How My Life Has Played Out So Far

April 29, 1969

My name is Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm, but people know me as Willy Brandt. I was born on December 18, 1913 in the Free City of Lubeck. Born to an unwed mother named Martha Frahm, I was mainly raised by my stepfather, Ludwig Frahm, and his second wife, Dora. Influenced by my father, I joined the “Socialist Youth” in 1929 and the Social Democratic Party in 1930. However, I left the SPD to participate in the more left wing Socialist Workers Party. “The election results (1930) were a shock. The Nazis were talking of putting an end to the Republic, abolishing the free vote, using force. Their so-called 'socialism' meant nothing to us - it was an obvious fraud. I had one school-friend who was an ardent Nazi; he was honest and sincere. I talked to him in order to learn about the Nazis. I came to the conclusion that they represented an unbridled nationalism, devoid of spiritual content. Nazism was brutal and scorned humanity; it was steering in the direction of a new war.” Shortly after elections, I left Germany for Norway in order to escape the Nazi persecution. At Norway, I adopted my current name, Willy Brandt, and helped found the International Bureau of Revolutionary Youth organizations in 1934, which assisted me in being elected as Secretariat. Two years later, I moved back to Germany, disguised as a Norwegian student named Gunnar Gaasland. I married Gertrud Meyer to prevent her deportation. In 1937, I worked in Spain as a journalist. Then, I attempted to obtain Norwegian citizenship in 1938 after the German government took away my citizenship but was arrested in Norway in 1940. Luckily, they were not able to identify me, and I was released to Sweden. After becoming a Norwegian citizen in August, I developed a close relationship with the country. Consequently, I returned to Berlin in 1946 while working for the Norwegian government. “Living in Berlin had a deep emotional effect on me and helped me to make up my mind what to do with myself. The question which had bothered me most was-had Germany enough vital strength left in her? The Berliners gave me the answer; and I found that same quality of endurance which the Norwegians had. The worst possible circumstances seemed to bring out the best in both, too. Conditions in Berlin, finally, reminded me of how much there was to be done for my country.” There, I joined the SPD in 1948 and became a German citizen once more. I held the position as the mayor of West Berlin from the period of 1957 to 1966, during which tensions in the East-West relations led to the creation of the Berlin Wall. In 1964, I became the chairman of SPD. Although I lost the voting for chancellorship in 1961, I was given the position as foreign minister and vice chancellor of the grand coalition between the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union of Germany. In 1969, my work finally paid off when the SPD formed a coalition government with the Free Democratic Party of Germany, and I was elected as the chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. This made me the first Social Democratic chancellor, which gave me the opportunity to open the west to the east.

Head Down, Hopes Up

December 7, 1970

Today, I travelled to Warsaw, Poland on a state visit in order to better relations with Poland and the USSR. “An unusual burden accompanied me on my way to Warsaw. Nowhere else had a people suffered as in Poland. The machine-like annihilation of Polish Jewry represented a heightening of bloodthirstiness that no one had held possible. On my way to Warsaw [I carried with me] the memory of the fight to the death of the Warsaw ghetto.” On this day, I attended a commemoration of the Jewish victims of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising of 1943. Although it had been many years since the historic uprising and the end of the Holocaust, I knew the importance of this official state visit. Filled with emotion on the day of the ceremony, and taken by the enormity of the moment, I suddenly dropped to my knees before the commemoration monument, as a profound act of apology and repentance. “I felt I had to do something to express the particularity of the commemoration at the ghetto monument. On the abyss of German history and carrying the burden of the millions who were murdered, I did what people do when words fail them." Although some Germans doubted the motives of my action, I can sincerely promise that it was one of peace and reconciliation. I hope to accept the past and use it as an opportunity for rapprochement and compromise.

Peace! Success!

