1943 FDJ Confessions of a Nazi Soldier.pdf

8/18/2019 1943 FDJ Confessions of a Nazi Soldier.pdf

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/1943-fdj-confessions-of-a-nazi-soldierpdf 1/9

Title : C onfes sions of a N azi so ldier.

Publisher : London : Free Ge nuan Youth in Great Britain

Date : [1 943? ]

De scripti on :15 p . ; 19 cm

No tes: Cove r titl e

o ntents: Who we are Co nf ess ions o f a N azi so ldi er250 Hitl er Yo uths against Hitler

10 years trainin g for barbari sm / Werner Fi sher



Who e Are. The Free German Youth, estabJi"ht:d in Great Britain in 1939U \ t before \Va,r hroke out, i an organisation of young people w h ~

have many thmg . n common and who arc yet cry different fromone another. We all arc refugees from Germany. Some lenhecause o f racial persecution. at present carried out much moreruthlessly t ~ a never before. Others left for polit ical reasons, Theywere conscIOUS of the brutality of faSCism and knew to what cata\trophe it would finally lead. From the vcry beginning, ten year,ago, they had fought IIltler with admirable courage; as a consequence, many '>urrered from a terror which is only known by il>.application through the Nazis.

We all arc ul;live anti-fascists. In the factories we work nC\1 toyou. Our lads ~ e r v ewith H,M, Forces in the Pioneer Corps. Inthe ~ lr . . : e h ,on the held > and in hospitals YOll find us practising ourfaith. This faith is the great thing which binds us together, Thi\

faith in victory over the enemy who has harassed us since childhood,who tOrtures Europe to-day and who threatens with the extermination of whole nations. A w i t n e s ~ c sand as t ; c t i m ~we havepledged our"elve," to help, more, to give our utmo st towards Ihegoal of the Allie ... the destruction of fascism,

This, I hope, g i v e ~you an idea of who and what we are, Thoughwe arc right among 1 you. you hardly know how we live. Theparents of most of us arc sti ll in Nazi-occupied territory. we art:'unccrlain where they arc. uncertain how they arc and even unccrt'linwhdher they are till alivc. We arc here alone, dependent o.n our...dve ... often regarded as qrangers arrd confronted, with prcJudlce ,The life of a young refugee is not casy a n ~the n e c ~ ss l t } for c o m p ~ n y

is great. Now. since for all youth there IS one thmg at stake which1 tried to s tress in the bcginning. we get together, we try to makcthe acquaintance of more young ~ e f u g c : c < ;to mobilise them. to makethem participate in the war whl,ch Yili. we hope. put an end tomisery, save our friends and n:latlves n Europe .and secure a h . a p ~ y

free and peaceful world, based upon international fTiendshlp In

days to come.\

_The publication of thi s pamphlet, as , y o ~WIll by now rea Ise, IS

one of the duties. a part of our responsibility as IX:ople w h ~ knowfaM:i m. who have experienced it, who are really III a posilion towarn you to draw your attenllon morc and more towards thedanger > which will confront all o f ue; if we do not pour every ounce

2

,,,

- mmon effort. These d a n g e r ~are wellof energy. I I l t ~the ~ l e tin your hands. Hitler will not l r ~ tdeM:Tlbcd dmr/ e p,yam

PThe extenninatlon of all freedom 10vIDg·mybody I ,erent .

, , t 'nty if we lose. .peoples IS a ~ ~ t i ~ ~ a s c i s trefugees from Germany ~ e s i r eyour fnend-

We young n unit with Briti sh youth n orde r to lay a~ ~ ~ ~ d ~ t ~ ~ ~ ef ~ rr ~ ~ ~ r a t i O l l l ~friend thip and, what coun ts even more

at present, to unite for VictOry, HORSl BRASe lChllirmall oj the Ir t l

Gtrl/WII } oulh o Grtllt Britaill,

ONFESSIONS OFSOLDI

A N ZI

"" lis story ums lIeut 1 liS by 6/1t'ciol cuble /.rol/l I l le Suviel

Allti/ascist }'oulh COlllmittee ill Moscow. I t IS IlI l ly ",,1I1(>/I.fi('n/ed by t l s body. TII( origilln l cOII/( II ;;u/I of Rudo l f

Die/rich is ill its I 0 H H e, ~ si ( l l l .

