Earlier Impressions

Earlier impressions....

Maybe only my own contemporaries remember the Jugend- Schaar ( youth-group) of the 1949-52 years.The German government felt that the young boys in rural villages needed good examples and some great experiences in life without the stigma of the Hitler Jugend (HJ).One day I was invited to attend this gathering of young boys.It involved big and small boys of under 13y and over 13 years of age.I would compare the groups to the CUB and Boys-Scouts groups in the USA even though I never was a member. I was exposed to their world.

One day a man called Herr Koeppen showed up in the village who gathered us boys and read to us from books.Now he had my attention.The books were about adventures and mysteries and not fairy tales and legends.I still remember one story of adventures about the German struggle against the invading French forces.The mystery started when road improvement builders found a skeleton in a hole under neath the old road surface with a large amount of wet explosives.The author raised the question of "What Happend Here?" Was one man selected or maybe he volunteered his service for the job to be done? A hole had been dug in the street at the entrance of a town by a bridge.The man and explosives were placed in the hole. It was covered but with an air hole. The weight of the cover left no chance to chicken out.In those days no remote detonation devices.If the man would be out in the open the enemy would notice,the man could run off or give up.You are committed so no way out.Herr Koeppen would read the book leading to a high tension point then close it ...to be continued next time.It worked on me for I anxiously awaited the next pages to be read and showed up on time for the next session.

This period of my life allowed me to experience being a part of my own age group,the games and field trips, camping by the Weser River,swimming in the river,boat rides,and camp fires and singing around the fire.The big boys raided our camp at night. It was fun for them but not for some of us who had different experiences during the war.It happened only once. When the adults realized what terror it caused,future night raids were not allowed.

I think I longed to be recognized and show how brave I was.I grabbed the flag of the group and carried it ninety percent of the time.Herr Koeppen had a talk with me and I reluctantly

shared the flag carrying duty. I still have pictures of the stern faced boy holding the flag with such a tight grip.

I sometimes muse how good of a HJ I would have been if I would have been old enough in 1940-44?... A few years ago I got hold of the movie ...Triumph  of the Will ...directed by Leni Riefenstahl.My God... My God...I felt myself marching with the youth from those days and singing with them for the glory of Germany. As I write this down ,I cannot believe myself how I was affected for I knew what price these boys and girls and young men and young women paid for their exuberance and willingness to run not just walk down that road that lay ahead for them. I never want to be a prophet that sees the path ahead and cannot do anything about the outcome.Maybe the movie should be renamed ...The Twisting of the Will.

A recent review in the Wall Street Journal.... Hitler's Philosophers by Yvonne Sherratt...points to the twisters who were listed. Maybe her book should be renamed... The Twisters of the Mind.