Fritz-Otto Busch (30 December 1890 in Lindenthal, Cologne – 5 July 1971 in Limpsfield, Surrey) was a German naval officer in the Imperial German Navy, the Reichsmarine and the Kriegsmarine, as well as a translator and a maritime and naval writer. He was a committed Nazi and had an influential role in the Nazification of the German P.E.N. from 1933 onwards. He used the pseudonyms Peter Cornelissen and Wilhelm Wolfslast.
Life
Busch was the son of Alfred Busch, a bank manager, and his wife Eugenie Schick. After completing his secondary education, he spent two semesters at a university. His younger brother, Harald Busch (1904-1983) was an art historian who was in charge of the Hamburg Art Gallery from 1934 to 1935. During the Second World War both brothers served in a propaganda company in which they played down the role of the Wehrmacht on behalf of the Propaganda Ministry and praised the camaraderie of army life.
In 1912 Busch joined the Imperial Navy as an officer candidate. During the First World War he took part in the Battle of Jutland as a sub-lieutenant on the battleship . From spring 1917 to summer 1918 he was an artillery officer on the Light Cruiser SMS Regensburg holding the rank of second lieutenant. During this time, from 27 June to 14 July 1918 he also saw service in Flanders. He then saw service on the minelaying light cruiser SMS Bremse, experiencing the 1918 Mutiny and the end of the war. He was awarded the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class and the Friedrich-August Cross 2nd Class.Reichswehrministerium (Ed.): Rangliste der Deutschen Reichsmarine. E.S. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin: 1926, p. 43. In 1919 he married Ada von dem Knesebeck, Baroness of Bittersdorf. His first son, Ulf was born in 1920, the first of three children. Busch served in the navy of the Weimar Republic until 1928, holding the rank of Korvettenkapitän when he left. After the outbreak of war on 1 September 1939 he was recalled to service, and on 4 September 1939 he experienced the first British air attack. Subsequently he was returned to the reserve.
Literary and political activities
Right from the start of the Weimar Republic Busch was active in spreading propaganda. He was influential in the creation of the myth that the German navy had won the Battle of Jutland. This can also be seen in his article "SMS Regensburg in the last sortie of the fleet( 23–25 April 1918 )" which was published in Eberhart von Mante's anthology of propaganda entitled "Undefeated at Sea: Thirty Monographs from the War at Sea" which was published by the nationalistic, antidemocratic, racist publisher J.F. Lehmann. For a number of his books, Busch used the pseudonym Peter Cornelissen .Michael Epkenhans, Jörg Hillmann, Frank Nägler: Skagerrakschlacht: Vorgeschichte, Ereignis, Verarbeitung. (im Auftrag des Militärgeschichtlichen Forschungsamtes). Oldenbourg Verlag, 2009, S. 318 His book "Heut geht es an Bord...!" (Today we go on board) was published by the explicitly racist Arman publishing house in 1934. From 1933 onwards, Busch became the most widely read Nazi propaganda author on naval matters. The publishers of his works were all committed Nazis.
His involvement in the Destruction of the German PEN
At the General Assembly of the German PEN Club on 23 April 1933, Busch became a member, having been proposed in a list prepared by the Militant League for German Culture. By this time the German PEN had been forced into conformity with Nazi principles as its new secretary Johann von Leers commented. In May 1933, as a member of the German delegation, together with Edgar von Schmidt-Pauli and Hans Martin Elster, Busch persuaded the International PEN Congress not to pass a motion against the Nazi book burnings and the persecution of the Jews in Germany. He reported on this in an extensive letter, a copy of which was sent to Joseph Goebbels.Joseph Wulf: Literatur und Dichtung im Dritten Reich: eine Dokumentation, Ullstein 1989, S. 80–82. When, despite the opposition of the German Delegation, the author Ernst Toller spoke out against the mistreatment and persecution of German authors in Nazi Germany, Busch and his delegation walked out of the Congress. Shortly after this, the German PEN Club withdrew from the international movement and in 1934 it was re-established as the Union of National Writers. Busch was secretary of this organisation .Gerd Simon (Hrsg.): Die philologisch-historischen Wissenschaften in den Planspielen des SD. Verlag der Gesellschaft für interdisziplinäre Forschung Tübingen (GIFT) First published on 31 January 1998, with minor revision on 1 September 2010 S. 256 online This successful destruction of the German PEN meant that all the authors living in German were forced to leave the international PEN Club. Only Germans living in exile were able to retain their membership.
As a Nazi Propagandist
After the Nazis seized power, Busch was made the chief editor of the propaganda magazine "The Reichsmarine, Magazine for the Importance of the Sea and Seafaring" which was continued after 1934 as "The Kriegsmarine - Germany at Sea". When the Reichsmarine was renamed the Kriegsmarine on 1 June 1935, the magazine was renamed "Kriegsmarine - German Naval Magazine" Initially the magazine was published with the support of the High Command of the Navy, while it was later published directly by the High Command. Busch remained the chief editor till the Magazine ended in 1944. In other publications Busch also identified with Nazi propaganda positions. In conjunction with Dr Gerhardt Ramlow(1904-1951), author of propaganda and of literature intended for young people, Busch wrote a book called "A History of German Sea Warfare"(1940), which starts with the era of the early Germanic peoples. The book argues that the navy was an early centre of Nazi thinking: "It is not by chance that National Socialism, its attitudes and ideology found early support among the officers, NCOs and men of the Reichsmarine in numbers which were hardly to be expected by the opponents of the new thinking. While the armed forces had previously grown up to be totally apolitical and uneducated in political thinking, and considered it to be wrong if they should concern themselves with political matters, this changed during the Führer's relentless struggle for the soul of the Nation."Nach: Léon Poliakov/Josef Wulf: Das Dritte Reich und seine Diener. Berlin, Wien 1983 (Nachdruck der Erstausgabe von 1953) S. 447.
