GERMAN YOUTH AND HITLER

Southland Times, Issue 23395, 30 December 1937, Page 4

GERMAN YOUTH AND HITLER

Imagination Captured "MUCH MARCHING BUT NO DESIRE FOR WAR” The general satisfaction of the people with the present regime in Germany, and an air of friendliness to visitors amid apparent military preparations, were noted by Mr Heathcote Helmore, of Christchurch, when he visited Germany for a month. Mr Helmore, who has 'just returned from a holiday abroad, said that Herr Hitler had captured the imagination of the younger generation, by whom he was held in reverence, and that though some of his methods were disapproved by the older generation, they accepted him as the saviour of his people from the war’s aftermath.

After having rebuilt much of Munich, Hitler was now going to spend millions of pounds in making Berlin the most magnificent city in Germany, said Mr Helmore. Great processional ways, lined by magnificent buildings, would be constructed, partly to provide for the spectacle of marching troops. He saw an impressive display of night marching in the Unter den Linden, where companies of soldiers, flanked by sergeants bearing flaming torches, marched past the tomb of the Unknown Warrior. As each company neared the tomb, it, broke into i the goose-step, and as it drew level I a light flashed from the tomb. Such I parades were frequent throughout Germany, said Mr Helmore, but the people themselves did not seem to want war There was no air of militarism. Before they could enter a profession, youths had to undergo a course of about five years, for the first two of which they did manual labour. After this they received what was virtually military training, even though they were not supposed to handle a rifle. Mr Helmore had never seen youths of this class with rifles and he could not find out whether they received instruction in arms. AN ADMIRAL REINSTATED As an example of how Hitler had mended the fortunes of many Germans, Mr Helmore recalled a meeting with Admiral von Reuter, whose , property had been confiscated after the war for his action in sinking the German fleet at Scapa Flow to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Allies. This man had been disgraced at the time, but Hitler had restored his pension to him. The four-year plan for economic self-sufficiency had caused a great shortage of meat and dairy produce in Germany, continued Mr Helmore. He did not see cream when he was there, and butter was. very scarce. This year an epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease among the sheep had intensified the shortage of meat, and the attempt to educate the Germans to eat fish had not met with much success. As the world price of butter had risen more than the price of the goods Germany exported, every possible means had to be used to obtain butter and other fats without recourse to payment in foreign exchange. As a result whale oil was replacing fat m the nation’s diet. Many artificial materials were being manufactured, in accordance with this plan, and Mr Helmore saw much artificial wool. In their endeavours to avoid recourse to importation, German chemists were doing wonderful research work. FINE MOTOR ROADS Mr Helmore was much impressed with the “reichsautobaghn,” or raised arterial roads, which stretched for hundreds of miles through the country. The surface was perfect, and there were no intersections and no speed limit. Comparatively few cars used them, however, for there was little wealth .in Germany, and the inference was that they had been built for military purposes. When Mr Helmore was at Potsdam, a “black-out” of Berlin was held as a preparation for defence against air attack. It was a moonlight night and the roads showed up from the air like white ribbons. This revelation had given a problem tc ..the army authorities for the roads led into all the large manufacturing towns, and it had been suggested that the roads would have to be painted black. At Munich Mr Helmore visited the new art gallery. He found that all the extreme modern pictures had been excluded and exhibited on the walls of a separate gallery in the town, the display being advertised as being devoted to degenerate art. “It drew-a ’ery large crowd of people too, added Mr Helmore. Inquiries had revealed that Hitler had set himself up as ar art connoisseur, and a German paper had reported that clarity was his ideal and that he could not tolerate green s.:ies, blue meadows, sulphur yellow clouds, misshapen cripples, women whose appearance evoked disgust, and human beings resembling animals. He had also excluded all pictures by Jewish, artists, and all museums and galleries in Germany were to be purged in this manner.