Novembcr Dth, 1941 , was a \'cry lucky day for Gefreiter . R ~ ~ o l

Dietrich of the 55th Tank Company of the 5th A,rmoured DIVISion.For on thai day with ve ry many other ' ,iltleflte s he was takenprisoner by the Red A n ~ \ yin tht:' bitter fightmg round Kamenka •

Lan ce Corporal Dletnch was a good German s ~ l dl c r . Ta11., blw.;·eyed, f1:nen haired he wa a prototype of what JlIS rueh,rer ,like s tothink i ~ the master-race. Ohnd obedience to cOf 1mand, dlsrcg,ard

of human life and suffering (other peoples' Itves and 3uffenngthat is) - ~ : :I brutal beast trained to torture -a tloppy se ntimc ntalist when he thought of the folk ; back home; tillS was one orthe hor de s who had plundered and pilla ged his way across Europeat the instance of hi ; semi-God ·t he ruehrer ; th i s was one orthe hordes who had lost his youth in Ihat first winter in RU'isia, . , .

Gefreitcr Diclrich then, was a very ordinary German soldicr.And even if he did suffer from dysentery lind a bad pU'i.infectedleg in which he could not interesl his Army doctors -so were manyof his fellow-barbarians when they were eaplured by the Rus >iuns,

But in lhe cool wards of the hospital and the calm of the prisonerof war camp a clirious change came over the lout and bully fromPrussia.



The human treatment he met there-a thing the Nazis d ~ .and sneer a t -had t ~ effect i Gefreiter Dietrich began to t h a w ~ I ~ ~

became a human bemg agam; he began to listen , then to thinkand finally-·S months later - to talk :

.He t ~ l k e dabout what he had seen at the front; he told a stumbhng, ancoherent sort of story :

.. In t h ~first part . of October," he said, .. our company wasqu.artered n a small village so me hundred and fifty kilometres from

Man sk. One day our Company Commander-Oberleutnant Regen.berger sen t Sergeant Regenberg, Winkelmann and my se lf to Minskto act as billet-sergeants.

As we were driving along the road we met several columns ofRu ss ian prisoners, about fiJty men per column; although theweather was cold the men walked barefooted and were dressed inragged Red Army uniforms. Some carried logs and others l e ~

of fallen hor ses. We stopped and had a good lo)k at the prisoners.Several of them seemed to suffer from dysentery and had to makefor the ditch by the road side. The guards with them motionedthem to go ahead without allowing them to finish their bu sinessby the ditch. Several guards started hitting the prisoners withrifle-bullS as hard as they could. All but two of the men got up .Th e se two were too weak and exhausted although they did theirbest. The guards got impatient: .. Why don't you shoot thesebeasts . . . sai d one. . Fire . . damn you, fire " shoutedanother. One guard aimed and fired: the two prisoners fell downdead . One had just enough strength left to crawl towards h l ~

comrades biting the earth with hi s teeth .

• " lmper l inence »

Dri ving on a little further we ran into a traffic-jam because therehad been a head-on collision. Sergeant Regenberg went up to theguard of another column of prisoners for help. The s e n i o ~guardgave him ten prisoners. Regenberg led them to the lomes andordered them to clear the road. A large crowd of soldiers hadcollected, all shouting at the sweating pri so ners all w r k i n ~as hardas they could . . . telling them to put some guts Into It. Sergoeant Regenberg lo st hi s temper : he went up to each of the tenprisoner s, s lapped h i~ face, trod on his bare toes, and you knowwhat our iron- shod boots are like. And then one of ~ h epoorchap s caught sigh t of one of our drivers e ~ t j n ga sandWich. lie

was so fami lt hed, poor man, he could stand ~ no longer . . ' . sopointing to hi s mouth he looked at the driver and gcstlculated.

I

•

•I

I

d down from his lorry and hit the Ru ss ian inThe soldier Jump · d

h · "lmperlincnce he sal . Atthe mout . d I red and we continued on our way.

Finally the roa was c ea ,. with a guardsman of a crackanother hold-up later J ~ o t t a l ~ ~ ; h r e r sVienna. He was part ofdivision ca lled F u e h r e r w l ~ .ark He h ~ da sku ll and crossed bonesa garrison g u a r ~ f r e d n ~ ta l ~ : n kman I also ~ v o r ethe black uniformb ~ d g eon hlkS cl a ~ ; n w i ~ ~red dockets and without bones. :rheWith the s u , h

UI e of them. I said I was SUrpr Sed

guardsman th oug t w a ? on

how weak the Ru ssian prisoners were.

H.. We Knol(l ow •

.. You hav en' t been in Ru ssia long , I can see that a l r i g h t . s a ~

h d an "There are camps for those beasts near Mln s ..~ ~f n ~ w s ~ o w ·to treat them. Our c o m m i s s ~ rof the Gestapo. IS

in Bori sov now. He has forty Jew s fro " M I ~s k brought to him. He makes the Jew s dig their graves and thenevery morning . I bl . ht

shoal S them from behind in such a way that t .ley t U ~ l le st ralginto the pit." He gave a loud guffaw and c 9 n t l n ~ e d. You see,

the whole art of the game is to shoot them Just fight - s o they fallinto their graves exactly. He's got h u n d r ~s of them that way.Our commissar isn't particularly sq ueamish. . . . When heca n't get his regular quota of forty m ~ na day. he takes w o n ~ e nandwhen he can't get women he takes chlld.ren; t ma.kes "? differenceto him Sometimes our fellows get tired of takmg aim and thebullets ·hit the bone or the fleshy part of their bodies. Of coursethey don't die immediately then ; but usually they get c ~ s h e dbyothers falling on top of them and gradually t ~ e yall die . Andbefore we shoot the next lot we make them shovel 10 the old graves-:so that if anyone isn't dead . . . Yes we know how to do It

alright. You see, they arc crushed to death by the other corpsesfalling on top of them."

