Actual view of the

church tower from

the accident area.

to not have it swept under the rug or alibistically have the facts

massaged to fit the needs of the government. It is possible to

not use the death of the young pilot for propaganda purposes to

the fulfillment of an ideological agenda and the turning around

of horrors that Germany and her Nazism brought to the world.

On the contrary – it can be used as a reminder of the types of

horrors that that regime and its insanity brought the world, including to her own civilian population and members of her armed

forces as well. However, such themes are extremely difficult to

contemplate for many people in Germany to this day and are very

much a taboo, and it is, unfortunately, much easier for them to

simply close their eyes to the reality of the past than it is to

use the past as a learning experience from which much can, and

should, be taken.

Under the conditions imposed by a society that hides from its

past, it seems unbelievable that there would be an attempt to

erect a memorial to Karl Kleemann, who died in Thum on September 11th, 1944. The idea was brought forth by two locals, from

our view, two cross-border fellow collaborators of the Museum of

the Air Battle Over the Ore Mountains, Frank Retzlaff and Ronny

Gehra. These two have co-operated with us on other occasions.

They have been the main driving force behind the idea of erecting

the monument to Karl Kleemann and all victims of the air battle

over the Ore Mountains. The memorial came to fruition thanks

to the understanding and support of the Thum City Council and

many local elements. The unveiling of the memorial, as a tribute

to a World War Two German pilot who lost his life on German soil

and a reminder of the vicious horrors and senseless loss caused

by war, occurred on September 8th, 2018. It was unveiled by two

children from both former enemies, a German girl and a Czech

boy, in a symbolic gesture of the need to reconcile. The flags of

both sides of the conflict swayed over the monument – American

and German, and along with them, thanks to German – Czech

co-operation on the project and the involvement of the museum

that also pays tribute to Obgefr. Kleemann who died in combat

over the region, the Czech flag. The site where the monument

is located, has been named ‘Kleemann Eck’ (Kleemann’s Corner)

Frank and Ronny managed a pretty much unimaginable feat –

unveil a monument to

a Second World War German pilot in Germany,

and in the process convince the local powers

that be of the idea and

bring them on board, and

all this under anti-war

and anti-Nazi sentiment

with no political motives

either way. Last, but not

least, they also were able

to track down Kleeman’s

family and co-ordinate

their efforts with them.

And with that, they were

able to add another piece to the mosaic of the

Air Battle Over the Ore

Mountains of September

11th, 1944, which should

not be so easily forgotten.

The author during the

unveiling ceremony.

14

eduard

INFO Eduard - July 2021