Heribert von FeilitzschThe Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society is pleased to host a return engagement for historian Heribert von Feilitzsch on Thursday, March 8, at the Santa Clara National Guard Armory Building, beginning at 7 p.m.

Mr. Feilitzsch grew up in Germany, only yards from the East German border, the "Iron Curtain." In 1988 he came to the United States as a student. Fascinated with the Mexican-American border, he pursued a Master's Degree in Latin-American History with focus on Mexican-German-American relations at the University of Arizona.

The subject of his March 8 lecture is Karl May, a German writer who published dozens of books on the "Wild West" without ever having been there. His main protagonist was Winnetou, the "chief of the Apaches." In a paper published on Karl May in the Journal of Popular Culture 20 some years ago, Mr. Feilitzsch concluded that the reason Hitler really liked May was that his world was black and white, good against evil, white American against natives. The lecture is entitled "Karl May: The Wild West made in Germany."

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. at the Santa Clara Armory. For more information, contact Cecilia Bell at 388-4477, or Doug Dinwiddie at 388-4862.