A while ago, I wrote an item about a prize for the UK's oddest book titles of 2006. One of the titles is How Green Were the Nazis? edited by Franz-Josef Bruggemeier, Mark Cioc and Thomas Zeller. Although the book is still not available in this country, we can at least see the cover. And the story behind the image is as intriguing as the title itself. According to Reuters and the website heathenworld.com, the swastika-shaped group of larch trees in northeast Germany was planted among the darker pines in the 1930s. A spokesman for the Brandenberg state agriculture ministry said, "It seems to have been something of a fashion among Nazi loyalist forest wardens." The trees were visible for only a few weeks each autumn and spring when the leaves change color. In 1992, after reunification, the trees were cut down as a result of Germany's ban on the public display of swastikas.--David E
No comments:
Post a Comment