Clearing ~ 1 i n e s

Another lime when we were near Min sk we saw billboards, while,c reen with skulls drawn on them, all along the road. These sign'mean that the road is not clear of land mines and all vehicles mustmove along a narrow lane in the road. I'd heard before t h ~ t

my:;terious partisans mine our roads and that our .tran '1?orl ISblown up as a result. We came across a group of Rus 'mn pflt:ioncrs

5



cI,earing the ground of mines left on the highway, The w '~ I r e c l e dby corporal. I thought then of instruction > we r ~ i v e r cm Berlin before leaving for the Eastern Front. They s 'd heds h o u ~ dwe e taken p r i s o ~ e r s~ v emust .refuse to do ~u c h ~ o r ~:c l e ~ n n gl a ~ d ,roads or fortIficatIon s of mines because Ihi" is Contrarto IIlt.ernallonal law . The corporal.in charge of the prisoners w a ~s t ~ n d l n gw e l ~ ,clear of the road behind cover and screamed at thepns?ners . Search, damn .you, s e ~r c h " The prisoners werewalkmg over the grass draWing behind them a stick with a 1 '1at the end. I I t l

Quite a group of soldiers had collected watching the R u s ~ i a n ~~ t work. They shouted at them and said " Wouldn't it be niccIf one o ~ them blew up . There WOUldn't be mUl.:h left of thebastards.

When .w,? linal.ly.arrived at Minsk we found the c ily in ruin,.All r e m a l n l n ~ b u d d ~ n g shad been requis tioned f o ~German troops.In the ~ o m m a ~ d a n ts office we were advLsed to dTlVe a liule furtherto a Pmoners Camp three kilometres from Min sk which had someempty buildings.

.When we arrived at the camp we saw several rows of barbedwire fences. People behind them were lit up in silhouette by searchlights. The colonel in charge of the camp consented for ourcompany to be qu.artercd in a large barracks just outside the camp.There was a certam amount of work to be done to put it in orderand the colonel said: " Why don't you take some p r i s o n e r ~alongto help you? ..

lwi t Shoal /

I entered Ihe camp whic.:h was divided IOta two sect ions ; onefor Ukrainians and the other for Ru ss ians. An enormous po:.(erhung over the Ukrainian sectio n : LONG LIVE THE GERMANUKRAINE The poster wa., 10 German. The prisoners lookedvery famished and sta rved, and stared at me with fcar, [requestedthe senior guard to lct me have ten prisoners. He just grabbedt n men neare .>t to him and as they were passing through the barbedwire fence he made it h i ~business to clip each prisoner smartlyover the head with the butt of his sub-machine-gun. .. If they tryany funny business," growled the guard, "don ' t shout at them.Ju st shoot at oncc." "Supposing one of them just wants torelieve him .eJf ' , " asked. .. JUM don't say anything," said the

d huar, .. QO •

6

•

. . he work for us I returncd themWhen the pn .onl rs had fim .. e ~ I II camp ground the last one

. the y were entenng lC , - hto th e camp. . . . • . sli h t l . It seemed to me e w ~rnlldc two steps aSide staggenn g

h, g . ~ houted at the top of h, ..

diuy from hun ger. Svddenly t. e ~ ~ : I r ~

voice: "Escape I ~' s e S ~ ~ : ~ ~ h eprisoner h;ld made no suchAny sa ne man, co,u s ~ ee even if he'd wanted to, iI he wa .

attempt and ;ou dn t e s c a ~, I sure But the guard producedI d . ,'de the barbed wire cne 0 · I h Pa rca y . n s l . f t'i1 lube with a cat er 'lIra

a flexible iron W'l1 Pci a T ~ : \ : b Crrc

like a '.Ied-tape with link<> ofattached. 10 t h ~h a ~. h' th guard ..lashed at the prisoner- who, tcel In It. WIth t e w ~ p ~ r a d e ' .icked him up. but the guardfell at the firlot blow, H" T ch

o k'n ~ f ~ h c i rbacks tore at the secondbegan beating them too. e s I

or Ihird b:OWi '. would be the end of the matter, but as it turnedI t h ~ U g r ~ o ~ ~ ~was reported as having rttlempted to escape. He

out th I? 'd . s ecial brtrracks rcserved for "uch c a s c ~ ,Therewa o conhne 1' 1 a. p ell ~ fhuman excrement about this b r r a c ~~w a ~an overw Ie mmg SOl . II d k d 'he p r i s o n e r ~were Ledd small practlca y ar --anI n ~ 1e}t t a ~ a r r o w ' b e n c h e slining the barracks in such a cu nning

