Living in Hitler’s Germany - A letter from Hans Schmidt
Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 3:39 am
You ask someone who had lived in Hitler’s Germany to tell
you what it was like. Permit me, someone who lived under
the swastika flag from 1935 when the Saar was reunited
with Germany, to 1945 to give a short answer.
57414 To be a boy or girl at that time was wonderful. In the
Hitler Youth, the differences between the Christian
denominations or the different German states didn’t
count, we all truly felt that we were all members of
one body of people, one nation. Youth hostels were
opened all over the Reich, enabling us to hike from
one beautiful town to another seeing our fatherland.
Every effort was made to strengthen our minds and bodies.
Contrary to what is said today, we were encouraged to
become free in spirit and not to succumb to peer or
authority pressure.
57415 Germany was National Socialist, but free enterprise flourished
during the entire Hitler years. No company was nationalized,
no small businessman was stopped for opening up his own store.
I myself worked during the war, for a company that can only
be called part of international capitalism. If you owned
shares, nobody confiscated them, like the Allies did in 1945.
Germany was booming, while Britain, France, and the United
States were in the depths of depression. To help the workers
get cheap transportation, the Volkswagen was designed, and a
factory was being built for their manufacturer when the war
started. Also for the common people, villages of single-family
homes were erected, the monthly payments were so low, that
almost anyone could afford his own house.
Finally this, I don’t believe I’ll ever see again a people as
happy and content as were the great majority of Germans under
Hitler, especially in peacetime. Certainly some minority suffered,
former parliamentary politicians because they couldn’t play their
political games, the Jews because they lost their power over
Germany, the Gypsies because during the war they were required
to work, crooked union bosses because they lost their parasitical
positions. To this day, I believe that the happiness of the
majority of the people is more important than the well-being of
the few spoiled minorities.
Wade says, "Agreed, Hans! The Jews have got to go!"
you what it was like. Permit me, someone who lived under
the swastika flag from 1935 when the Saar was reunited
with Germany, to 1945 to give a short answer.
57414 To be a boy or girl at that time was wonderful. In the
Hitler Youth, the differences between the Christian
denominations or the different German states didn’t
count, we all truly felt that we were all members of
one body of people, one nation. Youth hostels were
opened all over the Reich, enabling us to hike from
one beautiful town to another seeing our fatherland.
Every effort was made to strengthen our minds and bodies.
Contrary to what is said today, we were encouraged to
become free in spirit and not to succumb to peer or
authority pressure.
57415 Germany was National Socialist, but free enterprise flourished
during the entire Hitler years. No company was nationalized,
no small businessman was stopped for opening up his own store.
I myself worked during the war, for a company that can only
be called part of international capitalism. If you owned
shares, nobody confiscated them, like the Allies did in 1945.
Germany was booming, while Britain, France, and the United
States were in the depths of depression. To help the workers
get cheap transportation, the Volkswagen was designed, and a
factory was being built for their manufacturer when the war
started. Also for the common people, villages of single-family
homes were erected, the monthly payments were so low, that
almost anyone could afford his own house.
Finally this, I don’t believe I’ll ever see again a people as
happy and content as were the great majority of Germans under
Hitler, especially in peacetime. Certainly some minority suffered,
former parliamentary politicians because they couldn’t play their
political games, the Jews because they lost their power over
Germany, the Gypsies because during the war they were required
to work, crooked union bosses because they lost their parasitical
positions. To this day, I believe that the happiness of the
majority of the people is more important than the well-being of
the few spoiled minorities.
Wade says, "Agreed, Hans! The Jews have got to go!"