Deutschland 1937

[pieter]

[karl]

Pieter

A very interesting documentary, one I was to watch with vested interest. All this before even my birth. The documentary was in first a comparison between the programmes of Adolph Hitler and that of The New Deal as designed by American President Franklin Roosevelt, both successful in their each manner.

The film documentary covered a great deal of ground in short time as allotted to it. If not to know the later war years, I would have liked those times. For they were building times of various programme ideas to develop and realize as fruitful.

The youth camps for The Hitler Youth and BDM Girls would be fun. For it would be a learning experience with others of the similar age with no matter rather your family was rich or poor, for all was equal. To then experience out doors activities/body building with supervised exercise coupled with the opportunity of learning team work and leadership.

It was interesting of the Auto shows for as example, Adolph Hitler was an auto enthusiast although he did not drive.

The down side was the extreme propaganda against the Jews and Communist. There were terrible displays of such posters as pure nasty extremes of anti-Jewish signs.

The military parades were interesting displays of weapons of that time. Some what laughable with the extremely poor Panzer designs and use of horse cavalry. The use of horses for the artillery was not a bad idea for such use field use with poor surfaces that would cause a wheeled vehicle to bog down as later example in the Russian offensive.

It was noteworthy to observe the launching of gliders as being hand towed whilst on light skids. This could have been much better handled with a pully system and/or auto towing. But, the situation fitted the times.

Thank you for presenting

Karl

[Jaga]

Pieter,

very interesting movie from what I had a time to see and understand. It reminds so much communism or any type of totalitarian regime!

[pieter]

Jaga,

Thank god you were able to watch the movie, because I saw that the movie was canceled due to violations of user regulations. As you know I have been a history and war freak and examined the second world war from various perspectives (the influence of my vocational university, history teacher education of one year in Amsterdam 1990-1991 and my personal life long autodidact interest in History in general and European history in particular).

I have examined the Nazi perspective in the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium and Germany. The visit of the Arnhem war museum 40-45 was my latest step in that journey of trying to understand the 'German' or 'Nazi' side of the war and the Nazi regime (1933-1945), and the development towards the Third Reich (1918/1919 - 1932). The Black and white movie of Germany in 1937 is an exellent illustration of that time and has a great quality.

I understand Karl's personal view as a half German and the son of a German Wehrmacht officer who died at the East-Front. Unfortunately the bright side of the Nazi regime. Employment, new highways, selfconfidence of the German people, was downgraded by the shadow sides of the totalitarian regime, like you stated. The lack of personal freedom, no democracy, prosecution of political dissidents and minority groups like jews. The Nazi terror already started during the twenties due to street battles and intimidation of the SA (Sturmabteilung).

The movie is interesting due to the fact that it shows the normal daily life of Germans in the Germany of 1937. The Germany of before the Kristallnacht of 1938, before the occupation of Poland, the Netherlands and the rest of Europe.

Cheers,
Pieter

[pieter]

Dear Karl,

I see a difference in how we look at the movie from the perspective of our different personal backgrounds. You come look the Danish-, Frisian- and German perspective. All three are Germanic subgroups. The Danes were occupied, but were seen by the Germans as a fellow German people (like also the Dutch and Flemish people and the other Scandinavians like the Swedes and Norwegians). For you the Germans were occupiers of your Denmark. I don't know how the German Nazi occupiers of Denmark treated the Danes. Their treatment was probably similar to the Dutch one. Like in the Netherlands you also had Danish resistance.

Although you weren't born in 1937, you were connected to the Germany of that time via your family and relatives. Your mother was in Nazi Germany during that time. You were placed with your Danish family in that time. Maybe it is good that you missed the indoctrination of the Hitler Jugend and that you were spared for the war, because you were to young to serve.

All those men of the Arbeidsdienst, Sturm Abteilung and the German police who would later serve in the Second World war lost comrades, were dragged into or forced to do warcrimes in the Einsatzcommando's. Next to that you had all the Wehrmacht soldiers and Waffen SS soldiers who experienced the same. Post Traumatic stress Disorder, war trauma's and the revenge at the end of the war of the waves of 'red terror' of the Red army and NKVD (KGB) troops that run over Germany and raped millions of German women and girls.

The Nazi Germany of 1937 looks Idyllic, romantic, clean, prosperous, descent and like a normal country, but it wasn't. It was a collectivist system without personal freedom, respect for human life and the absence of the universal human condition of equality of men and the brotherhood of people.

Next to that it looked a little bit boring, old fashionate, grey and without sense of humor. Jaga justly compared the Nazi system with certain forms of communism. The Polish communism she remembers and the DDR (East-German) communism she saw in the other video's on this Forum.

Cheers,
Pieter

[karl]

Pieter

Your reply was very honest and accurate, and very much appreciate for it is good to speak what is your mind. For to be silent and disagree is not good.

