The Kids

One of the most terrifying achievements of the Nazi regime was its relentless capture and corruption of German youth. In Eastern Germany, the Communists have proved themselves as good as the Nazis at that deadly game. Their Freie Deutsche Jugend (Free German Youth) seems like a near-perfect reincarnation of the Hitler Youth. The world might get a good look at the young Communists when they stage their long-heralded "march on Berlin" on Whitsunday (see above). Last week, TIME Correspondent Enno Hobbing cabled this preview of the FDJ:

"Be Prepared." The process of corruption begins early. Nine hundred thousand children between the ages of six and 14 are enrolled in the Junge Pioniere (Young Pioneers), the FDJ "cubs." Most of them are drawn in by subtle threats that they will not be promoted in school, by pressure on parents, and by channeling the natural idealism of the young to party purposes.

The kids are attracted by scoutlike slogans: "A Young Pioneer is always helpful, a Young Pioneer respects the people, a Young Pioneer fights for his homeland." Overall motto of the moppets is "Seid Bereit! [Be Prepared]." Their greeting consists of holding the hand (its five fingers represent the five continents) over the head, to indicate that the Junge Pionier puts the welfare of the world over his own.*

For special attainments, e.g., compositions on Red heroes, the pioneer gets a Bewaehrungstuch (merit scarf); after that, he is eligible for the red scarf and white blouse that signify full-fledged membership. All of the pioneers get chances to march with banners and standards in Red mass rallies. After such parades, they can be heard telling each other "Das war Spass, nicht? [That was fun, wasn't it?]."

"Knock Them Down." For youngsters between 14 and 24, the fun gets more intense. A million of them belong to the FDJ proper. High-school students who want to graduate or attend universities have little chance if they do not join the FDJ. Poorer children, who must go to work early, find it hard to get jobs without the FDJ membership card. The FDJ is in charge of all sports in the Soviet zone; grey heads have to ask FDJ adolescents for fishing and hunting licenses.

The FDJ makes an especially heavy impact on the more impressionable youngsters. One young man, formerly a devoted Hitlerite, saw his dreams crash down in 1945. First he contemplated suicide, then he withdrew into complete apathy. By way of a soccer club, he got into the FDJ. Says he now: "Sometimes I'm terribly afraid I might be wrong again. I couldn't stand a second mental bankruptcy. No! The Communists must be right. Look at their successes--look at China!"

Many of FDJ members are rowdy, opportunist youths, like Hans Gossen, FDJ leader in Saxony. As a Hitler Youth Bannfuehrer, he had tasted power young. As a P.W. of the Russians, he did a quick about-face. In his "confession," he declared that his parents had forced him into Naziism, but that in Russia his eyes had been opened. Said he: "I want to devote myself to progress. Despite my belated awakening, I beg that I may be accepted." His wish was fulfilled.

The temper and tactics of FDJ chieftains was well-expressed by agile, aggressive Robert Bialek, who explained: "We'll take care of our church and political enemies. You sock them in the teeth until they fall. Then they write a letter of protest. You let them get up, read the letter, and then knock them down again."

"Throw Them Out." Such teaching produces the hooligan bands that raid Western Berlin and smear Communist slogans on the walls. It organizes the grinning gangs that stand on Potsdamer Platz and chant songs about how the FDJ would throw the "splitters of Germany" (i.e., the Western Allies) out of Berlin.

All the youth hostels in Eastern Germany have been turned over to the FDJ. Loyal FDJ members are in line for handsome university scholarships. Again & again, Communist oldtimers din into young ears: "You are the future of the German people." In response to such accolades, one FDJ member recently told an American: "I'm not much now, but when Germany is all Communist, I might be a mayor. When we control all Europe, I might be a state governor."

The FDJ on parade is a shabby sight, but still outstanding in a completely shabby society. Fife & drum corps, the uniform of blue shirts and black trousers, the blue flag with the rising sun are the outward FDJ trappings. FDJ members are enlisted in the Red "people's police" and entrusted with "responsible duties." The FDJ school at Bogensee, near Berlin, is planning a "strategic seminar" for the "pre-military and revolutionary training" of 16-to 18-year-olds. Sizable contingents of FDJ members are already being schooled in guerrilla warfare. Western observers believe that, in the near future, all physically fit youngsters will have to complete a two-month course of police training, as a prelude to a general, semimilitary conscription. FDJ members sing political propaganda, the way American youngsters sing football songs. FDJ people's police units, marching in Berlin parades, chant their thudding song:

The homeland is far

But we all are

Prepared to fight . . .

Freiheit!

"Don't Go to Berlin." Despite their tremendous efforts, the Communists have been able to make full-fledged fanatics of only a relatively small part of East Germany's youth. There are thousands who actively resist the FDJ by conducting clandestine discussions, or passing around leaflets (a recent one--"German youth: Don't go to Berlin. Don't let the stooges of Moscow misuse you . . . But if you must go, then compare the living standard of West Berlin with yours").

The bulk of FDJ members may not always believe what the Communists tell them, but the trouble is that they do not believe anything else. Slowly, they are being worn into submission. The Communists have achieved a stranglehold on East Germany's younger generation--and they have no intention of letting go.

* By geographers' latest count, there are seven continents': North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and Antarctica. But many Europeans are taught that there are only five, a count which regards North and South America as one continent and ignores Antarctica. Some geographers have taken revenge on the Europeans for this peremptory position by lumping Europe in with Asia as a single Eurasian continent.

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