~ a ~ W t ~ ~ t~ n l ypart o ~their ~ o d i c swas in l'ontact with. the bench,the r e ~ twas hangtOg 10 the Ulr: A N C O a big

The risoner was brought tOto the room. n , . .brute or a man, and an interpreter entcred shortly a f t ~ ~ v a r ~the pri<;oncr was tied to another man of a ben.ch. e

l. .

. . I o r ' " " I hey know w lat soared at the prisoners, cowenng In e r r . . 'in store for them, the swi nes " Then he planted hLml>clfs9uarely .nfronl of the pri<;oners who had attempted to e,cape. Tlw; N .C.O,knew exactly tiuee words of Ru ssian which he ~ h o U l e d~ t thepri\oner. After eaeh word he c a l m ~ yand very ~ a r e f ~ l I ylut t ~ e

Ru.\sian in the face aiming now at 1 1 1 ~eye, t h e ~IllS C h l ~ t . l ~ en , h ~..

nose and repealed hi '. three words agatO and agatO. ~ ~ p ~ Ls on c ~~

face very soon lost its normal shape . ~ h e N.C.O. sccmed to eenjoying himself, and each time the Ru ssLan colla psed he carefullyput him on his feel again. The C?erman scemed to regard theRussian like a punching bag. ThIS treat ment lasted for abouttcn minutes.

T then left the Camp with the other two men. of my company,but as we left we saw the interpreter lead the pmoner through thebarbed wire fence. A few minutes later he r e l u r n e ~a ~ o n cand~ t a t e din businesslike tones that the prisoner had bcen hqu dated .

I sllid I was surprised you could treat pri so ncr ..of war In such ."manner. The interpreter said this was the uMHLI thtOg here. " T l l L , ~

is the rear, nOl the front . . . I low about a~ n s s

of beer, ch .7



l /n> SI"C(lIS 1 Smolcnsk

Half w ~ ythrough Oct?ber when we were already at the fromllur camp,tny Wi h to r e ~ e l v cnew tanks.. I was detailed with SOmeOthers to go t ~Smolen,k f?r new madl1nes. I saw a great deal of~ m o t e n ~ 1 \dnvlng around m my I'.l;-:I\. One awful thing I saw Ishall never f o r ~ c l :On the mUm s ~ r e c t ~ a ~ l din the doors of buildingspeol?le were sltlmg, m o t l ? n l e ~.. with their arms crossed. Civiliampa<;smg them looked straight past them, some covered their faces

and wept. I got out of my tank ~ n dhad a look at one of the peopleT h ~ y\ ~ e r e _d?ad Corpses, With Red Army uniforms on weresitting In bfeltkc postures at Ihe entrances to several h o u s c ~ .Out

n ~ h cbadstreeh there was no such ordcr. Dead men weren'tslUmg but ,>prawled on their stomachs, arms Outstretched and ahole In the hack of their necks. It wasn't a pleasant sight, I cantell you.

That, as I '>aid, was in October, 1941 But the mistreatment ofRussian pri'>oncr, of war COntinues to-day. [ m convinced of that.Mo,t of the German prisoners arriving in this camp-and there arcquite a few arriving every day- ·have seen things as I've describedquite recently."

•f uman Reillg Again

When Corporal Dietrich WilS asked why he had kept silence foreiglll months and why he had decided to talk just now about these..trocitie,>, Dictrich said:

" I don't know, I supposc I really felt I was part of those committing these atrocities, I didn't want to be different from all theother prisoners, and they Cpt .. ilence. So I I\ept silence, too,

" J only spoke be4.:Ju,c . well, it's difficult to explain, Itwas mostly the way J was treated by you, my formcr e n e m i c ~ .

