New World Order: Deutsches Requiem By Jorge Luis Borges

New World Order: Deutsches Requiem by Jorge Luis Borges

The Deutsches Requiem story written by author Jorge Luis Borges tells the story of the memories of the protagonist Otto Dietrich Zur Linde, who is a Nazi officer. Lutheran servant, he abandoned faith after reading the works of men like Nietzsche, Schopenhauer and Spengler. Joins the paramilitary organization Schutzstaffel, or SS. After losing his leg while attacked a synagogue, he is put in charge of the Tarnowitz concentration camp. After the war, he is captured and taken to trial where he does not offer defense for his actions. He tells his story the night before being executed for his crimes against humanity.

David Barberá Tomás explains to us in his publication “Borges refrains from deepening the German philosopher in his essays, there are two stories, Deutsches Requiem and Guayaquil in which Schopenhauer’s philosophy is a triggering element of the plot. The characters of these stories apply to their own lives the ideas of the philosopher and act accordingly. In both cases, the chosen decisions are tragic."That said, we see the objective or battle for the internal understanding that Borges creates for its protagonists. Otto Dietrich Zur Linde is the protagonist and the narrator. Otto Dietrich Zur Linde tells the story from his cell in prison, but the audience is not told where the prison is. The story is told after World War II. The account takes place in Germany and Poland since 1908, the birth of Linde, until night before his death shortly after World War II.

It is important to understand that Borges actively opposed the rule of Juan Domingo Perón who was an Argentine army general who followed Hitler’s ideas and steps after World War II in Argentina.

Otto Dietrich Zur Linde develops very sporadically and, at the same time, subtly. His interactions with David Jerusalem allow the audience to see a possible spark of humanity within Otto Dietrich Zur Linde;However, crushes this. He is happy to see the fall of Nazi Germany despite his avid service to the cause because he concludes that it is necessary for the new world order. This seems to be a positive development. In general, it is obvious that it morally develops in the fact that it does not show remorse for its actions. He still believes in his cause and that violence should reign over the world.

The story is quite formal since Otto Dietrich Zur Linde tries to make his life understand the audience. The vocabulary is aggressive, which reflects the violent life of Otto Dietrich Zur Linde. David Jerusalem is a symbol for all intellectual Jews who were killed under the orders of Otto Dietrich Zur Linde. He is also a symbol of the Jewish population as a whole. The poems described by Otto Dietrich Zur Linde have issues of repentance and revenge that reflect their own life at that time. David Jerusalem committed suicide on the same date that Otto Dietrich Zur Linde lost his leg and the connection refers to the broader theme that humanity is the same. In addition the death of Otto Dietrich Zur Linde’s brother and the destruction of his home symbolize the fall of Nazi Germany.

Alberto Julian Perez explains in his publication "In" Deutsches Requiem "Borges wants to explain what Nazism was and how he lives it (and justifies it) from the perspective of a Nazi. He puts himself in the place of a German intellectual, whose artistic tastes have an affinity with their own, and tells his conversion to Nazism, and his participation in the movement in the first person. Hitler’s personality and the power of persuasion of Nazi discourse had seduced many German intellectuals.”Given the history of Borges’ life and his participation in the public struggle against Juan Domingo Perón’s regime, history acquires a broader new light. What seems to be a story told in another place and time is actually deeply personal for Borge’s life. It is not simply a story of an individual, but speaks of society as a whole and the future of the world. History is a description of philosophy and religion and its relationship with world politics and order.

Otto Dietrich Zur Linde believed that Nazism had more to do with the destruction of the old Christian world order and the appearance of a new victorious era governed by the violence and power of will. Borges is warning the public of the atrocities that can come from powerful leaders seeking a "glorious" future at the expense of humanity, mercy or empathy. It is also a comment about the dangers that society accepts things, even reluctantly, simply because they believe it is the inevitable future, such as Otto Dietrich Zur Linde with violence.