My name is Greg McClelland and I have been
actively involved with research on German Resistance against the Third
Reich since April 1994.
On July 20, 2001, I was the guest speaker at the Goethe Institut in
Atlanta, Georgia for the Fifty-Seventh Anniversary of Stauffenbergs
bomb plot to kill Hitler. Over the past several years, I have
traveled to Germany five times to collect information, various
literature, books, tour historical sites of the Nazi period as well as
interview two survivors of the Resistance.
I have visited the following concentration camps: Dachau, Sachsenhausen,
Fuhlsbüttel, Theresienstadt, Neuengamme and Auschwitz-Birkenau. In addition, I have also seen
the former Gestapo Headquarters in Berlin, Colonel Stauffenberg's
house, the Bendlerblock building, also in Berlin (former HQ of the
German Army High Command), the Plötzensee execution room where
the German Resistance members were hung on piano wire and
strung up to meat hooks.
I wanted to get a personal feeling of what
it must have been like to have been there during the
Nazi years. To stand on the grounds of these places (especially the
concentration camps) is an enormous feeling and in many ways beyond
description in mere words. It is an electrifying and very
moving feeling one can only experience for one's own self. To this very
day, I still have dreams about the Nazi concentration camps and the
memories I retain run deep in my mind; the execution walls, the camp
walls and barbed wire fences, the gallows, the guard towers,
the barracks and especially the ovens. These places speak of tremendous
human suffering through visual images and not words alone.
It is my goal to to teach others about the
German Resistance from my own personal experiences and not
only from "book knowledge". Arnold Hencke was a tremendous
help in my understanding of this tragic time in German history for
which I will always be grateful. He showed me the inner circle of the
Resistance against Hitler and what it was like to not only be an
opponent of the Nazi's, but an enemy of them as well; an enemy of
Germans who were Nazi's and also as a
prisoner in solitary confinement and how they
tortured and tormented him for his opposition.
His is my true inspiration for this
project which continues to drive me forward in my desire to help others
to understand this terrible period in history. He was a minority of
Germans who felt as he did. However, he was part of a larger
minority than many people realize. He chose to become one
of the many to actively resist Hitler instead of silently
disagreeing with him and doing nothing. For such actions
thousands lost their lives.
His bravery and courage speaks to the human
heart which transcends all nationalities. I see the greatness in those
brave souls in Nazi Germany who resisted Hitler. It is about being
human and standing up for humanity and doing the right thing. These
resisters and others should serve as an example to all that the
goodness and love of humanity can shine through, even during times of
darkness such as the horrors of the Third Reich and the Holocaust.
As for me, I plan to become a professor of
history someday. My research has been a long emotional journey towards
understanding not only myself, but the world and people as well. I hope
through my web site others can see what I have learned and pass on this
knowledge to help keep alive the memory of the German
Resistance for future generations.
I would like to give a special thanks to the
kind people from Gedenkstätte Neuengamme in Hamburg for their
very kind assistance. Especially, Frank Jürgensen for making
my two interviews with Hencke possible and to Suzann Lewerenz for
acting as my translator. Thank you very much!!
All feedback as well as historical
information pertaining to this subject matter is certainly welcome and
I encourage people to speak their minds freely. Thank you for
choosing my site!
