Walter Julius Bloem (October 22, 1898 – presumed dead 1945) was a German writer who became known under the pseudonym Kilian Koll. Bloem was an officer in the First and Second World War as well as a member of the SS.

Life

Bloem was born in 1898 in Barmen, in present-day

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

as the son of the writer Walter Bloem, noted as an author of patriotic novels, and his first wife Margarete Kalähne. His father e.g. wrote the memoir "''The Advance from Mons 1914''"—the translation included a foreword by

James Edward Edmonds Brigadier-General Sir James Edward Edmonds (25 December 1861 – 2 August 1956) was an officer of the Royal Engineers in the late-Victorian era British Army who worked in the Intelligence Division, took part in the creation of the forerunner ...

who called it "one of the most graphic and dramatic accounts of the war yet written." Since his earliest youth, Bloem suffered from irreparable hearing damage. Nevertheless, in 1915, at the age of 16, he volunteered for service in the First World War at the front, after he had fulfilled his father's demand that he complete his Oberprima (roughly advanced secondary school in the US) at Easter 1915. In the war, he was decorated several times including the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...

, first and second classes, and at the end of the war, he was

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

and company commander on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...

. He was wounded several times, and his hearing damage had worsened so much that he was almost deaf. After the war, he fought until 1919 in the

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, rega ...

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

against Polish paramilitaries. Back in civilian life, he studied philosophy and was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy. After several trips through Germany and

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

, he finally settled with his wife as a settler in Nikolaiken,

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

. Bloem began writing novels and poetry. His concentration was, among other things, the new medium of film. Under the title ''Die Seele des Lichtspiels - Ein Bekenntnis zum Film'' (The Soul of the Moving Picture - an Avowal of Film), he produced a work in 1922 which is still recognized today by film theorists. In order to distance himself from his famous father, he wrote under the pseudonym Kilian Koll. In addition, he discovered the love of soaring. In 1933, Bloem welcomed the seizure of power (''Machtergreifung'') by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

and saw him as the savior of Germany. In his works Bloem glorified

National Socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

ideas. Despite his severe disability, he succeeded in joining the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

as an officer in 1938. During the Second World War, he flew missions with the "Boelcke" squadron ( Kampfgeschwader 27) in the war against Poland and France. He was shot down in May 1940, but was able to parachute to safety. After a short French captivity, he returned to Germany. He joined the Waffen-SS, where he last fought in May 1945 in the battles in and around

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. He is considered missing since then. After the war, many of his works in the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a ...

were added to the ''"Liste der auszusondernden Literatur"'' (list of banned books).

Works

*''Die Seele des Lichtspiels - Ein Bekenntnis zum Film'' (1922) *''Tanz ums Licht'' (1925) (''The Dance of Light'') *''Das steinerne Feuer'' (1926) (''The Fire of Stone'') *''Stein wird Staub'' (1926) (''Stone becomes Dust'') *''Motorherz'' (1927) (''Motorheart'') *''Feuer im Norden'' (1929) (''Fire in the North'') *''Der Mann, der mit dieser Zeit fertig wird'' (1933) (''The Man who will be Prepared for these Times'') *''Heimkehr in die Mannschaft'' (1934) (''Return to the Team'') *''Luftpiraten - Ein heiterer Fliegerroman'' (1935) (''Air Pirates'', a humorous novel of flying) *''Urlaub auf Ehrenwort - Geschichten um den Krieg'' (1937) (''Leave on Word of Honor'') *''Andreas auf der Fahrt'' (1938) (''Andreas on a Drive'') *''Die Flügelschlepper - Tagebuch aus einer Segelfliegerschule'' (1938) (''Wing Tugs'' - journal of a sailplane school) *''Festspiel zu Walter Bloems siebzigstem Geburtstag'' (1938) (''Festival Piece for Walter Bloem's Seventieth Birthday'') *''Der Birkenzweig'' - Lieder (1939) (''The Birch Twig'' - songs) *''Die unsichtbare Fahne'' (1939) (''The Invisible Banner'') The short story "Urlaub auf Ehrenwort" was filmed twice: once in

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into ...

under the direction of Karl Ritter, featuring

René Deltgen Renatus Heinrich Deltgen born 30 April 1909 in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg; died 29 January 1979 in Cologne, West Germany) was a Luxembourgian stage and film actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performan ...

, Berta Drews, Carl Raddatz, and Paul Dahlke. A remake was made in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijiangs ...

, directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner, featuring, among others,

Claus Biederstaedt Claus Biederstaedt (28 June 1928 – 18 June 2020) was a German actor. He studied in Hamburg and began his career working with Joseph Offenbach. Among the actors for whom he dubbed were Yves Montand, Peter Falk, Marlon Brando, Vittorio Gassman, a ...

and Paul Esser.

References

External links

*
''The Soul of the Moving Picture'' (tr.Allen W. Porterfield) at archive.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloem, Walter Julius 1898 births 1940s missing person cases 1945 deaths 20th-century German writers German Army personnel of World War I German military personnel killed in World War II Missing in action of World War II Military personnel from Wuppertal Recipients of the Iron Cross, 1st class Recipients of the Iron Cross, 2nd class Waffen-SS personnel Writers from Wuppertal Luftwaffe pilots Shot-down aviators German prisoners of war in World War II held by France