December 15, 1971

I feel proud and satisfied with the results of my hard work. A few years ago, I decided that if anything was to be done to ease relations between Bonn and East Berlin, the Germans would have to do it themselves. As a result, I presented my ideas regarding German and Eastern policies in July 1963 to a conference of the Protestant Academy in Tutzing. The basis of the "new Eastern and German policy" is the recognition that the European catastrophe began with the seizure of power by the National Socialists in 1933 and that Germany must accept the historical results. This recognition can lead to contact with the East European states in a climate of detente. I promoted “change through rapprochement” and “policy of small steps.” My 1968 book, A Peace Policy for Europe, held that “The recognition is growing that the nations of Europe must and will not simply come to terms with being permanently divided by the conflict between East and West ... even fundamental differences of political conviction and of social structure need not hold back the states of Europe...from working together in areas of common interest for the consolidation of an enduring peace.” My implementation of Ostpolitik led to West Germany's further reconciliation with the outside world. I relunctantly accepted the complete consequences of defeat: the lost lands, the admission of moral responsibility, and acknowledgement of Germany's participation. As a result, my government concluded a non-aggression treaty with the Soviet Union and also normalized relations with Poland, Czechoslovakia, and, finally, East Germany. What made Ostpolitik possible was the fact that my government recognized Europe's borders as inviolable, and it acknowledged the existence of two states in the German nation. Today, I was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for my work in improving east-west relations. May the East and West prosper together!

Failure

June 8, 1972

My friends have betrayed me. Erich Mende, Heinz Starke, Siegfried Zoglmann, Herbert Hupka, Wilhelm Helms, Knud von Kuhlman-Stumm, and Gerhard Kienbaum from the Social Democratic Party and the Federal Republic Party have all turned against me. Why? Why have people who had originally supported me so vigorously before changed their minds? It was all due to the fact that my Ostopolitik policy had led to the ruining of the coalition in Bundestag. In May 1972, the opposition CDU believed it had the majority in the Bundestag (German parliament) and demanded a vote on a motion of no confidence (Misstrauensvotum). Had this motion passed, Rainer Barzel would have replaced me as chancellor. To everyone's surprise, the motion failed. The margin was extremely narrow (two votes) and much later it was revealed that one or perhaps two members, namely Julius Steiner and Leo Wagner, of the CDU had been paid off by the Stasi of East Germany to vote for me. Not only were my fellow socialists switching sides on me, but I was also being accused of bribing others in order to save my position. Though I remained chancellor, I had lost my majority. Subsequent initiatives in the Bundestag, most notably on the budget, failed. Because of this stalemate, the Bundestag was dissolved and new elections were called. To counter any notions about being sympathetic to communism or soft on left-wing extremists, I implemented tough legislation that barred "radicals" from public service ("Radikalenerlass"). The feelings of security and friendship have both left me.

Why Guillaume?

May 7, 1974

My life has gone downhill. Around 1973, West German security organizations received information that one of my personal assistants, Günter Guillaume, was a spy for East Germany. I was asked to continue work as usual, so I agreed, even taking a private vacation with Guillaume. Guillaume was arrested on April 24, 1974, and the West German government blamed me for having a spy in my party. At the same time, some revelations about my private life appeared in newspapers. This Guillaume affair and the publicity of my short-lived affairs with prostitutes and my struggle with alcohol caused me much disgrace. I even contemplated suicide drafted a suicide note. However, I have decided instead to accept responsibility for Guillaume, and resigned on May 7, 1974. I have recently discovered that Guillaume had been a spy for East Germany, supervised by Markus Wolf, head of the Main Intelligence Administration of the East German Ministry for State Security. Wolf stated after the reunification that my resignation had never been intended, and that the affair had been one of the biggest mistakes of the East German secret service. This was led 1957-1989 by Erich Mielke, an old follower of Stalin and Beria. Although I have left the world of politics now, I still hold strong suspicion toward my fellow Social Democrat and rival, Herbert Wehner, who could very likely have been scheming my downfall. I can no longer tolerate any more of the sentiments betrayal and stress that my chancellor position has brought me. May Germany succeed without me. With my best wishes, I send my country off with a goodbye.