Letter from Ed Behrendt
Tom Holloway (xuegx@CSV.WARWICK.AC.UK)
Sat, 8 Nov 1997 09:31:03 +0000
Eddy Behrendt of 'Children of the Holocaust' has asked
me to post this for him.
Tom Holloway
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Beautiful piece of writing by Walter Felscher. I am sure
that it was a lot of work. However, as nice as it may
sound, much of it is wishful thinking.
We should after so many years now be able to tell our youth
the real and honest facts of what occurred in those days,
and who was responsible to doing what to whom. I say this
not to blame or accuse anyone of anything, but only to lay
the honest facts before those that are interested in hearing
them.
I too lived in Germany in the 1930's, and was well aware of
the inner workings of the Hitler Youth. It was never an
official compulsory type organization. In other words,
young people were not forced to join, but did so eagerly and
enthusiastically.
It is true however, that there was a great deal of peer
pressure, so that many kids were afraid not to join because
they wanted to be "like every else". I know of several kids
who stood up and did not join and nothing all that serious
ever happened to them, other than that they had few friends
and did not participate in many social functions.
It was sort of a little similar to the Nazi Party. That
certainly was not compulsory and, as a matter of fact, was
considered a privilege. Percentage wise, very few Germans
were actual members of the party, and yet most participated
in the horror that went on at that time. No one was ever
harmed because they did not join the Nazi Party.
The Hitler Youth can in no way be compared to organizations
such as the Boy Scouts. That would be a gross miscarriage
of justice and far from the truth. The Boy Scouts are an
organization whose entire purpose is to do good in the
world. The Hitler Youth did just the opposite. Mainly real
evil! The Hitler Youth were even taught to turn on their
own parents, and many did just that. Then when their
parents were caught, the Hitler Youth kids spoke against
them and then watched with glee as their own parents were
punished and even sent to concentration camps. These are
facts that I witnessed myself.
Of course it was often Hitler Youth members who terrorized
Jewish children. They chased and beat them on the streets,
threw stones at them and generally made their lives
miserable. Not only did no one punish them for doing such
things, but they were encouraged to act in that manner and
when the police saw them do so, they stood by and laughed.
This too I saw, many many times.
So when we learn about the Hitler Youth, let's learn the
facts and remember what an evil organization it was. Let us
make sure that there is never such an organization anywhere
in the world again.
Eddy Behrendt