Excerpt from the ›Closing Words‹
by Frank Rennicke

I would very much like to believe in the values of our fundamental law, this however seems less and less possible. I am searching for freedom of expression in the arts, for the protection of family, the protection of the inviolability of letters, the inviolability of profession, the inviolability of the privacy of ones home and the protection of ones possessions. I will not forget the insult and black mailing by officer Schiele. The old version of the song of the expelled Germans from their ancestral homes Heimatvertriebenenlied, addressed above all also the occupiers of the Tyrollean south, the Czechs, Poles, Russians and lamented the lack of rights for eastern Germany. I am a German; when I sing, every human being is at home somewhere ... can that be an offense? I call myself a ›Bard for Germany‹- it's not against foreigners! ... or anyone else. When something like this is happening with one of my songs, could it happen with any other song of mine as well? To whom should I turn, whom should I consult in order to be protected by the law?

Other charges spell out the banning of my profession, in addition to the insecurity of the lack of rights. That is oppression of a person in his own homeland. Just think of the consequences of such injustice! For 15 years I have performed freely and openly - and without an artistic pseudonym! Then suddenly the rules are changed and the expression of an opinion so many people share, is being made into a political trial. Have you nothing else to do, you civil servants, you police men during these 8 days of proceedings, than to wage a trial against freedom of speech and freedom of artistic expression? - I want to be the bard for my family and for my country. I too was raised during the era of the DDR (German Democratic Republic). Viktor Jara has suffered similarly in Chile. This case will have more profound effect than the political administration of the law wants to acknowledge- It's the justice department, that belongs on the dock of the accused, instead of the Rennicke family!

Frank Rennicke now reads a letter written by a SPD-politician in local government, addressed to Mrs. Mertig, wife of public prosecutor Mertig.

The letter:

August 29, 2001

Mrs.
Karin Mertig
Franz-Schubert-Weg 4
70806 Kornwestheim

 

M rs. Mertig,

I am writing to you, as a mother of four children, as an active local politician and member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). For some time now I have contemplated this letter.

Originally, I had intended to contact your husband directly, yet abstained from the idea. In my view, your husband's exaggerated activities as career-oriented bureaucrat, should not reflect upon you or your family. Unfortunately, your husband does not measure up to that standard, since by his own conduct, a large family of solid character could soon be robbed of their very existence. Therefore, I can no longer sit back in silence and now must write to you, as you yourself are a mother and wife.

The matter concerns the prosecution and trial against the musician Frank Rennicke and his wife Ute Rennicke. This will probably not be the only letter you'll have received in this matter and it is assumed, that your husband has not merely filed the many letters of protest by concerned citizens over his malicious actions, but has likely handed these letters of protest over to the politicized police and the secret service of this state.

Because of my political work in the community, I have taken notice of the musician Frank Rennicke for several years now, Since the media has always reported a one-sided, biased view of his music, the impetus to take a closer look at him as well as at his music seemed logical. Just the fact that he was referred to as ›endangering our youth‹ seemed wrong. And the fact that he was listed in the index, compiled by the federal authorities that included his songs Under the rubble of time or Longing for Germany alongside with sex titles like Fucking Young Girls, Anal Sex Total or Moist Dreams, Horny Girls must have stirred the interest of more independent thinking people beside myself. Although I did not seek direct contact with Frank Rennicke at the time and merely purchased a CD, the prosecution against him led by your husband, has now moved me from my complacency.

Examining the various sources that were available to me, I have attempted to gain a clearer impression of the music by Frank Rennicke, the method of prosecution by your husband, as well as the appalling proceedings by the federal government. While reading their documents, I have come upon matters which have greatly impaired my trust in the day-by-day politics of our state. I will refer to this in greater detail later in my letter.

Foremost however, you should know that I have always made my opinion known and became active when others retrieved. The reason for concealing my name so far, is that I may be able to help the Rennicke family at a later point against the procedure used by your husband and his henchmen. It is due to your husband's acts, that I too have lost my trust in a just state. Several years ago, I would and could not have imagined to support any one member of the National Democratic Party, while my own Party, the Social Democrats, is governing. Recognizing now the ruthless reality of the federal government, one could almost be grateful to your husband for that reason. His malice will surely be noticed by others as well.

I am not informed as to the kind of the protests in the Rennicke case received by your husband, or by the federal prosecuting office, the media, the police or various parties. Neither do I know whether the protests are coming from mostly ›suspicious‹ right-wing circles, or from a broader political reader base. However, Frank Rennicke's web site contains a fair selection of letters received by him which demonstrate sophistication and good character which surprised me the more, since your husband is out to destroy the Rennicke family.

In the course of my probing in regard to this case, I also wanted to come to grips with the case and make a judgment about your husband as a prosecutor, who is paid by tax payer's money, and simultaneously learn about the artist Rennicke, who has been singing and performing for the last 15 years, who has never been previously convicted, who has proven his abilities in his work and music productions. I got to know him as a person of solid character who invites discussion with friend or foe, despite the waves of attacks and even threats of homicide. Regardless of all this, Rennicke seems to have kept his humor and lives with his family in orderly and respectable circumstances, not pursuing money or position, but striving to provide for his five children a future, that rests in the tradition and values so ardently expressed in his songs.

