The girl that could not be named Esther. Winfried Seibert

in order to set a precedent on the highest judicial level of how the administration of a type of justice that demanded neutrality could indeed be overcome. The new order had to obtain in matters of naming. The forest ranger and the pastor had never met, but the Supreme Court brought them together.

      Up until the middle of 1938 the question of names, whether correct or incorrect, admissible or inadmissible, had stirred up just a few people. To be sure, even at the time of Esther‘s birth there was no biding regulation, just some very general principles for the choice of names, principles that had existed since the end of the previous century. This liberal situation was increasingly treated with hostility. A look at these voices is therefore absolutely necessary since in populist times such signals can be significant.

      Sie hatte nicht gedacht,

      so langen Gang zu tun mit allen Steinen,

      die schwerer wurden von des Koenigs Scheinen

      und kalt von ihrer Angst. Sie ging und ging –

      Und als sie endlich, fast von nahe, ihn,

      aufruhend auf dem Thron von Turmalin,

      sich türmen sah, so wirklich wie ein Ding:

      empfing die rechte von den Dienerinnen

      die Schwindende und hielt sie zu dem Sitze.

      Er rührte sie mit seines Szepters Spitze:

      ...und sie begriff es ohne Sinn, innen.

      She had not thought to walk so far,

      to come laden with all these jewels,

      which all the time absorbing the King’s majesty

      grew heavier, and colder too as they took up her fear.

      Gradually she drew nearer. Now she saw

      him, upright on his throne of tourmaline,

      as potent as a tree or tower.

      A servant by her side still steered her on

      as weak with terror she began to swoon,

      fell senseless to the ground before the King.

      His sceptre touched her. She knew everything.

      Rainer Maria Rilke, Esther, 1908

      translated by Stephen Cohn

      Chapter 4

      Everyday citizens had no idea what was brewing under the surface, but press reports conveyed an inkling of what was going on. If you look at the professional literature of the registrars, especially the publications of the Journal of Registry Office Affairs (StAZ), even before 1933 and then afterwards you could hear the demand sounding louder and louder, German names for German children! At first, this resembled the path laid down by the campaign for the purification of the German language from Romance language influences, but after 1933 the drive became increasingly aggressive. Leaders began to lose self-control, though at first only in their language.

      It began moderately in the foreword to the names section of the first edition (1921) of the German Unified Family Record Book, written by a Mr. Wlochatz, retired director of the registry office and a regular contributor to the Journal of Registry Office Affairs.

      That German parents should prefer to give good German names to their children is a duty not only to their People, but even more to their children. We don’t need to be ashamed of the old German names! We have no lack of them! On the contrary – we have a rich supply of them from our Teutonic history, a host of names with a wonderful sound and with great meaning! One glance at the riches we have inherited reveals to us the depths of the Germanic soul. These names ring out with superior virtues, with the outstanding properties of the spirit and the heart of the Teutons of antiquity. The ancient Teutons were a warrior people, and many names breathe the spirit of battle and armed victories. If we were to add such names to our vocabulary, this would have the effect of eliciting in every way the heroic spirit and victorious power needed for the great struggle for existence in which we now find ourselves. The old names, resonant with battle and triumph, can be well used in a symbolic sense.⁴⁰› Reference

      Wlochatz points to another change in the second edition of the family record book. On the basis of comments from linguists, names long established and familiar to the reader are listed in the Foreign Names section, names like Anna, Johanna, Maria, Paul, Peter, Johannes, Michel, Sepp, and others, which clearly have been seamlessly integrated into the German People for over a thousand years. A registry office, however, he continues in a conciliatory tone, must take into consideration not only the wishes of the German experts, but also the events of everyday life. He goes on:

      And so established biblical names should be retained, even though most of them come from the Hebrew; otherwise, we would have to logically exclude names like those mentioned above. Where would all this lead us?⁴¹› Reference

      That sounds compassionate and reasonable – Wlochatz wanted to retain established biblical names. A decade later, in 1931, Wlochatz turned his attention to swings of the people’s spirit in the giving of names (in an article in the Journal of Registry Office Affairs). He names four major trends, with the primary one being consciously and decidedly German names. ⁴²› Reference

      He distinguishes three sub-trends which all have in common that their motivating spirit absolutely demands that German children be given good German names.

      In these sub-divisions of the consciously German trend, Wlochatz includes the Nordic movement, and especially the Folkish movement, referring to an unspecified Germanic element of the Volk — Folk, the People — a movement increasingly identified with Nazi ideology or at least recognized as its forerunner. He naively calls this a part of ethical cultural longings.

      In Germany the religious beliefs of our pre-Christian ancestors are fostered and spread in the rapidly growing ‘Nordic Community of Faith,’ which aspires to the spiritual rebirth of the ‚Germanic’ man. In these circles children receive ancient Teutonic names. This spiritual attitude often overlaps with the other trend, the more recent ‘Folkish’ movement, which is much larger and more significant in its effects on the life of our people. Here, we are naturally not interested in this movement as a political party, but rather only in its effect within the sphere of German ethical cultural aspirations. And it is here that we find a decided rejection of all foreign influences, especially Semitic ones, and a move toward the goal of racial purification of the German people. As a result, within this movement we meet only pure Germanic names, even from time to time in ancient Teutonic form. Of course, it should be observed that through the ‘Folkish’ movement a large number of old German words have been brought back to life as well.

      The religious Christian trend delineated by Wlochatz — seen among our nation’s Catholic brethren, who are unquestionably of good German orientation — is accustomed to many foreign names, including, since they are taken from the Bible, many of Hebrew origin. Wlochatz takes a critical view of this:

      Since the religious writings of the Hebrews, that is, the Israelites, have found a home in the Christian world as well, and since their children are familiar with the great personalities of the Jewish people through Bible instruction, it should not be surprising that there are still a number of Germans who in the choice of names for their children reach into the treasury of a people foreign to us. Quite frequently this occurs as the expression of personal piety.

      The registry office director, now at ease in retirement, clearly has made progress. He declares himself at one with the consciously German point of view, which calls for racial purification, that is, an inner rebirth of the Germans. ⁴³› Reference This stance has made the naming question a question of conscience, driven by an imperious, demanding spirit. From Wlochatz’ point of view, the partisans of this route feel responsible for the coming generation. They are conscious of challenges to existence that remain completely foreign to the others. It thus follows that:

      The call to give German names to German children became a demand, since it has been recognized