A comment on Mr.Behrendt's note from November 7th

Walter Felscher (walter.felscher@UNI-TUEBINGEN.DE)
Fri, 28 Nov 1997 16:45:12 +0100 

I have been travelling during the last weeks, and so it is
only now that come to read Mr. Behrendt's note from
November 7th .

In my "Report on DJ & HJ I" (1/3) of November 3rd I wrote

F: Three years later, by december 1936, the by now mock-parliament
F: was made to pass a law, making membership in the HJ obligatory
F: for all boys and girls between 10 and 18 years of age. From
F: that time on, therefore, whether somebody wanted to join or
F: not, whether the parents approved or not, was not a question anymore.

The second sentence here is incorrect and should been
preceded by the following one:

  On March 25th, 1939, the "Zweite Durchfuehrungsverordnung
  zum Gesetz ueber die Hitler-Jugend (Jugenddienstverordnung)"
  was published in the Reichsgesetzblatt, vol.1 , p.710 ,
  and put the provisions of the law into effect.

I then proceeded by the illustration of how "a boy"
experienced the induction (the being drafted) into the DJ in
March 1941 . As I did not want to tell personal stories, I
formulated it about "a boy", but to assure you that non
relata refero, I will add that I told my own experience. The
story (in German) of what happened to another boy who did
not obey the induction orders can be read on the net at
http://www.60plus.com/pages/ausgabe-96-09/schaf-6.html .

* *

Mr. Behrendt begins his note of November 7th with the remark
that he wants

B: to lay the honest facts before those that are interested
B: in hearing them.

He then continues

B: I too lived in Germany in the 1930's, and was well aware
B. of the inner workings of the Hitler Youth.  It was never
B: an official compulsory type organization.  In other words,
B: young people were not forced to join, but did so eagerly
B: and enthusiastically.

Clearly, this contradicts not only the contents of my
writing, but also the documented facts and legal documents.
Of course - and it is clear from the earlier contents of my
report - Mr.Behrendt's statement would have been correct had
he, instead of "never", written "not before 1939".  I must
doubt that he really did read my report, because such a
temporal restriction I actually did make there

F: I cannot describe life in the HJ when it was voluntary
F: before 1937; just as the boy above, I experienced it only
F: for the four years from March 1941 to April 1945 . Also,
F: I experienced it in one particular town: ...

But before contradicting my report, Mr.Behrendt accuses me
of having posted an article full of of wishful thinking and
proposes "to lay the honest facts before those that are
interested in hearing them".  I am afraid to say that here
his moralist position gives the appearance to become an imposition.

W.F.



PS  As should be clear from the roman cipher 'I' in the
    title of my report, I intend to continue it when I find
    the time to do so. In the meantime, readers wanting to
    read more about the workings of the DJ/HJ propaganda,
    may consider to look at the detailed analysis of an
    (in)famous HJ-propaganda movie, taken from a book by
    Eric Rentschler with Johns Hopkins UP and available on
    the net at
    http://128.220.50.88/demo/mod/2.3rentschler.html .