With this, it is of hope and trust my reply was not taken harshly by our Polish friends and Forum members. For this was not any intention upon my part, just speaking in reflection of the video depecting 1937 Germany. I only remember a bit of 1944, then of early 1945 of the occupation. There could and most likely were problems with the occupation out side of our area, but I never knew of them, or was not understanding enough to realize so.

We were not molested by any of the solders, on a occasion we received a visit by a few to inspect our home. They checked our well, our garden and the grounds. Then would politely leave, some times they would leave a gift of sugar which was always welcomed. There was not far from us a motorized unit {I learnt later in years} and we traded vegtables, fresh milk,fresh butter, eggs and if we had it, smoked fish. In return, we received cloth, cooking oil, old uniforms {these were of heavy excellent wool for making pants and coats}, fuel for our cook stove paraffin {Kerosen}, salt and if available, tea.

Perhaps our life as coastal Frisians were not a threat to any, or what ever situation of unrest was away from us. What we did deal with though was warnings to stay away from the water line at the North Sea. This meant no gathering of drift wood. The reason as was described, was the danger of drifted mines and possible dead or surviving enemy sailers or airmen that might hurt us as we were their enemy. I in the first, was not to understand why the enemy would be so mean, as we had not hurt any person.

We were warned not to interfere or play near any of the gun emplacements for they were our protection in the case of an enemy invasion.

That was our life then.

Karl

[kaima]

I watched it, saw many new things and found them interesting, but have no profound commentary to offer. It is interesting to see the perspective from back then and to be exposed to the atmosphere created in the reportage, and to compare it to history as we read it today.

Thanks for posting.

[pieter]

Karl,

Thank you for your sincere, honest and interesting reply from an autobiographic point of view. It is good to understand your personal situation as a child back then. It was not your war, because you were to small to be able to understand excactly what was going on. The German occupation of your area of Denmark was mild as you describe it. Probably like you say, because the Frisians were not seen as a threat by the Nazi civilian and/or Wehrmacht occupation force. In the Netherlands and Denmark the occupation was less harsh then in for instance Poland and Ukraine, because the Netherlands and Denmark were seen as West-Germanic states, and thus Germanic brother nations in the Nazi German point of view. These countries had to be manipulated with mild propaganda, nazification policies and the control of Wehrmacht, SS and Nazi civilian (NSDAP) authorities. In that the Nazi occupiers cooperated closely with collaborationist Dutch and Danish organisations, Dutch and Danish nazi leaders and collaborating police forces. Later the Nazi occupation of these two Western-European countries in the North-West corner of Europe became harsh, due to the fact that the German and Austrian occupying forces and Nazi authorities became increasingly irritated by the lack of support and loyalty of the Danish and Dutch populations and the passive and active resistances of the Danes and Dutch. For instance the Danish population and resistance rescued the small Danish jewish population which the Nazi's wanted to exterminate. ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rescue_of_the_Danish_Jews )

You managed to survive and live in safety with your Danish aunt and two cousins. With barter you managed to live in coexistence with the German military occupation force of your region (Esbjerg), which is good. Many Dutch, Belgians, Danes and Norwegians cooperated with the German nazi occupiers in economical and political sense. Life went on and companies and people of these countries earned money by contributing to the German war industry and working in the German Arbeidseinsatz (some voluntary some forced as forced laborers in German factories in Germany). I know and heard stories about Dutch forced laborers who came back traumatized from Germany. They didn't get enough food, were treated badly as foreign workers and faced hardship due to the constance allied bombardments. The British, Americans and Polish Pilots of the RAF bombed German industry zones and cities. There were these European forced workers from the Netherlands and other countries.

Cheers,
Pieter

[pieter]

Redningen af de danske jøder

Redningen af de danske jøder er betegnelsen for den redningsaktion, der i oktober 1943 sørgede for at næsten alle de jøder i Danmark under besættelsen kunne slippe bort fra nazisternes jødeforfølgelse til sikkerhed i det neutrale Sverige. Omkring 7.000 jøder fik danskere og svenskere i fællesskab bragt i sikkerhed. Redningsaktionen var en af de største enkelte aktioner mod nazisternes jødeudryddelser under 2. verdenskrig. Som følge af aktionen undslap næsten alle danske jøder Hitlers koncentrationslejre.

For the whole story look here: da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redningen_af_de_danske_j%C3%B8der

[karl]

Pieter

Time creates for us, to forget what we should have remembered. I do remember some of this in later years as small talk with friends that their had been a situation with Jews in the country but that was long past and away from us.

The present seems to become the past, but that is good, we as people should always not forget of those who past suffered whilst we lived in safety.

It is most amazing though, the vast any that were saved through the efferts of the underground combined with the civil servants of the government, and at great risk. To say that 99 percent were saved through this combined efferts, is remarkable to say the least. And this over such rough seas with what ever water transport was available. What this means, is what ever floats in what ever condition.

Karl