When J became ill with d y ~ e n t e r yfor instance, J was taken tohospital and treated like il human being. That's what made metalk. Clean sheets, clean bedding, clean clothes , , . FrauDoctor camc and v i ~ i t e dme three limes a day . . and not onlydid she treat me for dY5>entery, but she looked after my woundedleg a . well; fresh bandage . every night; there was a n u r ~ eon dutyday and night in our ward. And I wasn't the only one: everyoneof U , who'd been lighting aguin . t you without mercy was lookedafter 111 that humanitarian man ncr, I JUJllanilarianism , thatwas a word none of us knew. In the Russian prisoners of warcamp I ,aw what the back- .. idc of that word co uld m ~ a n .:",hat abeast I wa . to look calmly on while they were mIstreating the

8

I1

. · at M,·nsk But I don't like to talk of that anyrISon r ~ , . . . . . IImo're- " feel ashamed. Anyway, I recovered. and am qU,lte wenow. I have got enough free time now to thlllk. I hadn t r e ~ l l y

.. ent a long time on that front, but long enough to see burnmgSilages. In Roslavl and Volokolam.sk we ,saw hanged peopleeve vhere. It was ghastly. I ~ t ~ eclt.y ~ h e yd . e v e ~h ~ n g e dthemon Telegraph poles with stupid InScriptlon.s Itke, These a r ~p ' 1 f t i s a D ~who burned down the homes of thClr f c l I o w - < : o u n t r y ~

It seem..

to me, that if you wrote down all the outrages committedby the German Army it would fill v o l u m ~ . . ."Of course, the German Propaganda Ministry Will say that ,there

is no such man as Rudolf Dietrich. OUI I tell you thcy .can t ~ e t

away with it. Rudolf Dictrich exi . ts and is very much alive. I m24 years o ld . My father is a p i ~ n o , " , a k e r ,my mother comes froma peasant family. My address IS Nlcbuhrstrasse 39, s e c o n ~fl, or,Charioltenburg, Bcrlin. My comrade'>, if any of h e ma.re stili alive,will recognise my p h o t o g r ~ p h . ..J know w h a ~I m dOing. And Jalso know that what I'm dOing IS In the future Interests o ~G e ~ m ~ n y

" My father is a Catho lic, ~ e r h~ p sy ~ uknow.what he IS t h ~ n k l n g .

He has blue eyes, and I can Imagll1c him 1 0 0 k l O ~at me tim. veryminute. I'm engaged to a girl back ho :,-c. She IS .a stud e,nt; hernamc is Irmgardt. Truth is respected 111 . h ~ r f a m i l ~ .Hitler puther brother in a concentration camp for distributing Illegal lea fl ets .J expect Irmgardt will be rather surprised t,:, hear th a t. ' v ebecomeinteres ted in politics. We paid little attentIOn to politiC'> at homewhen we were together. 1 said that politics didn't concern usWhy ,>hould they? We were a ll right, I was e a r n i ~ ga h ~ n d r e dandfifty marks a week at the Siemen'> Plant as radiO engmeer. Butnow that I've been brought face to face with the war I can't beindiffcrent to politics and I can't any longer keep sile nce. I'm su remy girl will understand. . .

I Fig'lt 0,. t i l ilOilO,," 1 G ~ , . " . n n y "

,j After all the outrages I've seen J no lo nger co nsider myselfbound to Hitler' s Germany. I'm e"cn angry I have to wear thisuniform here in camp. The only way to vindicate t hi ~ uniformis to fight for the honour of Germany· ·a nd th l H i > to fight againstAdolf lIitler . I'm rcady for such a fight. That's why I'm makingthis statement n ow , . , My signat ure will confirm it.

Signed: RUDOlF DlI·:TRICtl.

November 13th, 1941, was a lucky day for Corporal Dietrich ,One day, hc hopcs to sec his sweethea rt , Irmgardt, IIgain. But

q



only after Adolf Hitler and all hIs followers have been annihilateda n ~Germany has been cured from the obsession of an ideology of~ a d l ~ mblood and hate.

V1any other German p r i s o n e r ~of war now in Rus si<ln hand s arebeing p r ~ p a r e dfor the fight agains t Fa'icism in Germany il'ielf.The_ Nalls w.ll find Iheir end, nOI only before Stalingrad andLeOlngrad; not only in Ihe hOI sands of Ihe African desert or thefertile fields of France. bUI a l ~ ofina1iy in the heart of Germany

Itself. A ~ dprisoner Dietri ch is being trained 10 revert to a normalhuman being:. fighting for the decencies oflife. A'i we sa id . CorporalDietrich i'i a vcr\' l uch man,

lSO HITLER YOUTHSHITLER

ACAINST

Thi:, appeal o f German pri:,ollers o f war ll Soviet camps to IheGerman Arm) is signed exclusively by memhers o f 'he Hitl er

YOlilh . Tlte dOrilll/ellt sholl S a remarkable del'f iopmellt o f the:,'£'prisoners ",ho had f 1'er), opportunity o/free d i ~ · c u s s i o l l .AI Ihesame lime it is a l l illferestillg approach 10 Na=i )'olllh ll (II /

al1l mpr to ,alk reasoll 1o them.

