Problem Of German Scouts At World Jamboree

Waikato Independent, Volume XLV, Issue 6242, 23 May 1949, Page 4

Problem Of German Scouts At World Jamboree

"Suppose that German Boy Scouts come to the jamboree in 1951. They may not be ready by then, but assume that they will be —what will your attitude be?" This question is discussed by the editor of "Jamboree"" the journal of world scouting, in a recent issue. "If it is difficult for me it must be a greater problem for those who lived during the war in an occupied country," he says. While his country England, had to withstand air raids and flying bombs, it was not invaded. "When I was in northern France on relief work in September, 1944, and later in Holland, and the next year in Germany (including Belsen), I saw and heard of what our brother scouts and whole peoples had suffered. How much more reason they have than I to refuse the left handshake to Germans.

'"Obviously we cannot wipe out, still less forget, the past, the scars will remain for generations. We can comfort ourselves with the thought that the German boys now being trained cannot be held in any way responsible for what happened during the war; but their leaders cannot be so easily accepted. Now, being a friend of all must not be a sloppy sentimental idea; it must be something positive, something constructive, and easily based firmly on . . . what?

"I find my answer in the first part of the Promise: I must be a friend to all because.it is my duty to God. If we raise the whole problem to that highest of levels, our hesitations will vanish. The human, difficulties will remain; our memories will remain; we shall have to guard our tongues with care; but, if we can get above human - outlook and see the matter from a higher point of view, we shall find that it is possible to be 'a friend to all.' "