THE APPRENTICE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 119, 16 November 1937, Page 18

THE APPRENTICE

IMPORTANCE IN GERMANY The. ''apprentice" has become an important figure in Nazi Germany, writes Sigrid Schultz froml Berlin to the "Chicago Tribune." The all-powerful labour front is training him with great care to enable him to succeed the skilled labourer of pre-war training. . Figure of a bygone day, when apprentices worked for little or no pay in order to become full-fledged workmen, the apprentice has been recreated because of a serious shortage of skilled workers. He must work harder than his elders, did to learn his trade, because he has less time. Labour service, military conscription, enrolment in Nazi organisations such as the Schutz Staffel (hand-picked Hitler guards), or Storm Troops curtail his learning hours. • A German apprentice generally serves a term of six months or a year before receiving pay. His employer uses him for every type of work .tie wishes in exchange for board. In order to avoid this unremuneratiye period, young Germans in recent years have paid out money which was accepted instead of their physical labour, PRACTICE STOPPED. A recent decree put a stop to_ this practice. Aspirants to skilled labour jobs now must serve, their term, jn addition, the decree stipulates that ever/ industrial employer must hire apprentices at once. . . .__ Factories have been ordered to open special schools and : laboratories for the training of apprentices. The oldtime "meister," whose glory was sung so brilliantly in Wagner's ' Mexstersinger," .is held responsible for their training. The apprentices must pass rigorous examinations before they may work as "gesellen," or full-fledged workers.. After years of practice and success the "geselle" in turn may become a "master." . . .... ' ■ Where formerly apprentices had a hard time finding masters willing ,to feach them, the low birth-ra c of war and post-war years thinned,the.ranks of applicants. : That made it all the more necessary for the Nazi Labour Front to see to it -that the;■ depleted generation be composed of efficient young men worthy of keeping up the high traditions of their "guilds. Employers who fail to reach the educational requirements °V*t i^M Front may be deprived of the ngh to train apprentices. This is almost equivalent to being placed on a black hSThe apprentice regulations apply to all industrial and commercial enterprises. '