Georg Schafer
Encyclopedia
Georg Schafer was a German
painter, poet and author who lived in Guatemala
and the United States
. He was born on March 25, 1926, in Leinefelde, Germany
, and died on January 11, 1991, in Chatham, Massachusetts
of heart failure.
. In 1943 he was stationed in Denmark
with the occupation forces
. In Denmark, he risked his life to work with the Danish resistance
under the leadership of Damgaard Hansen. He was betrayed, captured by the Gestapo
, found guilty of espionage
, and sentenced to death. He was jailed for six months while awaiting execution. Twice, he was placed in front of firing squads in an effort to coerce him into betraying members of the resistance. He refused to name names and, at 17, started a hunger strike.
On March 16, 1945, Heinrich Himmler
commuted his death sentence to 15 years in prison. Shafer's father had been writing to the prison, begging for his son's release, though it is unclear what effect this had. When the Allied Forces liberated Berlin
, Schafer had worked 18 months hard labor in Grabow
, Mecklenburg, Germany.
Hessen, but soon realized that he was not fit for a career in the Catholic Church. He was invited to accompany a group of gypsies
who, like himself, had been victims in the concentration camps. He traveled with them for two years, learning to transform conflicts in a group experience through dance, music, storytelling and art.
In 1947, he returned to Fulda. He had no money, so could not attend university. He began to write instead, completing his autobiography and submitting articles to various publications. On April 18, 1950, he sent Dr. Albert Schweitzer
the manuscript of his autobiography. That same year, he was given position with a weekly newspaper: Die Zeit
. Now employed, he entered the University at Fulda to pursue his studies in philosophy and the natural sciences.
who synthesized LSD
. They worked together on experiments with LSD, including ingesting it themselves. Continuing his clinical research, he experimented with mescaline
. Shafer reported having a vision that was the same as a dream he had as a child. He had been burned from a pot of boiling water when he was one. According to Shafer, the shock, and "near death" experience, gave him, 23 years later, a vision of the fairytale, "In the Kingdom of Mescal". He believed that his experiences during the Second World War caused him to have visions. He painted prolifically, creating over 100 illustrations, and wrote poetry.
In 1951, Schafer began writing with a number of doctors including Professor H. Bender and Dr. Hubert Urban. Their correspondence led to an invitation in 1953 for Mr. Schafer to work on experiments with mescaline and consciousness in dreams at the University Clinic of Psychiatry and Neurology in Innsbruck, Austria. His findings were published on September, 1953 in a psychiatric journal: 'Oesterreich', on the subject of "The Problem of Time and Space."
and Albert Einstein
, corresponding with both although never meeting either. In 1952, Schafer wrote about the systematic destruction of Mahayana Buddhism within the Mongolian Territories of the Soviet Union
. Through the research and publication of these articles, Schafer corresponded with Nyanaponika Mahathera in Sri Lanka
and Lama Anagarika Govinda, a Mayahana Buddhist monk, which continued for the next thirty years.
Schafer and his second wife, who he called Mani, travelled to Sri Lanka and later to Guatemala where they settled amongst the Mayans
. Oma used the pseudonym Nan Cuz on his paintings, in homage to the Mayan culture which they adopted. There is some controversy over the ownership of her paintings because of this.
where he tried to mobilize people into fighting the destruction of aboriginal cultures. By this time he going using the pseudonym Oma Ziegenfuss in all aspects of life.
This was a difficult transition for Schafer, who felt isolated after living on the communal culture of Guatemala. He was in poor health for the first few months of their American habitation, and suffered a heart attack 18 months after settling in the States. After his recovery, he prepared an exhibit in Seattle, Washington
which was successful. Upon returning to Chatham, he suffered a second heart attack on January 11, 1991, from which he did not recover.
In 1979 he met Sherry Munson in Santa Fe, New Mexico
, who owned the Munson Gallery. They were married in 1979 and traveled to Sri Lanka to work together on repainting a Buddha story in the temple of Nyaniponika Mahathera. They had their first child in Sri Lanka. The couple had two more children in Guatemala and a fourth child in the United States, whom they named after Lama Govinda.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
painter, poet and author who lived in Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He was born on March 25, 1926, in Leinefelde, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and died on January 11, 1991, in Chatham, Massachusetts
Chatham, Massachusetts
Chatham is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 6,625 at the 2000 census...
of heart failure.
Hitler Youth and Danish resistance
At the age of 12, Schafer was pressured into joining the Hitler YouthHitler Youth
The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...
. In 1943 he was stationed in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
with the occupation forces
Occupation of Denmark
Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark began with Operation Weserübung on 9 April 1940, and lasted until German forces withdrew at the end of World War II following their surrender to the Allies on 5 May 1945. Contrary to the situation in other countries under German occupation, most Danish...
. In Denmark, he risked his life to work with the Danish resistance
Danish resistance movement
The Danish resistance movement was an underground insurgency movement to resist the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the unusually lenient terms given to Danish people by the Nazi occupation authority, the movement was slower to develop effective tactics on a wide scale...
under the leadership of Damgaard Hansen. He was betrayed, captured by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
, found guilty of espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
, and sentenced to death. He was jailed for six months while awaiting execution. Twice, he was placed in front of firing squads in an effort to coerce him into betraying members of the resistance. He refused to name names and, at 17, started a hunger strike.
