Fraternity-Testvériség, 1963 (40. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1963-12-01 / 12. szám
FRATERNITY 3 The Berliners lighted candles and placed them in their windows at night. The city was ablaze with them. In the meanest, poorest section of town, each window had a candle in it. The Kurfuer- stendamm, the main shopping street, which is not unlike Broadway in its lights and activity, closed down at the news of the assassination, and all the lights were turned off. It was pitch black. Theaters stopped performances. People walked as though in a dream on the streets, and asked each other for two days if it were true. The town changed completely. These are things people DID. Berliners are great “doers'". They can do things bigger and better than any other Germans. They pride themselves on being able to drink more, laugh louder and grieve harder than any other Europeans. They’re showmen. But they made a believer out of me. Their grief was honest and deep, their mourning sincere. Their expressions of condolence to us Americans was heartfelt. They had lost a friend and a fellow Berliner, and they wanted us and the world to know how deep their sorrow was. They proved it to me. No matter what you thought of the Kennedy politics, no matter what you thought of the family hierarchy, no matter what you thought of his methods of bringing people into line, you must admit here was a man who captured the imagination of the people throughout the world as no one has---since probably FDR in 1932. He gave us a new image. He was of our century, and he was supremely confident in himself and in America. He was brash, and young, and vigorous, and terribly annoying. But you had to watch him. He made you pay attention. Perhaps you paid attention because he was handsome to look at. Perhaps you paid attention because you wanted to disagree with him. Perhaps you paid attention because you thought he was wonderful and that everything he said was the gospel truth. Or perhaps you paid attention because you disagreed violently with the man and his little brother, and wanted to pick apart what he said. But, by Jove, you paid attention! He was that kind of a person. You just had to pay attention . . . and when you paid attention, you were never disappointed. He always made a good showing. Only the history books will tell us if he was a great President. Maybe not. But that doesn’t matter, really. He was our President and we all loved him. The crime that took him from us is not now and never will be explained fully. But it is finished, and the books will record it as a black day in the history of our nation and of the world. I hope that we have not lost our chance for greatness
