I remember feeling a great sense of relief and triumph, almost giddiness, as the two of us drove the VW back to the Hilton in the afternoon sun. It felt like we'd done something of almost cosmic significance. We parked in the garage and took the elevator back to the McCarthy suite, anticipating how we would be praised for our good work.
Not to compare to smoking pot with Phil Ochs, but here is one more related musical moment.
Right before the convention, I managed to get backstage at a Peter, Paul and Mary concert at a prestigious music space in the Loop, and I witnessed Mary Travers angrily cursing somebody out, I can’t remember who. As in “You fucking idiot….," which was definitely very different from her image.
I can still remember the three of them on stage earnestly performing their song written especially for the McCarthy campaign, which included the lines:
Nice memory, Walt. I also have a musical memory from that pre-convention period.
A year earlier, as a counselor-in-training at a Jewish summer camp in Wisconsin (the first and only organized Jewish activity that our parents ever involved me in), I had fallen in with a folksinging crowd, and we young teenagers all much admired the political troubadour Phil Ochs. Several of us had guitars in camp, and Phil Ochs was what we were playing. More so than Dylan.
I also don’t remember exactly how Dan and I got the gig at McCarthy HQ during the Convention, though I agree that all of the factors Dan mentioned would have played a role. Also, if our main role was as campaign messengers, as Dan helpfully confirms, the fact that we were locals and had a car (our family VW) also was a key factor.
In the previous post, Google Translate rendered the term "Abgabe Aktion" as "sale campaign," but it was really a forced seizure of precious metals and jewels owned by Jews in March 1939. Here are some citations about the forced jewelry sales in March 1939.
Der Spiegel, 5/25/1998
Declaration of an oath
I, Hilda Liebman, b. Wohlgemuth, residing at 31, Bld. De la Saussaye, Neuilly-Seine, France, is aware of the criminal liability of a false affidavit, given the following declaration on the matter of reimbursement to my mother, Mrs. Betty Wohlgemuth, née Katz, taking an oath in lieu of an oath at the reparations offices in Berlin:
A couple of days ago, Joanne was rereading the Hilda affidavit and noticed this line.
The list of chief objects from the apartment that I remember after so many years are provided separately, just as are the important jewelry items.