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April 25, 2005
Springtime for Hitler (Youth)
The German newspaper Die Bild ran a feature over the weekend presenting the reminiscences of 21 men between the ages of 73 and 86.
Here they are, with my translations. (German speakers: if you find errors, please leave a comment with your correction.)
Karlheinz Gundlach (78) from Frankfurt:
"Ich bin Jahrgang 1927 – wie der Papst. Die Hitlerjugend war eine schöne Zeit. Ich habe dort reiten gelernt."
I am vintage 1927—just like the Pope. The Hitler Youth was a great time. I learned how to go horseback riding.
Wilhelm Claussen (78) from Bremen:
"Damals war keine Zeit darüber nachzudenken, das haben alle gemacht. Und dazu stehe ich auch heute noch."
Back then there was no time for reflection; everybody just did it. And I stand by that to this day.
Helmut Denker (74) from Hannover:
"An die Ideale, die uns vorgegaukelt wurden, habe ich geglaubt. Schämen tue ich mich dafür nicht."
I believed in the ideals that they tricked us into. I am not ashamed of it.
Heinz Kersten (74) from Essen:
"Ich mußte mit 10 zum Jungvolk. Eltern, die ihre Kinder da nicht hinschickten, haben Ärger gekriegt"
At the age of 10 I had to go to the Jungvolk. Parents who didn't send their kids got into trouble.
Klaus Hübner (80) from Berlin:
"Hitlerjugend, das war ein Gemeinschaftserlebnis. Uns wurde vom Führer vorgelesen, das hat eh keiner verstanden"
The Hitler Youth was an experience of community. They read the Fuhrer's words to us, but nobody understood it anyway.
Wolfgang Pfaff (86) from Munich:
"Diese Hetze ist abwegig. Jeder wollte in die HJ oder wurde von seinem Umfeld dazu gedrängt"
This witch-hunt is devious. Everybody either wanted to get into the Hitler Youth or was forced into it from the sidelines.
Horst Goltz (75) from Potsdam:
"Großen Spaß hatte ich nie. Doch wäre ich nicht hingegangen, hätten mich die Fähnlein-Führer abgeholt"
I never really had a great time. But if I didn't go, the flag master would have come and gotten me.
Wolf Jobst Siedler (79), a publisher from Berlin:
"Die Vorwürfe gegen den Papst sind grotesk. Mein ganzer Jahrgang ging automatisch zur Hitler-Jugend – das war selbstverständlich"
These reproaches of the Pope are grotesque. Everyone of my age went into the Hitler Youth automatically – this was obvious.
Horst Milde (80) from Dresden:
"Selbstverständlich war ich in der Hitler-Jugend. Alle Schüler wurden Mitglied. Da konnte sich keiner ausschließen"
Of course I was in the Hitler Youth. All schoolkids were members. You couldn't get out of it.
Karl-August Scholtz (84) from Hamburg:
"Ich hatte keine Wahl. Ich habe nie etwas Böses getan, nie etwas Böses befürwortet. Ich schäme mich nicht!"
I had no choice. I never did anything bad, and never wanted to do anything bad. I'm not ashamed!
Helmut Beckerflores (76) from Hamburg:
"Ich habe mich nie geschämt, in der Hitlerjugend gewesen zu sein. Die Briten wissen nicht, was das für junge Deutsche bedeutet hat"
I've never been ashamed of being in the Hitler Youth. The British have no idea what this meant for young Germans.
Phillip Grünwald (83) from Nuremberg:
"Ich ging zum Afrika-Korps, geriet in Gefangenschaft. Wir waren so verblendet, daß wir nicht an den Holocaust glaubten"
I went into the Africa-Corps, and fell into captivity. We were so blindfolded that we didn't even believe in the Holocaust.
Heinz Ruhnau (86) from Essen:
"Die Hitlerjugend hat mich sportlich weitergebracht und gefördert. Heute geht doch auch jeder in Vereine. Das war völlig normal"
The Hitler Youth helped me along in sports. Today everyone still belongs to clubs. It was completely normal.
