Living in Hitlers Germany

A letter from Hans Schmidt of GANPAC

Published in the Hoskins Report, Dec. 1993
Richard Kelly Hoskins, publisher
You asked for someone who had lived in Hitlers Germany to tell what it was like. Permit me,
someone who lived under the Swastika flag from 193, when the Saar was reunited with
Germany, to 19!, to give a short answer.
"o #e a #oy or girl at that time was wonderful. $n the Hitler Youth the differen%es #etween
&hristian denominations or the different German states didnt %ount. 'e all truly felt that we
were mem#ers of one #ody of (eo(le ) one nation. Youth hostels were o(ened all over the
*ei%h, ena#ling us to hike from one #eautiful town to another seeing our fatherland. +very effort
was made to strengthen our minds and #odies. &ontrary to what is said today, we were
en%ouraged to #e%ome free in s(irit, and not to su%%um# to (eer ,or authority- (ressure. $n
(ea%etime, ./ military training was allowed #y the Hitler Youth leadershi(0 s%outing yes.
$n%identally, to 1snit%h on our (arents2 was frowned u(on.
3t the very time when 3meri%as allies, the Soviets, destroyed most of the &hristian %hur%hes in
*ussia and 4kraine, a#out 566 new %hur%hes were #uilt in Germany. ./" /.+ &hristian
%hur%h was %losed. $t was the law that s%hool and %hur%h had (riority over servi%e in the Hitler
Youth. 3s late as the fall of 19!!, the 'affen SS #arra%ks in 7reslau su((lied two #uses to take
youth to either the nearest &atholi% or Protestant %hur%h every Sunday. "o #e a registered
mem#er of a &hristian %hur%h did not (revent advan%ement in the .ational So%ialist Party.
Germany was .ational So%ialist, #ut free enter(rise flourished during the entire Hitler years. .o
%om(any was nationali8ed. .o small #usinessman was sto((ed from o(ening u( his own store. $
myself worked during the war for a %om(any that %an only #e %alled (art of international
%a(italism. $f you owned shares, no#ody %onfis%ated them, like the allies did in 19!.
"he a%%om(lishments of the 9.a8is were in%redi#le. Starting without money and with si:
million unem(loyed ,a third of the workfor%e-, they %onstru%ted the entire German 3uto#ahn
road network in a short s(an of ; years ) almost without %orru(tion ) while seeing to it that the
new road system did not unne%essarily destroy either the German lands%a(e, or wildlife ha#itats
and forests. "wo years after the .S were ele%ted to (ower, %onditions were so im(roved that
workers had to #e hired in near#y friendly %ountries to hel( alleviate the workers shortage in
Germany. Germany was #ooming while 7ritain, <ran%e and the 4S were in the de(ths of
de(ression.
"o hel( the workers get %hea( trans(ortation, the =' was designed and a fa%tory was #eing #uilt
for their manufa%ture when the war started. 3lso, for the %ommon (eo(le, villages of small single
family homes were ere%ted. "he monthly (ayments were set so low that almost anyone %ould
afford his own house. $n Hitlers Germany there were no homeless0 no #eggars. &rime was
almost non e:istent #e%ause ha#itual %riminals were in %on%entration %am(s. 3ll this was
re(orted in the news(a(ers and was known #y every#ody.
"he German (ress during the "hird *ei%h had fewer ta#oos than the 3meri%an (ress today. "he
only ta#oo $ %an think of evolved around Hitler, and, during the war, there was a law that
(rohi#ited 1defeatism2. "his was #e%ause of the negative role the German (ress (layed in the
German defeat of 191>.
$t #ears remem#ering that the 9+uro(ean +%onomi% &ommunity2 was first %oined #y the "hird
*ei%h government. $ remem#er many arti%les, #oth (ro and %on a#out this su#?e%t. /ne should
also not forget that during the war at least seven million foreign nationals ,nearly 16@ of the
(o(ulation- worked in Germany, either as voluntary workers ,Aut%h, Aanes, <ren%h, Poles,
4krainians %ome to mind-, or as for%ed la#orers or as (risoners. $ know of no instan%e where
foreigners were atta%ked or molested ,mu%h less killed- #e%ause they were foreigners. S(eaking
of the (ress, $ have an arti%le from 19!3 in my (ossession that s(ells out how ne%essary
friendshi( is #etween the German and *ussian (eo(les.