Comrades, Soldiers at the frontWe joined the army as members of Ihe Hitl er yo uth , and :IS

front-line so ld iers we went through a hard trial. Blinded by Iheinitial successes of the German Army. we did not see that we went10 our inevitable ruin. War see med to u s 10 be a promen ade inwhich all the trea sur es and pleasures of life would fall to our 101.Now we have seen that the path on which we went so far was thewrong path. TO-day we know that we ha ve b ~ nd.cceived

We believed in Ihe tremendou s possibililies which Hitler promisedus. We believed Hitler because the youth had been given work.because port had been furthered. We dreamed of life full o fcreative and constructive work. We wanted to be free and happy.We believed in a German .. people's community" wi.lhout thegaping contrast of poor follower and rich leaders. But II was notlife and happiness, it was terrible , everiaslUlg war and m ~ s grave,that Hitler brought \LS .

La ic Rca lha lion

Now It is c lear to us that we were se nt to lhe fac lo ries n orderto forge weapon& for death and d e ~ t r u c t j o n .We were given Ihe

1

•

•

•

chance to learn a profession, in order 10 be able to handle. lorries.p n z e r~ guns and planes. We were sen I for ramblc:<;. not orderto enjoy the b ~ a u t i e sof nalure. or ge t 10 know our ~ a t h e r la n d butin order 10 tram us for marchmg.

We were allowed to p r a c l i ~ esport, but nOI in o rd er to make usslron g and healthy. but in o r d e ~to prepare .for Ihe mar,ch 10 death.Evcry free thou ght was pressed mlO Ihe sifalt-Jackct of mnumerablerules , regulations and ban s.

hat has remained of all our hopes? We believed with all theenthusia sm of youth in the national .and so.cia l r e g e ~ e r a l i ? nofGermany. We did not see thai our national will was bemg misusedby the enemies of our own country. the ~ o b l e~ e n t l e m e nthebankers and plutocrats, in order to lurn u s mto blind to ols for awar of robb e rs. The war has opened our eyes. We know nowIhat Hiller, Goering, Ro senbe rg and Schirach have sold Ih emselvesto Ihe old powers of war and reaction. ~ he y have turn ed w ~ y

from them because they plunged Germany mto a predalory war 111

which she fina lly must be defeated.Despair o f Victor y

On the thre sho ld of the fourth war year it becomes as clear asdaylight that the German army has got s luck in so uthern Russiaand ca nnot force a de cis ion. Mi ll ion s of Germans. the flower ofthe German youth, ha ve found their graves in the Ru ssian earth.but the end of the war h a not yet come. All predictions of theGerman High Command of a speedy conclusion of Ihe Easterncampaign ha ve proved to be mi scalc ulation s.

At Sialingrad, where the greatest battle of destruclion in thehislory of the world has been foughl, the German Army, Germanyouth are ufferin g terrible los ses. The s ummer offensive has onlyprolonged the war. The mad attempt" of H itler are "enseless;

Ihey only cost unne cessary and enormous sacrifices, but cannotavert Hitler's defeat. With your blood, comrades, Hitler wants 10po stpone his doom. He is dri ving Germany into the abyss.

In this hour so fateful for our Fatherland, we ca ll upon you tocome to your se nses and 10 eXert all your strength and energy inorder 10 save our country from di sas ter. We o u r ~ e l v e ~n l U ~makean end 10 the war. But for Ihat it is n e c e s ~ a r yto a b o l i ~ hthe ruleof the old warmongers. T he soo ner that happen s the better It willbe. Refuse to obey H it le r and h i genera ls, refu se to let yourselvcbe driven to t he slaughterhouse, to hope less winter battle s

Be Darin g a nd Rebel

T here has bee n e no ugh of hes itation and uncer tainty, of indecision-a nd wait ing. You, com rades. arc a migh ty fo rce; in your hands

11



~ f e~ ~ ~~ : ~ h .~ ; ~ ~ ~ ~ n ~ ~ ; ~ i ; S ~ r ~ ~ : ~ ~ ~ e y ' ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ rn ~ t d ~ t t o y e rgermany but .Huler and his plutocratic clique m ~ ~ n ~ ~u ~ O t

eonan youth n Germany, create Free Youth Groll s i ncr.go t LOabour Service Sabotage war production ~ h ~ r e v e ~~ ~can. 0 not o ~ calling-up notices

German >:outh n the army, betome a daring organiser of thestrugg.ie agamst the Ilitierite war Create Soldier Committees int h ~~ I rrOfCce P a n z ~ r~ r o o p sI,nfantry and Artillery, in the Fleet

an n t e ommumcatlOn ServIces. Go over to the Red ArmyGennan youth. the Fatherland calls you to the sacred fight for

a ~ e " , : ,.free Germany. The m,otta to the youth must be:Finish th e war; down w l ~ hHitler and the war profiteers 1

For a People s Gave.rnment which makes possible a just peace I "The appeal was sIgned by 250 members of the Hitler Youth

many of whom ~ o l dofficial positions in the organisation and hadbeen awarded Hiller Youth medals and orders, and some of whomalso belonged to the S.A. and S.S. The text of the appeal wasbroadcast by Kuibishev Radio on October 22nd, 1942.