Adalbert Mark (75) from Hannover:
"Ich war mit Gleichaltrigen zusammen, fühlte mich aufgehoben. Ich empfinde es nicht als Makel, sondern als Episode meines Lebens"
I was together with my peers, and felt like I fit in. I don't consider it a stigma, but just an episode of my life.
Karl Richter (76) from Beucha (in Sachsen):
"Wir mußten in die HJ, die ganze Schulklasse war drin. Ich war ein Kind, das nichts in Frage stellte"
We had to go into the Hitler Youth; my whole class at school was in it. I was a kid who asked no questions.
Ralf Marquis (78) from Düsseldorf:
"Manchmal hat es Spaß gemacht, manchmal war es lästig. Aber wir hatten keine Wahl. Wir mußten ja Mitglied sein"
Sometimes it was fun, sometimes it was tiresome. But we had no choice. We had to be members.
Hans-Georg Noack (76) from Düsseldorf:
"Jede Art von Diskriminierung damals junger Leute, die bei der Hitler-Jugend oder Flakhelfer waren, ist völlig verfehlt"
Any kind of discrimination against young people of the time, who were in the HJ or the Anti-Aircraft Auxiliary, is completely misguided.
Otto Voigt (83) from Leipzig:
"Ich kannte damals keinen, der dagegen war. Denn wer dagegen war, wie ein Onkel von mir, kam sofort ins Gefängnis"
I didn't know anybody back then who was against it. Whoever was against it, like an uncle of mine, was immediately arrested.
Dr. Karl-Heinz Voß (73) from Potsdam:
"Jeder mußte zum Jungvolk und zur HJ, sonst wurde er drangsaliert. Das war einfach so, wurde nicht hinterfragt"
You had to go into the Jungvolk and the Hitler Youth, or else you got picked on. That's just the way it was; nobody asked any questions.
Walter Brandes (74) from Bremen:
"Es ist unanständig, was die Engländer mit dem Papst machen. Für die HJ muß sich niemand schämen. Da waren ja alle drin"
What the British are doing to the Pope is indecent. Nobody in the Hitler Youth has anything to be ashamed of. Everybody was in it.
Karlheinz Böckle (75) from Sinsheim (in Baden-Württemberg):
"Ich schäme mich nicht. Wir wurden durch die Kriegspropaganda aufgehetzt"
I am not ashamed. We were stirred up by the war propaganda."
UPDATE: Translations corrected, thanks to German-speaking readers.
Posted by Eric at April 25, 2005 10:15 PM
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Comments
I was particularly struck Otto Voigt's comment: I didn't know anybody back then who was against it. Whoever was against it, like an uncle of mine, was immediately arrested. So, he did know someone who was against it, stood up and suffered the consequences, but who forced the state to expend resources and lose productivity dealing with dissent.
Posted by: Jonathan Dresner at April 26, 2005 6:52 AM
Of course it was fun. That was the point. You want to indoctrinate kids by boring them silly?
Today's cub scouts & boy scouts doubtless don't dwell on their belonging to a homophobic organization. (Though I suspect that the HY campfire songs were rather more explicitly anti-semitic than any gay-bashing that may go in most scout troops.)
Posted by: Anderson at April 26, 2005 11:17 AM
For the second one, I prefer the translation from one of the free translating web sites:
"At that time no time about that was to be thought about, made that everyone. And in addition I stand also today yet."
I've said the same things many times myself.
Posted by: K at April 26, 2005 11:42 AM
I think this:
Hans-Georg Noack (76) from Düsseldorf:
"Jede Art von Diskriminierung damals junger Leute, die bei der Hitler-Jugend oder Flakhelfer waren, ist völlig verfehlt"
Translates better as:
"Any kind of discrimination against young people of the time, who were in the HJ or the Anti-Aircraft Auxiliary, is completely misguided."
The word "damals" translates pretty closely to "previously" or "then," as in "damals Preasident Clinton," meaning "then President Clinton." And the word "verfehlt" is a construction of "fehler" or "fehlen," meaning "mistake" or "get wrong."
