the cruelest month

yesterday, attempting to kill time at lunch, i decided to stroll through the kleine tiergarten, a leafy environs bookended by two churches - one built friedrich schinkel, where the local drunks argue the finer points of philosophy. reaching the far edge of the park, enjoying the sun and still averse to returning to the office i thought i'd take a gander at the spring greenery in the nearby wilsknacker strasse graveyard. the small cemetery marks the mass grave of over 300 locals killed during the final, desperate battles fought here in april of 1945. it also is home to the headstone of albrecht haushofer - author of moabit sonnets - executed by a roving ss death squad hours after being released from prison as the russian beared down on the neighborhood. wandering over to his headstone i was taken aback when i saw the date of his death - exactly sixty four years ago to the day! coincidence or something more?