On March 16, 1945, Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
commuted his death sentence to 15 years in prison. Shafer's father had been writing to the prison, begging for his son's release, though it is unclear what effect this had. When the Allied Forces liberated Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Schafer had worked 18 months hard labor in Grabow
Grabow
Grabow is a town in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the river Elde, 7 km southeast of Ludwigslust, and 34 km northwest of Wittenberge.-History:...
, Mecklenburg, Germany.
Post-war
After the war, Schafer entered the Theological College at FuldaFulda
Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
Hessen, but soon realized that he was not fit for a career in the Catholic Church. He was invited to accompany a group of gypsies
Romani
Romani relates or may refer to:- Nationality :*The Romani people**their Romani language*The Latin term for the ancient Romans, see Roman citizenship*The Italian term for inhabitants of Rome...
who, like himself, had been victims in the concentration camps. He traveled with them for two years, learning to transform conflicts in a group experience through dance, music, storytelling and art.
In 1947, he returned to Fulda. He had no money, so could not attend university. He began to write instead, completing his autobiography and submitting articles to various publications. On April 18, 1950, he sent Dr. Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer OM was a German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, at that time part of the German Empire...
the manuscript of his autobiography. That same year, he was given position with a weekly newspaper: Die Zeit
Die Zeit
Die Zeit is a German nationwide weekly newspaper that is highly respected for its quality journalism.With a circulation of 488,036 and an estimated readership of slightly above 2 million, it is the most widely read German weekly newspaper...
. Now employed, he entered the University at Fulda to pursue his studies in philosophy and the natural sciences.
LSD and Mescaline research
Through his studies, reportage, and his keen interest in human science, he met Albert HofmannAlbert Hofmann
Albert Hofmann was a Swiss scientist known best for being the first person to synthesize, ingest and learn of the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide . He authored more than 100 scientific articles and a number of books, including LSD: My Problem Child...
who synthesized LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
. They worked together on experiments with LSD, including ingesting it themselves. Continuing his clinical research, he experimented with mescaline
Mescaline
Mescaline or 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine is a naturally occurring psychedelic alkaloid of the phenethylamine class used mainly as an entheogen....
. Shafer reported having a vision that was the same as a dream he had as a child. He had been burned from a pot of boiling water when he was one. According to Shafer, the shock, and "near death" experience, gave him, 23 years later, a vision of the fairytale, "In the Kingdom of Mescal". He believed that his experiences during the Second World War caused him to have visions. He painted prolifically, creating over 100 illustrations, and wrote poetry.
In 1951, Schafer began writing with a number of doctors including Professor H. Bender and Dr. Hubert Urban. Their correspondence led to an invitation in 1953 for Mr. Schafer to work on experiments with mescaline and consciousness in dreams at the University Clinic of Psychiatry and Neurology in Innsbruck, Austria. His findings were published on September, 1953 in a psychiatric journal: 'Oesterreich', on the subject of "The Problem of Time and Space."
Branching out
The publication of his article allowed Schafer greater reach within the psychological community. He sent the article to Carl JungCarl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
and Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
, corresponding with both although never meeting either. In 1952, Schafer wrote about the systematic destruction of Mahayana Buddhism within the Mongolian Territories of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Through the research and publication of these articles, Schafer corresponded with Nyanaponika Mahathera in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
and Lama Anagarika Govinda, a Mayahana Buddhist monk, which continued for the next thirty years.
Schafer and his second wife, who he called Mani, travelled to Sri Lanka and later to Guatemala where they settled amongst the Mayans
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
. Oma used the pseudonym Nan Cuz on his paintings, in homage to the Mayan culture which they adopted. There is some controversy over the ownership of her paintings because of this.
The destruction of Mayan culture
Over time, Schafer became increasingly concerned over the destruction of the Mayan culture by "the boots of progress." In 1989, the Schafers and their three children moved to Chatham, MassachusettsChatham, Massachusetts
Chatham is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 6,625 at the 2000 census...
where he tried to mobilize people into fighting the destruction of aboriginal cultures. By this time he going using the pseudonym Oma Ziegenfuss in all aspects of life.
This was a difficult transition for Schafer, who felt isolated after living on the communal culture of Guatemala. He was in poor health for the first few months of their American habitation, and suffered a heart attack 18 months after settling in the States. After his recovery, he prepared an exhibit in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
which was successful. Upon returning to Chatham, he suffered a second heart attack on January 11, 1991, from which he did not recover.
Personal Life
As a reporter for Die Zeit, he met Imgard Carmen Heinemann, a photographer of German and Mayan descent. They reported on several assignments together and married on December 23, 1950.In 1979 he met Sherry Munson in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
, who owned the Munson Gallery. They were married in 1979 and traveled to Sri Lanka to work together on repainting a Buddha story in the temple of Nyaniponika Mahathera. They had their first child in Sri Lanka. The couple had two more children in Guatemala and a fourth child in the United States, whom they named after Lama Govinda.