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I sometimes read German newsmagazines online, but had not noticed this.
Not sure about whether this is still true (I left Germany in 1998), but during the 16 years I spent stationed there with the Army, I remember that Bild was better known as a tabloid than an actual newsmagazine--so I would take their articles with a grain of salt. There may be some nationalistic bias on their staff, as their target audience is (or at least was) among the less wealthy and the unemployed.
Stan Scott
Posted by: R. Stanton Scott at April 26, 2005 12:07 PM
"Oh it vas all good fun... it vas just like your American Boy Scouts... we made lampshades and bars of soap... oh-ho-ho vat a time we had!"
Heinrich Bimmler.
Posted by: John A at April 26, 2005 2:03 PM
Minor things only, e.g. :
Parents who didn't send their kids got into a lot of trouble.
It might be more accurate to leave out "lot".
They read the Fuhrer's words to us, but nobody really understood it
I'd say "nobody understood it anyway"
I was together with my peers, but felt like a nobody
He didn't feel like a "nobody". That one is a bit difficult.. he felt cared for, like in a place to fit in, to be in good hands.
Sometimes it was fun, sometimes it was boring . "boring" should be tiresome (or irksome?)
You had to go into either...
Shouldn't be "either", "...go into the Jungvolk and the HJ"
nobody gave it a second thought
Might just be "it wasn't questioned" (?). Not sure about this, the meaning is not really wrong.
Nobody in the Hitler Youth has anything to be ashamed of
Also, it's "Die Bild". That's because it's short for "Die Bildzeitung". It's not "the picture". Confusing for sure :)
Newspaper or tabloid? It's influential, but the equavalent would be the british "Sun" I believe. I don't know anyone who reads it for valuable news and political analysis, but given the fact it's the best selling paper, such people must surely exist.
May I direct you and other however to this (not in English though)
This gives a bit more context of the debate (or lack thereof).
Posted by: Christian at April 26, 2005 3:08 PM
Oops, that was eaten
:
Nobody in the Hitler Youth has anything to be ashamed of
I'd translate it as "Nobody has to be ashamed for the Hitler Youth". Otherwise the translation would seem to be a bit too strong-worded to me. As I understand it, the statement is more about "membership in itself" should not be something to be ashamed of, rather than "everyone in there is clean".
Posted by: Christian at April 26, 2005 3:52 PM
A very interesting autobiography from a deeply-repentant officer in the HJ.
Posted by: Andrew J. Lazarus at April 26, 2005 5:04 PM
Next thing we'll hear is what a great dinner partner Adolph Hitler was.
Posted by: marc from new jersey at April 26, 2005 5:51 PM
Pet pevee alert - it's Adolf, not Adolph.
Posted by: Kristjan Wager at May 7, 2005 1:58 PM
I read a paperback called "A Child of
Hitler". Can't remember the author's name. But for anyone interested in HJ it was really good. He told of being forced to join at ten, and how they had to fight later. You might find it someplace...While I certainly don't like Naziism, I am fascinated with the culture. Their uniforms were really cool...and the Horst Wessel Lied (Die Fahne) is a lovely tune...You have to give them credit for putting on one hell of a show, when it came to ceremonies, flags, etc.
Posted by: James Brown at August 4, 2005 10:26 PM
My father (who died last year of lung cancer) was in the Junger in Hamburg. He never told me much, and I REALLY wanted to know more. One of the few memories he shared with me was being in a fox-hole in Hamburg at the end of the war, he had to shoot tanks with a panzerfaust. He was 13 years old. He was hit by a shell and suffered burns to his entire body. He was cared for in an allied filed hospital, but he could not remember if it was British or American. If anyone has any information, please contact me by email at: kvonb@yahoo.com. Thankyou. Ich verstehe ein bisschen Deutsch, aber nicht viel. Ich bin auf Service meines Vaters sehr stolz.
Posted by: Kev at March 30, 2007 2:45 AM