10 YEARS TRAININC FORBARBARISMy Werner Fischer

The confession of Dietrich, Nazi prisoner of war in Russianhands, revolts us German anti-fascists to the core. Within thelast 10 years the Nazis have instilled their corrupt ideas into theyoung German generation and made a generation his murderous

tools. Murder, rape, plunder and destruction is the order of theday for Hitler's Huns in their brutal debauchery through Europe.And yet this is the unspeakable tragedy: that ten years ago theses e l f S : < i ~ eyoung people were ordinary, decent human beings.

Within the space of ten years the Nazis have succeeded in turningthe rising young German generation back into deep barbarism:barbarians forgetful of the rich liberal German herit age: barbariansproud of their barbarity. Dietrich's confession shows how deeplytbe Nazi rot has eaten into young German minds.

Yet Dietrich is by no means one of the worst. If we can believehis confession, he was no more than a passive onlooker. He"on ly" watched the deliberate torture and murder of human

12

I

•

beings without. thought of protcsting against the atrocities committed before hIS eyes. ~ o r.there was no spark ?f human compassion left in Corporal Dletnch-ten years of NaZI rule have seento that.

For 10 years of Nazi rule-and three years of those violent warfare have made no small section of the originally reluctant Germanpeople-and especially the young people- -accessorics to Nazicrimes.

The Nazis take young, raw soldiers along with tbem as witnessesto their abominable atrocities. Gradually these young men gethardened to the nauseating sights-and take the daily slaughter ofhuman beings as part of their daily routine. Once inured to this,the young soldiers are gripped with the sadistic lust to kill andtorture, and pass from the shameful role of spectators to the criminalrole of henchmen.

Thus the young German Nazi has now been linked to the Nazicriminals: their fate henceforth is to be his fatc. This is thepoint Nazi propaganda ceaselessly dins into his car : day afterday- -month after month. Quoting foreign articles dcmanding the

total annihilation of Germany they point out that the defeat ofGermany means certain death to the Nazi soldier. Your only wayoul is to stick to the" Fuehrer," says Nazi propaganda. And tothe" Fuehrer" they stick: as instances the fanatic fight of theencircled Nazi soldiers round Stalingrad-with their insane itch todie a hero's death for their Fuehrer- -although their position ishopeless and surrender made easy.

These are the facts: German fascists fighting like fury againsthopeless odds.

Here is your young German generation. Its intellectual development thwarted by Nazi methods. All its human impulses, itsgenerous ideas trammelled on and repressed by Nazi demagoguesReady to obey the most idiotic command BECA USE it is a command. Persuaded that they are the" Herrenvolk." Believingand passionately believing-that this is enough to give them complete authority over other nations and races. Encouraged to useany means to gain their ends; decorated for ruthlessnclis ands ~ i l depravity. All this emerges clearly from Dietrich'stestImony.

It took eight months captivity-during which he was treated inthe most humane manne r f o r Dietrich's cerebral processes·clogged for so many years-to start moving. Only then Dietrichsaw through the fantastic nightmare which had possessed him forthe last ten years-onl.y then did he turn in disgust from his dcmi-gop.Both as a human being and as u German he clenrly saw that his

13



~ ~ ~ d : ; ~ ,t ~ l : ~ s ~ t n ~ ; l ~ f S ~ ~ ~ ~ I : ~p r ~ ~ n ~ ~ S n ~ } r ~ ~ ~ ~is identical withill Y ~ t ,In sTPhltc of tillS,. leI us not relax into falal, comfortable

u S l o n ~ . e ~ n l y,tlung that will raise this Qun G"g e n ~ ~ a t l o n .from I t ~eVil c o ~ ais f o r ~ c ,brule, sheer, h a t h ~ r i n. c f o ~ a nM . l h t a ~defeats d e ~ t r o ytheir belief 10 their invincibility A gd CC.this b e h e ~gone, the soil is prepared for fruitful r a t i o c i ~ a t i o ~once

Last w ~ n l e rwas a good example :_ .LaM wmter many O c ~ m a nprboners in Russia were bcginninf

~ o w o n d e ~. . . to thank. . . . Jl was also lhe time of the:=-reat NaZI r e t ~ c a t .This summer the fortunes of war were reversedand Ihe RUSSians ~ v c r eretreating. This had an immediate effecto ~the c ~ m a ns o l d ~ r s .and, once more, they sprouted hallucinationsa out the Inc"ltabJiJly of a Gcrman victory. Military victoriestherefore. se.rve a dual purpose: firstly, they bring us one stepnearer 10 victory, and secondly, they break the morale of theGermans lhc, sc.lves, and make them receptive to Allied propaganda.It IS the b.eglnlllng of the re·education of German youth. Bruteforce. sowing the seeds of doubt -force compelling the Nazis toabandon their drcam of a ~ e r r c n v o l k · - a n dforce finally prepanngthe ground for Ihe resumption of life in humane terms. Force j the key for the re-education of this German generation. Theirs ~ h o o l m a s t e r sare the Red Armies in their winter offensives theEighth Army in Libya, the First Army in North Africa: 'Ourshare in this ore alion is to produce the weapons for these soldier,to f i ~ h . htheir . . re-education " in the shortest possible time.

