From: glosys (glosys@PSNW.COM)
Date: Mon Feb 05 2001 - 09:09:39 PST
Dear Gabriella - This is "The Berlin School Boy" from the original Elders Panel. I received a copy of your letter which I will try to be responsive to. as to Q1: The minimum age for joining the Hitler Youth was 14 - but starting at age ten you could join the "Jungvolk" - The uniforms were different - and as a youngster I wanted the right to wear the Swastika armband - which I did not qualify for as a member of the Jungvolk. That sat in my craw back then. as to Q2: If you were under the age of ten there was no uniformed group you could join - as far as I know As to Q3: I do not recall the meeting frequency. As best as I recall it was weekly as a minimum unless on one of those meetings an event was announced which then was in addition to regular meetings - and there were a few of them - in various ways - which usually differed from regular meetings. For example. I lived in Berlin - and one day we were called to a special meeting where we were appointed as "melders" - or reporters. Our job was to go out after an air raid and to report on any "duds" or bombs that hit but did not explode. We were also advised on how to spot them - they were not just lying around - they could be located sometimes by holes in the ground and a slight fresh dirt elevation. If the attack used incindiary bombs - these small hexagonal or octagonal cylindrical objects with a cast iron end - we were to pick them up immediately and carry them to a designated area. As a ten year old I carried quite a number of them myself - but I knew what to look for so that they did not go off while I carried them. Any bomb where the small star-shaped piece of thin metal was not bent was fairly safe to transport. Still - and while that was a safe indicator - just imagine knowing that your ten year old son is out there somewhere collecting bombs - I don't think you would be satisfied knowing about 'bent' metal stars vs. flat metal stars. But back then the definition of "danger" was quite a bit more flexible. And as to how long these sessions lasted? I don't recall that accurately. We learned about certain public figures, learned certain songs, learned about how to wear our uniforms, what other uniforms existed, how to recognize which uniform meant what, we learned about "Sword words" which defined manhood. For example, we learned that a man does not cry, that they are as fast as greyhounds (forgot what that was supposed to mean). We learned about "honor", which was basically to obey orders. There were seven of these sword words, as I recall. Sometimes we had guest speakers - like soldiers who came from the front - and they fired us up with talks of glory, victory, heroism, selflesness, the honor of enduring and even of dying for noble causes. As to Q 4: Already partially answered. But I recall marching events - i.e. basic group disciplines like standing at attention, posture, drill orders, various steps, standard songs, etc. We learned all the typical drills all uniformed troops learn as they apply locally in any country. Sometimes we had (as a Jungvolk group) combined exercises, i.e. combined with Hitleryouth groups. They had drums and trumpets etc. and they were the "big events" - firing us up because we were with the "big boys" As to 5: Not sure what being "subjected to" might imply - There existed certain standards throughout such youth movements - but we never felt being subjected to anything other than "sensible" rules of conduct and values. (please do not deduce here that I agree with those teachings today - I am reporting about how things looked to me "then".) As to 6: These days we resort to using terms like "mental abuse" quite liberally. From the perspective of a youngster at that time, and even at present, our "training" or off-school "education" back then does not qualify for mental abuse any more than being conditioned to resort to "politically correct" phrases today - both being equally insiduous in terms of making us less human than we inherently are, both "programming us" to be something less than we can be, or should be in order to create a sane social and societal environment. Much the same applies to the use of the term "brainwashing". In no way do I endorse all that we were told then, but in no way do I endorse what we are being subjected to today. Labels are exceedingly dangerous!! But also, various Hitler Youth or Jungvolk groups were being led by people who indeed were far more aggressive in terms of what youngsters were instructed in, how they were treated, what they were expected to do. Perhaps I was fortunate in not having experienced some of these people personally at that time. Certainly youngsters did not commit suicide back then as youngsters do today, they did not suffer from depression as youngsters do today and they did not go to school and randomly shoot down their schoolmates or others who they had a grudge with as they do today. I think such matters need pondering over and placed in some sort of perspective. As to Q7 I do not know where the notion of daily beatings came from - perhaps some exceptions somewhere are now being viewed as having been systemic - I VERY much doubt such incidences were systemic. And again - there is this label "abuse". An example I recall and experienced follows below, however. But in order to be a "good german", the seven sword words represented that definition, and I believe that among them was to take orders, etc. As to Q8 There were no daily beatings - because, and first of all, we did not meet daily, and I never saw anyone being beaten or heard of anyone being beaten. However, at one point the bombings in Berlin became so routine and so massive that youngsters were evacuated to the countryside. I was enrolled in a humanistic gymnasium in a town called Schleusingen in the province of Thuringia. It was a boarding school, an excellent one at that. But there was discipline, but not political discipline. Still, that discipline was rather strict and unforgiving, usually. Thus, when there was any infraction of a rule, we were given punishment in terms of 3, 5 or ten, meaning that three, five or ten minutes after the wake-up call we had to report downstairs to some