[stamp:] Copy 10 Sept. 1942
[stamp:]
Teletype message
Reich Governor in Vienna
Received 10 September 1942 23.07 by Hi.
"Eherverlag" Berlin
To the Reich Governor in Vienna.
No 2322 10 September 1942 11 23.07
The Reich Governor in Vienna
For the editorial staff of the "Schwarzes Korps" [Black Corps] we are transmitting to you the following article of Gebietsfuehrer Kaufman, which we already transmitted tonight by telephone.
How Much Does Youth Count Today?
A high-ranking officer recently arrived in Berlin from Sevastopol and declared openly: "Gentlemen, this fortress was overpowered by 19-year-old soldiers, the very same we saw 4 years ago in short pants, marching through our cities with the song on their lips: 'Yes, the flag is more than death' ".
That statement of an old soldier means: The entire weight of this war lies on the shoulders of youth. Lads are fulfilling in fighting what boys promised in their singing. The National Socialist Movement has brought up a young generation, filling them with faith and self-denial, with endurance and fire, so that the signs of victory cannot slip from our hands.
And Aunt Emma fell silent. She has heard how dreadfully the Bolshevists have brought up their youth, so that out of 10 children 2 or even 3 died from dirt and disease, while the remaining seven became tough weather-beaten fellows who can withstand hunger and cold, can move like wildcats in the open and shoot like devils. Aunt Emma is also of the opinion that it was unwise when in 1938 her Karl did not return home from the Hitler Youth service until 11:00 at night or when some too keen and a "much too young" leader made a night march with his enthusiastic tots.
Again and again do we now hear from the very same countrymen of ours, who before the war kept calling up the authorities and imploring them to free their young son from service, because it was too hard for him—that it was a mistake not to have brought up our youth in a still harder and more Spartan way in peacetime. Just as the same spirits who formerly rejected the
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principle of youth being led by youth because of too early a development of self-assertion, doubtfully shaking their heads over
16-year-old platoon leaders ["Faehnlein Fuehrers"] today praise the prudence and maturity of the youngest lieutenants or are full of admiration for the lads who under a shower of bombs during British air raids are giving valuable aid at the risk of their young lives.
Letter to Schirach with the text of an article on the role of soldiers trained in Hitler Youth in the success of the war
Authors
Kaufman (gebietsfuehrer, author in Schwarzes Korps (1942))
Kaufman
- Additional details not yet available.
Date: 10 September 1942
Literal Title: How Much Does Youth Count Today?
Defendant: Baldur Schirach, von
Total Pages: 2
Language of Text: English
Source of Text: Nazi conspiracy and aggression (Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946.)
Evidence Code: PS-3930
Citation: IMT (page 10328)
HLSL Item No.: 453116
Trial Issue
Document Summary
PS-3930: Teletype to Reichstatthalter Vienna (Shirach) Emanating from [Illegible] Kaufmann for publication in the SS-Gazette 'The black Corps' am magnificent achievements of German young soldiers [Illegible] to education in Hitler Youth
PS-3930: Article by Gebietsfuhrer Kaufmann on the soldierly qualities of young people educated by the Hitler youth (transmitted to the editor of the "schwarzes korps", 10 September 1942, by the Reichsstatthalter of Vienna)