My own political and social expectations are often aligned with the content of Rennicke's songs. At present, I am not just increasingly embarrassed by my party for its destructive policies against the family, or its willingness to comply with those stirring up war, but also because of the increasing number of political persecutions against individuals or political minorities. I would be a hypocrite, were I to condemn the persecution against Kurt Schumacher, during the Third Reich, and tolerate comparable persecution against a musician at present time, even though he may be a critical and irksome singer for the establishment. And I would be an insincere contemporary, would I applaud our basic law's undermining of the rights to people, whose political standing happens to be right-wing. There is only one justice, there is only one humaneness, only one measure - that is why I write to you, Mrs. Karin Mertig, wife of a political prosecutor, who shares her bed with a man, for whom I can only feel detest and by whose actions I realized, how far this republic has gone to the dogs, becoming more and more a modern state of totalitarism, as can be witnessed in the case of the Rennicke family.

You may say: »What has that to do with me and why this letter to me?« Well, if your husband is of the opinion that Ute Rennicke is also accountable, because she once answered the phone in place of her husband, or because of her so-called ›psychological support‹ for her husband, as Wolfgang Mertig calls it, then you, Mrs. Mertig, will be equally accountable one day, when this madness is all over and you may have to justify yourself.

But it is not just that, it's the day-to-day concern which should open your eyes to this matter. Have you never asked yourself, what Ute Rennicke has to bear and suffer because Wolfgang Mertig has caused a mammoth proceeding and requested this a huge police force? Have you ever asked your husband, if perhaps he is overreacting? Have you ever bothered to ask yourself about the way your husband earns his living, money, you can use for shopping and your comfortable home, money which is stained with blood, sorrow and injustice? You, Mrs. Mertig, should not avert your eyes - especially not, when you think of your own children. Have you never thought about what your children might say to you in 10 years hence, when the winds may have changed and when your children may detest the methods by which their father persecuted the Rennicke family? And they may ask you: »Did you, mom, not know about all of this?«

I know, that Ute Rennicke is a good mother and when needed can be a critical wife with sound advice for her husband. Can you say that about yourself, Mrs. Mertig? And are you even aware, what this trial could mean for the future of the Rennicke family?

Lately, the general public is being manipulated against parts of the population in a most deceitful and hypocritical manner. Against this political minority, special laws are being put in place creating false enemy images and dividing the population. By doing so, certain groups can diverge the attention from their own misgivings to use as propaganda. Your husband has but a small role in this, yet he fulfills it to perfection. The more I look at the files he has compiled, the more I realize, that W. Mertig does not exercise democracy in the interest of the German people, rather he is a creature to further his career no matter what the consequences for those left with a critical mind, those who swim against the political mainstream. Opportunists like your husband, belong to a category of man, also responsible for much that is bad and ugly in this world, because they only look to benefit for themselves

Whether the views of Frank Rennicke are true or false, fact is, here fights David against Goliath, the small fry, the little bard with his guitar and full of idealism, against an entire state of hypocrisy and a policy of persecution. Here is the representation of a free and artistic spirit, against a political machine. In view of this, my conscience shows me the way. In the past and because of media propaganda, I also thought of the right wing as a group of brainless drunks. This indoctrinated image is largely false and used as a means for the established parties' ugly politics.

I would hope that you think about this letter. You and your family have - despite all this - not become victims of violence from right extremists. This - I think - says a lot about the circle of friends around Frank Rennicke, who, were your accusations against him true, should be expected - according to their crated image by the media -, differently against you and your family, wouldn't they?

When I heard about the conviction of Frank Rennicke in the press not long ago, I decided to pay him and his family a personal visit, in order to assess his situation objectively. I was certain to find embittered and reserved people, in view of all the injustice and meanness, that has been committed against them. I got to know a family which to have as neighbors, would please me very much. I got to know their children, who are neither spoiled nor TV-damaged, and I got to know through them a really lived honesty and straightforwardness in word and deed, that is rare in our day. Mr. Rennicke conversed with me naturally and without reservations and upon my request, showed me the documentation of the proceedings. I was able to read the words by the prosecutor Mertig and had access to the police files. My words to Mr. Rennicke have lost nothing of their meaning. You, Mrs. Mertig, should herewith hear them also:

I AM DEEPLY ASHAMED FOR THE INJUSTICE DONE TO THE RENNICKE FAMILY. I AM ASHAMED FOR PEOPLE LIKE WOLFGANG MERTIG, WHO COMMITS HIS CRIMES WITH THE TAXES PAID ALSO BY ME. I AM ASHAMED FOR A POLITICAL SYSTEM THAT ALLOWS SUCH AN INJUSTICE, AND I AM ASHAMED, FOR ALL WHO KNOWINGLY LOOK THE OTHER WAY, PLACING UPON THEMSELVES THE GUILT OF INDIFFERENCE!

The consequences for Ute Rennicke are many. Because of the acute physical and psychological pressure upon her, she has lost - what would have been - their sixth child. Additionally, she had to endure media hunting, the poisoning of their family dog, spying on their children, theft of their savings, violence and social segregation.

Having great hopes that I did not write this letter in vain, I will close with these words by Friedrich Schiller:

»Deceit rules the world and truth and justice occur only on stage!«

B.T.