Why a website on Julius Erasmus? (Published on 25/08/2021)
Perhaps some visitors to this page will wonder why there is a need for a website on Julius Erasmus and what the motivation for its creation is. The underlying circumstances will be briefly explained below.
When I first became aware of the story of Julius Erasmus – it may have been between 2017 and 2018 – I tried, out of historical interest, to get more detailed information about him and his activities, but quickly realized that although the same theses were spread everywhere – sometimes word for word – nowhere was there a source reference or at least a reference to further information. Thus, in 2019, I began with my own research and the goal of gaining as complete and truthful a picture as possible of the person and activities of Julius Erasmus to the best of my knowledge and belief based on provable facts and without a political or ideological agenda.
It quickly became apparent that certain circles had little interest in this.
Different public authorities sometimes delayed the release of requested documents, in some cases even civil status registers (“Personenstandsregister”) were allegedly not available. In May 2020, the district administrator of the Düren district, Wolfgang Spelthahn, was asked to support the research, but he refused to do so in July 2020. He referred to the use of the Düren city and district archives and, in addition, suggested a “cooperation” with the “representative of the district of Düren for the care of the war grave sites Vossenack and Hürtgen as places of a democratic culture of remembrance and commemoration” (“Beauftragter des Kreises Düren für die Betreuung der Kriegsgräberstätten Vossenack und Hürtgen als Orten einer demokratischen Erinnerungs- und Gedenkkultur”).
The municipality of Hürtgenwald seems traditionally unwilling to question the narrative about the local wartime and post-war period that has been spread there for decades, or even to help clarify issues raised by third parties. Various reports can be found on the Internet about corresponding experiences with the administration in office until 2020. The hope that this attitude might change under the new mayor has not yet been fulfilled. An ostensible interest has quickly given way to sufficiently well-known mechanisms.
The Hürtgenwald Historical Society (“Geschichtsverein Hürtgenwald”), which was contacted early on, also refused to support the research on Julius Erasmus. Even the simplest questions about local landmarks and their history remained unanswered.
In addition there is, so far, a notorious unwillingness of the local press to discuss the research on Julius Erasmus. After having regurgitated once again the common “legend” in November 2020 (cf. the article „Ich konnte sie nicht da liegen sehen“ [“I could not see them lying there”] in the Aachener Zeitung of 14/11/2020), this has apparently been abandoned in the meantime. Now they seem primarily interested in giving said “representative” of the Düren district the space for the public presentation of his sometimes quite daring theories.
In addition to the informative value that all these attempts to obstruct or prevent neutral, scientifically oriented research carry in themselves, they only increase the will and willingness to investigate the issues at stake all the more intensively and in detail. Fortunately, most of the historical societies and citizens contacted were happy to support the research on Julius Erasmus to the best of their ability. I would like to take this opportunity and thank all of you expressly and from the bottom of my heart.
The purpose of this website is to provide a forum for discussion of the research results and for giving interested members of the public the opportunity to participate in the process, beyond the obstacles and attempts at obstruction described above. All contents are also provided in English language as to make them accessible to interested parties outside the German-speaking area.
In the blog, current topics related to Julius Erasmus, the research on him or, more generally, to the military cemeteries in the Hürtgen Forest will be brought up and commented on.
Thank you for your interest and I hope you enjoy reading these pages!
(Picture: Kall Valley, close to Mestrenger Mühle, October 2019)