Homage to a Broken Man: The Life of J. Heinrich Arnold - Plough

Revolution11hand, it was fun to eavesdrop on the grown-ups downstairs. Open eveningswere for serious discussion, not partying. They talked about the weakness ofthe government, the bankruptcy of German culture, and a group called theBolsheviks who had recently taken over Russia. They talked about themselvestoo, circling week after week back to the same strange question, “But whatshall we do?”No one would have believed that Heiner could understand any of it. Butthough he was only six, he knew how to listen carefully, and he absorbed, littleby little, all that he heard. He knew that the crowd downstairs included leadersfrom both of the factions that were fighting outside. On the governmentside were Papa’s colleagues from the publishing house. Heiner had to kiss theirhands in the correct way, and knew better than to comment on their warts andmoles. These people wore dark clothes and starched collars and parted theirhair in the middle. They addressed one another formally and rarely smiled.When they greeted his mother, they called her Frau Doktor. Heiner and hissiblings called them “the pious people.” At their head was Papa’s boss, GeorgMichaelis, whom people addressed as “His Excellency.” During the war hehad been the imperial Chancellor.The pious people were often surprised to meet Eberhard and Emmy’s “other”friends. Artists. Social workers. Radicals. Students. Health reformers andteetotalers. Jews.With such a variety of guests, discussions often erupted into vehement disagreements.And yet the guests kept coming back. Even if no one could agreeon the best route into a better world, no one could deny that the old one hadcollapsed. Everyone saw the need for a new society. And Eberhard put theirlonging into words.Heiner felt a certain excitement whenever his father began to speak: “Wepeople of today need an upheaval—the complete reversal and reevaluation ofall norms and social conditions.The answer will be found in the teachings ofJesus.”Homage to a Broken Man