feeds a wild elephant or they come down begging for food like stray cattle lured for bananas from the astrologically motivated animal feeders.

Wild elephants live in herds which consist mostly females with young male and female calves with a most senior matriarch at the helm. Boys upon maturity are kicked out of the herd and spend rest of their lives in solitaire while female elephants go out of herd for mating and return back to herd after getting pregnant.

This particular elephant, one month pregnant, should have been heading back to its herd where rest of her gestation is well taken care of amidst the aunts, cousins and the grandma's. She apprently picked up the pineapple which was not intended for. And it's not diwali cracker stuffed inside pineapple. It's actually the crude country bomb made of blackpowder and nails waiting to break on pressure, a typical bait for wild boars ravaging crops. Again, why wildboars ravage crops because we shit in pants upon seeing a feline or wild dogs and killed them off and so there are no natural predators left in wild.

And, one accident brought so much of mudslinging on a state and community after a BJP ex-minister linked it with Muslim populated district in Kerala. It turned out to be a hate smear campaign in no time.

The relation between Kerala or South states in particular (TN and Karnataka collectively having more elephants both in wild and homes) and elephant is time immemorial. The ancient Chera kingdom's (present day Kerala) wealth was not measured by gold or silver but elephants. Both Tamil and Malayalam have got more than half dozen words for elephant. A Sangam era poem compares the beauty of woman to a female elephant.

It's not mere an animal for Kerala. It's our state symbol and our state animal. Our state transport corporation bus is fondly called 'aanavandi' (elephant vehicle).

Arm chair activists will never understand the emotional bond between a bull and South Tamil Nadu, a buffalo and South Canara (Kasaragod to Udupi region) and an elephant and Kerala.

A bond between human and elephant is beyond words. In below picture Chathapuram Babu, an elephant gone berserk is calmed by his owner Sridevi. We have lived with elephants for ages and we know them. The 'elephant lovers' going berserk in social media should also voice their aghast when the elephant habitat and corridors are mercilessly swallowed up by corporates and when forest ministry gives away sanctions to roads and railway lines and mining inside forest.

Kerala forests are better guarded than anywhere in the country and the forest department officials and employees protect them with their lives. The state government has initiated the probe and the culprits will be soon found.

Meanwhile, for all the mocking of our literacy and culture, why don't you better take care of your girl children and women. The brutality meted out to them is worse than the 'brutality' shown to 'animals' here.

PS: Oh gentle one! This post is not against you. For the pain you suffered, I could forgive myself if you have unleashed your anger before dying in the river. Your patience has given me a tight slap and reminded that, me a homo sapien, doesn't deserve this earth. Rest in Peace girl. I am ashamed but I am sorry.

Kerala Murals: The magic of five colours

Kerala Murals: The magic of five colours

Mangaluru: Its all five colours, Yellow, Red, Green, Blue and Black that gets into a mural paintings at Kerala. And, how the white comes into the picture. It's just the original colour of the canvas, explains Prakash V K from Vara Group, a team of nine mural artists from Kanhangad town in Kasaragod district in Kerala who have displayed their works in the city.

Kerala Mural painting was once confined into the temples of Kerala and the art used colours mixed using colour stones and herbal juice. Thus the colour code for the art is defined. There are mural paintings still present in the famous temples like Guruvayur, Padmanabha temple at Thiruvananthapuram.

The mural painting later moved out of the temple and the medium of art got into the canvas with acrylic colours. “However, the colour code is confined into these five colours and the art is mostly made of delicate dots created on the canvas”, said Gireesh OV, another mural artist.

The murals are mostly on the God and Goddeses and Lord Krishna in blue in the favourite of artists. “There is also a dress code for the pictures mostly made of the fine lines and each God or Goddess a definite crown that can't be alternated. Same goes to the ornaments shown in the pictures”, Prakash said.

There are art schools at Mahe, Thrissur and Guruvayur where the mural painting is taught for a period of three years. After their formal studies, the nine-member-team studied the fine details during a 30-days course conducted by famous international mural artist and Kerala Government Kshethra Kala Award Winner, Biju Panapuzha who has inaugurated the mural painting exhibition at Prasad Art Gallery on Saturday. Other members of the Varu Group are, Ajitha Santhosh, Subash Madikai, Seetha Mohan, Priya K, Pushpalath VK, Raashmi P and Sheena AK. The exhibition is open for Monday too.

