Julius Streicher Interviewed at Nuremberg
Julius Streicher founded and edited the anti-Semitic German tabloid Der Stürmer. At Nuremberg he was convicted of crimes against humanity, and hanged on October 16, 1946.
This poem is part of the series Interviews With Vampires. For more on the Nuremberg Trials, see Controlled Experiments on Social Pathology
If you like this poem, you might enjoy American Independence in Verse, now available for pre-order.
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Julius Streicher Interviewed at Nuremberg
At first I wasn’t sure, but when the others
Suggested you were Jewish, I could hear
It in your voice. It’s unmistakable.
For me it's not a matter of emotion.
I take a scientific attitude.
All the lawyers on your side are Jewish.
I’ve watched them move; I’ve scrutinized their faces.
Today, snobs call my paper pornographic,
But it had an elevated aim.
None of my publications ever mentioned
The extermination of the Jews. I’ll prove
As much in court. In fact, in my opinion,
What was done in those camps set back the cause
Of anti-Semitism many years.
I need more time to walk, when I’m allowed
Outside. The guards make too much noise. The meals
Are bland, the chocolate ration is too meager.
Christ was a Jew, of course. They say that God
Created everything, but that’s far-fetched,
Is it not? Who, I ask, created God?
I won’t say more about it. I don’t want
Opinions that might hurt my reputation
To make their way into the newspapers.
I’d like more marmalade, if that is possible.
I am a Zionist. The Jews should have
A country of their own. Then, other nations
Need have no qualms about expelling them.
The walking fast, out in the prison yard,
Is nothing; Just a little nervousness.
Not, I should say, about the trial. I’ve been
On trial before. In my most placid state
An inner agitation drives me on.
There is a lot to learn from contemplating
That practice. Circumcision’s purposes,
And sinister effects, must be made known.
My knowledge of the Jews exceeds their own.
I’ve studied Jewish writings scientifically;
They were the source of all our racial laws.
I filled the basin, and used this piece of rag.
From top to tail, a careful and complete
Scrubbing. It’s best with cold and soapy water.
I find I need to do it regularly.
This same urge used to wake me late at night,
And I’d give in, I’d bathe there in the darkness.