Thls,.lhen, IS the problem: a doped and fanatic young GermangeneratIOn must one day join in Ihe life of post-war Europe; no1 0 n g ~ ras barbarians, but as civilised human beings. The fir ..1deCISive step towards the solution of this problem m u ~ tbe taken nOli .

or unless the German .Youth and Hitler can be separated, Ihe

Imme.nse ca ..ualties of h l ~war will mount, and it will be fought tothe bllter end. If a wedge could be driven between Hitler and hisYouth, millions of i v c ~on either side wou ld be saved. These livesare at stake, and these lives demand a realistic policy. NeitherVansiLtart's racial theory and historical inaccurctcies, nor the softsouled illusions of tho >e kind people who would forgive them in awrongly·jnterprcted humanitarian ~ p i r i t ,will serve the Allied cause.

VansiUartism is a god >end to Dr. Gocbels. Her e is authenticproof that Germany is to be destroyed once and for all. Its immediate effect i > to weld Ilitler ..nd his Youth even closer thanbeforc: lIitler, Puehrer, save us from our cnemies

We must lei I the German people tha t the fate of Germany is entirelyin their own hands, that their enemies are those who have plunged

14

1,I•

,

I ' ,nlO Ihe gr imm est and cruellest Wllr of all history, and thatt l l ;m .it is those enem ies they must seek to destroy, nol lC p e s ~elVI IlInsin Europe. . .

This, then. is the solution. MIlitary defeats to ..hake the Genna.nmorale. Defeats will sow the germ .. or douht and brcal.. theirfiln:llic wor .hip of their blood·crazy leaders. It Will open theire)'CS to the abysmal depths into which Ihey have been plunged.Then, if our propaganda can persuade them that by hclplng tode'Moy the Nazi clique they will regain thcir freedom. dignity andpeace, Ihe war will. have been shortened and the r o u n d a t l o n ~of a..table post-war society at any f<.IlC bc.gun to have been ?slablished.

Again and again we must quote and inSISt on the AtlantiC Charte r :To C<lch nation ils frecdom to live its own life, provided it does notimpinge on its neighbours. Self·determination "pplies to theGerman people, but with this saving clause: they themselves mustprove that they want this freedom. By turning against theiroppressors the German peop le will have won the right to share inthe new world of the United Nalions.

This is what we must say to the young Germans. T h i ~ repeatedoften enough and. we hope. in all sincerity. will remove Ihe illusionwhich. al the moment, makes Nazi >oldicr-. fight to the last dropof blood. They themselve'> must realise thai the fate of Germany

\ III their own hands.We must co-ordinate our propaganda olTcl1 >ivcs with our military

o n c n ~ i v e s .Total war demands the careful planning of propagandaa . the fourth arm of attack. It aims to sap morale and borc fromwithin. The Soviel Union is using Ihi'i weapon with increasingsuccess.

For the ultimale aim of al1 young people fighting again .t h . s c l ~ m

;111over the world is not only ils complete destruction. but < l 1 ~ oto~ a f e g u a r dfor e er and ever Peace and Freedom. in their "ruggle

for a ncw and a bettcr world.

-uhl"hrd by FREE GERMAN YOUTlt 12 Beiliu P l f ~N .W I. Tel P R l l U ro II'H

RICHAnD MADLIfY. LTD. IT.U.) p n l N T l n i . 7. PITlMW CT • W.I .

'5



IF YOU W NT A SPEAKER

on (he problem of German Youth. th e

Huler Youth, the Ge rman rmy or

kmdred subjects n Grearer London orthe Manchester. Leeds Glasgow, Birming

ham leicester, Oxford, Cambridge or

Guildford areas

Write to THE FREE GERMAN YOUTHN GRE T B R r r i

2 Belsize Park N w 3 Tel . PRlmrore 1595

1 YEARSOF F SCIS

Edited by Siegbe,t Kahn.Cover by John H • tfi.ld.

The Common - Man s History ofHOW HinER CAME

HOW HE GREW endHOW HI WILL FALL.

•

60 paget. Prlc. 1 .

I.N Go Publl,.non • Ltd 9. Gr• • Turn.tll. , W e .1Tel . HOL 3151.

Documents

1943 FDJ Confessions of a Nazi Soldier.pdf