At the start of February 1933 a state funeral for Hans Maikowski, a member of the SA who died of a gunshot wound, took place in Berlin. In the broadcast of the occasion for propaganda purposes, the Nazis claimed that Maikowski was a second Horst Wessel. Among the other speakers, as well as Joseph Goebbels, was Fritz Otto Busch, who contributed a hymn of praise to the German forces. Beschreibung der erhaltenen Rundfunkreportage »DRA-Info Audio« S. 36.
"The Vikings", a book for young people (1934)
In her dissertation, Ingeborg Römer, the student of literature investigates the way in which numerous books for young people written during the Nazi period portray early nordic history. Ingeborg Römer: Ahnen und Helden? Altnordische Literatur in Schul- und Jugendbüchern der nationalsozialistischen Zeit. Frankfurt a. M. 2010. One of these is "The Vikings" written by Busch and published by the Franz Schneider publishing house in Leipzig. For Busch, Vikings are north-Germanic people, bold seafarers, and our blood relatives.Römer 2010, P. 79. The book consists of two main sections: factual descriptions of the construction of Viking ships, and the adventurously portrayed retelling of excerpts from the Vinland sagas. Römer indicates several typical examples of political exploitation and contrivance. Erik the Red and his sons are described as having exemplary attributes (Römer). It is conspicuous that in one single section Busch repeatedly uses the word "Führer" for Erik the Red, a word which is not normally used in maritime language, or if so only in the context of the word "Schiffsführer" (ship's master).Römer 2010, P. 140. In addition a dramatic battle with a storm by the crew of the Viking boat, which strengthens this motive has no precedence in the original.Römer 2010, P. 141. Many books for the young dealing with this topic, including the one by Busch, emphasise the discovery of America by the Vikings. In doing so, Busch combines a free description of genuine historical events with the present day. For example, he integrates the flights to America by "our fliers, Gronau and Balbo. These had found the same way to the new part of the world as the Vikings, which is illustrated on a map.Römer 2010, S. 40. Busch also builds further "bridges" (Römer) between the alleged forefathers and the present Nazi state. Thus according to Busch a "German" called "Tyriker" was a member of Erik's crew. However "German" as a nationality was still unheard of in the year 1000. Also the designation in the text "suðrmaðr" only literally means "South man" or "man from the South".Römer 2010, S. 141. It is similar when it comes to other details as well, thus the invocation of a god is modern and not historical. In the book, Erik confirms his intention to sail to the west with Leif calling out: "By Thor, and if I wanted to!". This acclamation is structured as would be expected from Christian belief, especially of a Catholic nature, and not as a pagan would do. Römer 2010 S. 200. Further details from the Vinland Saga are taken over by Busch uncritically, such as the alleged discovery of wine and grain there.Römer 2010, S. 79. Four booklets from the Thule Collection served as sources for Busch.Römer 2010, S. 79. The Vikings was reprinted several times. In 1938 copies 19-20,000 were printed, followed by 26-35,000 in 1941.Römer 2010, S. 79. Bush continued to publish on the topic after 1945. In 1966 Sponholz in Hannover published Viking Sails off America, the Saga of Gudrid and Freydis.
The best-seller: Narvik, the Heroic Fight of German Destroyers (1940) In 1940, following the German victory in the Battle of Narvik the Bertelsmann publishing house released this lavishly turned-out book written by Busch. It was a work of "war reporting which toed the party line", it had an introduction by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder and was recommended by the OKW in the Books of the Armed Forces.Saul Friedländer, Norbert Frei, Trutz Rendtorff, Reinhard Wittmann: Bertelsmann im Dritten Reich. C. Bertelsmann, München 2002, . S. 435. The book was celebrated in the specialist press and after a year 200,000 copies had been sold. In 1941 Busch earned 242,084.47 RM from his writing activities, and in the following years he earned approximately 100,000 RM a year. In doing so, at that time he was among the highest-earning German authors. The Bertelsmann publishing house earned a clear total profit of 650,000 RM from the book.Adam 2010. It reached place 17 in a list of Best sellers of the Third Reich which was published in 2010.NS-Bestseller. Die Lieblingsbücher der Deutschen im Dritten Reich In: Die Welt vom 19. August 2010, aufgerufen am 28. Mai 2012. Kommentierte Liste aufgrund der Studie: Christian Adam: Lesen unter Hitler. Autoren, Bestseller, Leser im Dritten Reich. Galiani, Berlin. Digitalisierte Ausgabe von "Narvik" 1940 According to Christian Adam, if you ignore the moral aspect, the Narvik book is generally well crafted, although at many places it was "quickly cobbled together". In a mixture of reporting, fictional elements and documents he describes a part of Operation Weserübung, that is the attack on Norway and the capture of the iron-ore port of Narvik. The war described in the book which is written from the perspective of a field commander is "clean". Death and suffering are blanked out. Alleged atrocities carried out on German survivors by the Royal Navy are emphasised. The book was a propagandistic success