LIFE IN GERMANY

Waipawa Mail, Volume LXVI, Issue 70, 2 March 1938, Page 1

LIFE IN GERMANY

DESCRIBED BY COUNTESS VON LUCKNER HITLER. IDOLISED. “... It meant so much to my husband—such a big part of his life was spent there—that it meant much to me also,” said Countess von Luckner with deep feeling as she rested after the cruise to Motuihi Island in the Count's sehgoner Seeteufel. “And, oh, what a beautiful spot! So peaceful and so picturesque.” The tall, slender, fair-haired Countess possesses what Alexander Woolcott, the pithy American author, might describe as the “consoling habit of quietude,” so serene is her outlook and so pervading is the definite charm of her personality. That “helping others” is a golden rule in the Countess’ philosophy, the interviewer gathered after hearing details of the new conditions that prevail in Germany. “The German people idolise Hitler,”. she affirmed. “. . .He’s one of them! There are no class distinctions now. Everyone is a worker. The hand and the brain—the brain and the hand —one can’t do without the other, each must work in harmony for the universal good.” HELPING YOUNG COUPLES. Some interesting sidelights on the marriage and money question that should establish a firm basis for the future prosperity of the country, were given by the Countess. “If a young couple are too poor to marry,” she said, “they get a loan of 1000 marks so that they can start life together. They are given a slip or docket which enables them to go to various places and buy furniture and house necessities, and this concession naturally means the extension of employment. After their first child is born they only have to pay back 750 marks, and if they have four children before the loan is paid back, it is wiped right out. Older mothers, and the poor ones who have borne the burden of reaving big families, are all taken special care of under the new regime, for it is an axiom that the welfare and happiness of a country depend on the mother. And so they send her to a sanatorium for a complete rest cure, while the children are looked after well during her absence. Most of the women who work cannot afford to stay in a hospital after their child is born, and she is given specialised treatment, and is massaged and exercised so that she may regain her health and strength.” Herr Hitler has a bureau in which the name of every mother in every part of Germany is indexed, with the number of her children, so that there >is no possibility of anyone being neglected. NO WASTE IN FOOD “There doesn’t exist one hungry person in Germany,” declared the Countess. “Our young people are educated not to waste anything, because by proper conservation you can feed so many extra persons. For instance, if every person leaves just one slice of bread, that amounts to thousands of slices in a month in a big population. Every house "has a separate can in which to place peels, and every evening these cans are collected and taken to the big factories for food for pigs and poultry. (Previously they used to import animals’ foods, but now this is not necessary). Only food is allowed to be deposited in these bins; no ash or paper, so that cleanliness is assured, and the best results are obtained. “Rid) and poor are on an equality as far as the prices of foodstuff are concerned. All food necessities are always the same price because there’s no ‘between’ man, and, say there’s a shortage of eggs, well the rich man can’t buy them all up. No, only so many for each person, as the poor must be considered, too. ‘ ‘ Everyone has his own garden and owns his own property,” continued the Countess, “and he is a better patriot for his country than those who have to live in slums and dark alleys, and whose children never see a tree or the sunlight. . . . Even the poorest of the German people have a regular respite from work, and it a man and his wife want to have a holiday together, their children are looked after in specially equipped camps in ideal surroundings. . . ‘Strength through joy’ . . . that is the motto of the day—pleasure induces energy, and that is good for everybody.” In effect, a sound mind in a sound body is the objective,