On a conversation with history witness Helmuth Caspar von Moltke in Frankfurt am Main on 02.09.2022
While the bells of Frankfurt Cathedral were ringing outside, one could feel the end of an era in the lecture theatre of Haus am Dom. The peace order that had been worked on in Europe for so long seemed to have come to an end because of Russia's war with Ukraine, even if it still takes time for us to realise this. This was the gloomy analysis of Dr Robert Zurek who opened his talk with an eyewitness, Helmuth Caspar von Moltke - son of Freya and Helmuth James von Moltke, co-founders of the Kreisau Circle. Helmuth Caspar's father, was murdered by the Nazis in 1945 along with 7 other members for civil resistance.
80 years after the first two major meetings of the Krzyzowa Circle, questions were asked in Frankfurt am Main about the validity of the legacy. PhD Anna Quirin, director of the Freya von Moltke Foundation, spoke to Helmuth Caspar von Moltke about his childhood and his memories of life in Krzyżowa and the meetings of the Krzyżowa Circle in the House on the Hill.
He told anecdotes from life on the family estate in an empathetic and entertaining way, explained the significance of his parents' political involvement and described the specifics of post-war Germany. But the present also occupied a large part of the talk, as the descendant passionately strives to make Krzyżowa the meeting place it is today. With the admission of the Ukrainians, who have been living temporarily at the International Youth Meeting Centre since March, the war is once again present in Krzyzowa, and the question of how reconciliation and understanding between the peoples of Eastern Europe will be possible after the war is over is all the more pressing today.
We would like to thank the partners of the event: Haus am Dom, the German Polish Institute and the Freya von Moltke Foundation. We would like to give special thanks to Helmuth Caspar von Moltke, who has tirelessly travelled the world for Krzyżowa and its heritage.
Link to the talk on the Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJrbJggJaC4