7etween 1933 and 19! there was a tremendous em(hasis on %ultureB theatres flourished0 the
German movie industry (rodu%ed a#out 166 feature films (er year ,of whi%h not one was antiC
3meri%an. /nly 6 of them %an #e %onsidered (ure (ro(aganda movies-. Some the #est %lassi%al
re%ordings still e:tant were made in Hitlers Germany. 3%tors from all over +uro(e, #ut mainly
from <ran%e, Sweden and $taly were stars in German movies.
Germany always loved s(orts, and there was no la%k of o((ortunities to (artake in any s(ort one
liked. "he 193; 7erlin /lym(i%s was merely a show%ase of what trans(ired all over the *ei%h. $n
a #ook on these /lym(i%s issued #y the Hitler Youth that is still in my (ossession, Desse /wens
is shown several times and mentioned favora#ly. Auring the S%hmeling #o:ing fights, we kids all
knew of Doe Eouis, the #rown #om#er. .owhere did $ ever read derogatory remarks a#out other
ra%es. &ertainly the a%%om(lishments of Germany and the Germans were given (rominen%e,
similar to 9the ad nauseum statements of today that the 4.S. is the land of the free, et%. $n my ten
years in the Hitler Youth ,a%tually >, sin%e $ o#viously %ouldnt attend while a soldier-, the Dews
were never mentioned. /ther s(orts that gri((ed our attention were flying ,there was Hitler
Youth flying training with their own sail (lanes-, %ar ra%es ,7ritish and $talian drivers
dominated- and riding.
<reFuently $ am asked a#out gun %ontrol during the Hitler era. &laims are made that Hitler %ould
take (ower #e%ause he disarmed the German (eo(le. "hat is nonsense. $n Germany gun
ownershi( was never as (revalent as it is in 3meri%a. $ would say that for hundreds of years one
needed a gun li%ense in order to kee( a wea(on. /n the other hand, my father owned an old
(istol %landestinely ,a#out whi%h we %hildren knew-, and there were gun %lu#s all over the
*ei%h. <urthermore, Germany was always a %ountry with many e:%ellent gunsmiths. $t is
dou#tful that they %ould stay in #usiness if the laws were too stringent. $ would surmise that
while Germany was Germany ,#efore it was 9li#erated #y the allies- gun ownershi( (ro#a#ly
was far more wides(read than is a%knowledged today. Eaws on the #ooks were mainly to give
the (oli%e a handle to arrest %riminals with guns, not the ordinary %iti8en. $n%identally, ?ust as
Hitler had for#idden soC%alled 9(unishment e:er%ises in the army ,the #rutal methods still
em(loyed in the 3meri%an army-, so had he for#idden the use of %lu#s #y the (oli%e. He
%onsidered it demeaning to the German (eo(le.
<inally thisB I dont believe Ill ever see again a people as happy and content as were the
great majority of Germans under Hitler, especially in peacetime. Certainly some minorities
suffered: former parliamentary politicians because they couldnt play their political
games! the "ews because they lost their power over Germany! the gypsies because
during the war they were re#uired to wor$! and croo$ed union bosses because they lost
their parasitical positions. "o this day $ #elieve that the ha((iness of the ma?ority of a (eo(le is
more im(ortant than the wellC#eing of a few s(oiled minorities. $n s%hool there should #e
em(hasis on (romoting the #est and the intelligent, as was done in Germany during the Hitler
years ) a fa%t that %ontri#uted after the war to the ra(id German re%onstru%tion. "hat Hitler was
loved #y his (eo(le, there %an #e no Fuestion. +ven a few weeks #efore the wars end and his
death, he was a#le to drive to the front and mingle among the %om#at soldiers with only
minimum se%urity. .one of the soldiers had to unload their wea(ons #efore meeting with the
<uhrer ,as was reFuired when President 7ush met with 3meri%an soldiers during the Gulf 'ar-.
Germany under Hitler was Fuite different from what the media would have you #elieve.