Hermann Bottcher . . . The Rest of the Story!

In the lesson “The Rule of Law and the Struggle Between Democracy and Totalitarianism” (http://bit.ly/qGbVU1) students were introduced to three individuals who fought against Fascism: Pierre Daura, the soldier-artist; John Rossen, the soldier-poet; and Hermann Bottcher, the war hero. Further research has uncovered that Rossen and Bottcher fought together in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War. Their records can be found through the following two links:

http://www.alba-valb.org/volunteers/john-rossen

http://www.alba-valb.org/volunteers/herman-bottcher/?searchterm=herman%20bottcher

While Pierre Daura also fought against Franco in the Spanish Civil War, he, being a Spanish citizen, did not serve in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade as it consisted of individuals from America. However, with Rossen sending his 1945 poem “Summa Cum Laude” to Daura, and with Daura, according to his daughter, being moved by the poem to paint Pax Pacific, Daura knew Rossen and Bottcher at some level.

A relatively new website honoring Hermann Bottcher (http://bit.ly/qxwkpD) provides educators with a wealth of resources to augment and expand upon the lesson on democracy and totalitarianism currently found through the Rule of Law website. However, a particular set of documents adds an entirely new dimension to the lesson. If time permits, teachers may wish to use the following supplemental lesson to enhance the students’ overall learning experience with “The Rule of Law and the Struggle Between Democracy and Totalitarianism.”

The Lesson:

· After completing “The Rule of Law and the Struggle Between Democracy and Totalitarianism,” ask the students to describe Bottcher’s character. Have the students make a list of adjectives that they think best reflects Bottcher’s overall character. Have the students work in groups of two or three.

· Once the students have completed their lists, have each group share one or two characteristics. The teacher should make a list on a whiteboard. It is anticipated that the students will share words such as “brave,” “patriotic,” and possibly “all American.”

· After the teacher compiles the list and discusses the list with the class, ask if they think the same or similar words would relate to John Rossen, author of the poem “Summa Cum Laude.” Discuss.

· After discussing the characters of these two men, share with the students their service records from the Spanish Civil War (the links are found above). Have the students look over these records and ask them if anything stands out.

· Students may notice that John Rossen was Jewish and that Hermann Bottcher has a question mark next to “Jewish” in the religion category. A more astute student may note that this is interesting as the discussion revolving around Pax Pacific focused heavily on Christian iconography – at this point, if needed, the teacher can share the image found through this link: http://cenphilsoc.brinkster.net/bottchergrave2.htm. The image shows Bottcher’s grave in the Philippines. With the marker being a cross, it is clear that Bottcher was Christian.

· As students continue to examine the records, they should eventually note that next to “Party Affiliation” for both men are the initials “CP,” which stands for Communist Party. Students may not know what the initials stand for, so the instructor may need to help with this. Once this is identified, the teachers should ask the class if this changes their opinions about Bottcher’s and Rossen’s characters. Discuss.

· Unless the instructor is working with college students above the average age of their fellow classmates, the students would not have lived through the Cold War and may not feel the same emotions about this new information as those that remember Cold War anxieties about communism. Students may state that this is really “not a big deal” and dismiss Bottcher’s and Rossen’s communist affiliations as nothing more than their exercising certain basic civil rights. At this point, the instructor should set this revelation in a stronger historical context. This is a good opportunity to review the Red Scare that occurred in the US following World War I as well as the role of the Soviet Union during World War II – how the Soviet Union only became an ally with the Allied Powers after Germany invaded the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941.

· Once reviewing this information, the instructor should introduce the cooling of relations between the Soviet Union and the United States following the end of World War II. Specifically, the instructor should begin to discuss McCarthyism. At this point, the instructor should share with students the document found through this link: http://cenphilsoc.brinkster.net/bottchersubversive2.pdf (NOTE - it may be faster and you may have more success copying this link and pasting it into the browser rather than clicking on this link).

· The students should read the document and then discuss the following questions: “At what point is an organization NOT entitled to the basic freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution and protected by the Rule of Law? What if a group or an organization has members that showed valor defending American ideals? Does that undermine fears that the group is indeed ‘subversive?’”