appointed older student or a teacher, fully dressed. And then came the succession of orders to return in two minutes in summer uniform, after that to perhaps return in 3 minutes in winter uniform, and within another two minutes again in "turnzeug", i.e. black shorts and a white tanktop-type shirt. That went on a few times, and it was VERY tough to comply with since the drill master then also went upstairs to check if the toothbrush was wet, that the changed clothing was neatly folded and returned to the dresser. Of course our friends helped us, but when they were caught doing that they too went through such drill the next day. But that apparently was not enough punishment for something I must have done - don't recall what it was. In that case a teacher, a Mr. Sachs, if I recall, asked me to report to him the next day for a lashing. He used a seven tail cat, a device having a number of leather straps nailed to a handle and I was then whipped with that device. This happened just once in my entire life. He was known as being "unusually" harsh, but that was not part of any Hitleryouth discipline, it was a school discipline administered by adults who had subscribed to harsh discipline under the regime that existed. But let me also tell you that the ability to get dressed, in the dark and in a hurry, probably also saved a few lives. It certainly made me not fearful when air raid sirens went off in the night and you could not use any lights to get dressed and had to be in the shelter in a minute or two. But I know of no systemic beatings in the Hitler Youth or Jungvolk beyond what I have said here. As to Q9 Another contemporary term is "sexual abuse", which, of course, has existed in all societies and throughout time. In that sense I believe it existed in that period as well, but I doubt that it was systemic or advocated. I don't think that was the case at all, given the training we had at home and in school about how to respect people, and females in particular. But I have heard about certain "breeding camps" where the female equivalent of the Hitleryouth, the BDM, as well as some of the older members of the Hitleryouth were supposedly placed into positions that encouraged sexual activity "by opportunity" for the purpose of breeding preselected models of the ideal german man or woman. But I have no personal knowledge of that. It certainly even then was not coerced and as such it was not sexual abuse, nor was it done, IF it was done, to condition youngsters to manage pain etc. As to Q 10 I am certain some members were traumatized by the rigor that prevailed at times and in certain places. I know by experience, for example, that for the longest time, for decades even, I did not want to show tears, supressed them and in some way suffered by not being able to externalize certain emotions. In some way it has affected my social behavior and ability to relate for many years. But did it distort me as a human being? I don't think so. There were other things that happened that traumatized me and others much more than anything that happened while I was a member of the Jungvolk. As to Q11 There were no torture methods!! And yes - methods varied, not so much in terms of geographic or regional differences as in terms of the proclivity of the leaders of certain troops or groups. As to your "general theory on Hitleryouth", you may be right that we did not report everything to our parents, but neither do kids do that today, or did kids do that before Hitler. And as to "post-traumatic stress disorder" and support groups etc., again the labels invite a view of a reality that is far from the one that prevailed or prevails - those who emerged are not lost souls, and self-denial is not the inevitable consequence of all that went on. I once submitted an article here in which I described that many years after the war, in Los Angeles, I automatically reacted to a military surplus plane coming in for a landing as I looked up and instantly wanted to evade the gunfire from that plane by crossing over all lanes on the Freeway. This is when the concept of 'flashbacks" which I heard about was driven home to me and became part of my own experience. There were other incidences, coming from other experiences of that time, and in general I can tell you that any german youngster-turned-man or woman was adversely affected by the events of that period, just as many soldiers and civilians in any society and conflict are affected by things they experienced. These experiences can and usually do affect our lives, they certainly have affected mine. But not all became villans, and self-perpetuated enslavement is more prevalent today than it was then. Just look at our society in the US. We have become a sad abstract of what we once were. But then - this is another issue alltogether. Gabriella - it is not my intent to invalidate your concerns, you quite obviously are a very caring person. Allow those who lived through those years to lead their lives as best as they can - they have managed their lives fairly well, they don't really benefit from anything we may wish to do now to acknowledge their pains, supressed ones and any others. Let them be. I am, and I am sure others are, grateful for your willingness to even look back with concern. But if you really want to do us a favor, honor anything we experienced, then do it by committing yourself to become a whole and compassionate person. Be tolerant of others, think your own thoughts and abstain from being politically correct and utter phrases which we all know but which we really do not understand. Be a whole human, one with heart and spirit and soul, one who can stand on her own feet, think her own thoughts, observe without categorization of right and wrong and good and bad etc. and try to look through all of those things to the core of a person. Only those who want to and can do that and in fact do that can contribute toward making a worthy society. A worthy society is one which subscribes to deeply felt and shared principles and values. I better close - I did not read all the subsequent responses that were mailed to me - I shall do that forthwith. Just had to write in response to your questions. Cordially, Eberhard Weber, the Berlin schoolboy