Mural painting is no more confined to deities and has stepped into churches as the Last Supper of Jesus and Jesus rising from the dead, the latter being displayed in the exhibition. Recently, the team has done nearly 100 mural paintings at Kanhangad Bus stand. Among the art works at display, 'chandalabikshuki' poem by Mahakavi Kumaran Ashan is a beautiful rendition of Buddhist monk discoursing with a low caste woman. Another different painting is the woman returning back with daily provisions for home.

Considering the intrinsic work involved, it takes sometimes three weeks to create one art work. The finest art is priced Rs 2000 per square feet, said the artists.

When dolphins came dying at Mangaluru coast

When dolphins came dying at Mangaluru coast

Mangaluru: Of late, there is a harrowing sight along the beaches of Dakshina Kannada as the visitors to beaches stumble upon the decaying carcasses of dolphins or turtles. With two more dolphins washed ashore dead at Chitrapura beach between Mukka and Surathkal on Saturday and another dolphin washed ashore dead on Monday, the number of dolphins found along Dakshina Kannada coastline has increased to four while the number of dead turtles – mostly leatherbag – has touched five so far.

The local fishing community has been raising apprehensions about the oil balls being washed ashore as cause of these marine animals being washed dead but the experts have ruled out the possibility.

On May 14, a turtle and a dolphin were washed ashore dead at Guddekopla beach Near Surathkal in the afternoon. Another sea turtle was also found dead at Hosabettu beach around the same time that day. On May 27, Briau Royston, a photographer going for a shoot at Surathkal beach near NITK spotted a dead turtle washed ashore along the beach. He expressed his anguish about seeing the gentle marine species dying in the beaches and urged district administration and elected representatives to take up the marine pollution issue seriously.

Starting from the month of April, there are incidents of oil balls being washed along the coastline. District administration has clarified that the previous studies conducted along Western Coast found that it is natural phenomenon considering the fact that a lot of crude oil transport happens along the Western Coast.

Deputy Director of Fisheries, D Thippeswamy said that the department has taken up the issue with Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) in Mangaluru. “We have approached them since they are research organization. The department is also closely following this issue”, he mentioned.

Prathiba Rohit, Head of CMFRI, Mangaluru said that the dolphins and turtles have been washed ashore at highly decomposed state. If there was oil spill in the sea, not just dolphins, it should have affected lot of other fishes too. “These dolphins should have died away from the shore and washed ashore in highly decomposed state. We are investigating the cause of death of these marine species”, she said.

However, fishermen leader Vasudeva Boloor stressed that it is marine pollution which is killing dolphins and turtles. “It is evident from our experience that marine pollution especially oil spilling is killing the marine life. It is also evident from the dwindling catch of our traditional fishermen who fish near the shore”, said the veteran fishermen leader.

The fishermen have submitted a petition to district administration and local politicians to act on the oil balls pollution and protect the marine species.

Box: Another dolphin washed ashore

Even as the officials have been studying the reasons for death of dolphins and turtles along the coast, one more dolphin washed ashore dead at Sashidhulu beach on Monday. Unlike the previous dolphins whose carcass has decayed, this one was fresh with blood oozing out of its nose and another cut injury to its tail. Environmentalist Sashidhar Shetty of National Environment Care Federation said that these are not random dolphins or turtles which died but they have dying in last few years. “The industrial units established along the coast are polluting the marine ecology while the officials pay no heed”, he rued.

Baffled forest department decides to issue notice to port authority

Mangaluru: The sudden incidents of dolphins and turtles being washed ashore dead has baffled authorities since the fishing community alleges that oil spilling as the cause of death of these marine species. The forest department after studying the carcasses of dolphins has decided to alert port authorities of New Mangalore Port about the repeated incidents of dolphins and turtles dying.

Out of two dolphins washed ashore on Saturday, the forest department managed to carry out autopsy on one as the other has decayed beyond any study. The samples have been collected from the dead dolphin which will be studied for any oil spill causing the death.

The dolphins were charred with black colour and there are chances that they have died of suffocation due to oil spilling. Of late, the oil balls are being ashore along Dakshina Kannada coast line since April.

“We are in touch with scientists as well as with authorities to find the cause of death of the marine species. We are not ruling out the possibility of oil balls causing the death and investigating on it”, said Deputy Conservator of Forest, V Karikalan.

The department is also contemplating upon issuing notice to NMPT requesting their support to look into the situation. The Indian Coast Guard will also be requested to keep watch on the merchant vessels causing oil pollution to the sea. “We will issue a notice to NMPT asking them to instruct the vessels coming to the port or leaving not to spill oil or effluents during their voyage. We are also going to seek the support of Indian Coast Guard to keep a vigil on the vessels”, added Karikalan.