Monday, October 28, 2024

Did they have good energy?

"At Murnau there is a big camp for Hitler youth. Six thousand boys between the ages of ten and sixteen. It covers a whole hillside and valley, and is wonderfully organized. The boys do all the work except cooking, and learn some of the things taught the Boy Scouts. Only there are more processions and drills. They’re different from the Boy Scouts too, because the Boy Scout idea is to develop the individual boy, and their idea is to train an army for the state. 'The age of the individual is past.' Where had I heard that before? In Russia.

They were beautiful children. I did not think they would ever grow up to be thickset beer drinkers with rubber-tire necks. They sang together, and no people sing in unison as the Germans do, thousands of them, in the open air, young voices, still soprano, and the hills echoing! It made one feel sentimental."

"Wilt Thou not Walk," by Dorothy Thompson

https://harpers.org/archive/2016/05/wilt-thou-not-walk/

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