Letters to the editor are published as a
courtesy and do not necessarily reflective of the opinions of the
Middletown Insider staff. Below is a submission from Middletown Republican Town Committee Chair Ken McClellan.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is a reprint of an email from Kitty
Werthman, 85 years old when she wrote this, she grew up in Austria
before and during World War II.
I can’t verify the authenticity of the author, but the facts presented are accurate.
Thanks,
Ken McClellan
America Truly is the Greatest Country in the World. Don’t Let Freedom Slip Away
By: Kitty Werthmann
What I am about to tell you is something you’ve probably never heard or will ever read in history books.
I
believe that I am an eyewitness to history. I cannot tell you that
Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. We
elected
him by a landslide – 98% of the vote. I’ve never read that in any
American publications. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with
his tanks and took Austria by force.
In 1938,
Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was
unemployed. We had 25% inflation and 25% bank loan interest rates.
Farmers
and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily. Young people were
going from house to house begging for food. Not that they didn’t want to
work; there simply weren’t any jobs. My mother was a Christian woman
and believed in helping people in need. Every day we cooked a big kettle
of soup and baked bread to feed those poor, hungry people – about 30
daily.
The Communist Party and the National
Socialist Party were fighting each other. Blocks and blocks of cities
like Vienna, Linz and Graz were destroyed. The people became desperate
and petitioned the government to let them decide what kind of government
they wanted.
We looked to our neighbor on the
north, Germany, where Hitler had been in power since 1933. We had been
told that they didn’t have unemployment or crime, and they had a high
standard of living. Nothing was ever said about persecution of any group
— Jewish or otherwise. We were led to believe that everyone was happy.
We wanted the same way of life in Austria. We were promised that a vote
for Hitler would mean the end of unemployment and help for the family.
Hitler also said that businesses would be assisted, and farmers would
get their farms back. Ninety-eight percent of the population voted to
annex Austria to Germany and have Hitler for our ruler.
We
were overjoyed, and for three days we danced in the streets and had
candlelight parades. The new government opened up big field kitchens and
everyone was fed.
After the election, German
officials were appointed, and like a miracle, we suddenly had law and
order. Three or four weeks later, everyone was employed. The government
made sure that a lot of work was created through the Public Work
Service.
Hitler decided we should have equal rights
for women. Before this, it was a custom that married Austrian women did
not work outside the home. An able-bodied husband would be looked down
on if he couldn’t support his family.
Many women in
the teaching profession were elated that they could retain the jobs they
previously had been required to give up for marriage.
Hitler Targets Education – Eliminates Religious Instruction for Children:
Our
education was nationalized. I attended a very good public school. The
population was predominantly Catholic, so we had religion in our
schools. The day we elected Hitler (March 13, 1938), I walked into my
schoolroom to find the crucifix replaced by Hitler’s picture hanging
next to a Nazi flag. Our teacher, a very devout woman, stood up and told
the class we wouldn’t pray or have religion anymore. Instead, we sang
“Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles,” and had physical education.
Sunday
became National Youth Day with compulsory attendance. Parents were not
pleased about the sudden change in curriculum. They were told that if
they did not send us, they would receive a stiff letter of warning the
first time. The second time they would be fined the equivalent of $300,
and the third time they would be subject to jail. The first two hours
consisted of political indoctrination. The rest of the day we had
sports. As time went along, we loved it. Oh, we had so much fun and got
our sports equipment free. We would go home and gleefully tell our
parents about the wonderful time we had.
My mother
was very unhappy. When the next term started, she took me out of public
school and put me in a convent. I told her she couldn’t do that and she
told me that someday when I grew up, I would be grateful. There was a
very good curriculum, but hardly any fun – no sports, and no political
indoctrination. I hated it at first but felt I could tolerate it.
Every
once in a while, on holidays, I went home. I would go back to my old
friends and ask what was going on and what they were doing. Their loose
lifestyle was very alarming to me. They lived without religion. By that
time unwed mothers were glorified for having a baby for Hitler. It
seemed strange to me that our society changed so suddenly. As time went
along, I realized what a great deed my mother did so that I wasn’t
exposed to that kind of humanistic philosophy.
Equal Rights Hits Home:
In
1939, the war started and a food bank was established. All food was
rationed and could only be purchased using food stamps. At the same
time, a full-employment law was passed which meant if you didn’t work,
you didn’t get a ration card, and if you didn’t have a card, you starved
to death. Women who stayed home to raise their families didn’t have any
marketable skills and often had to take jobs more suited for men.
Soon
after this, the draft was implemented. It was compulsory for young
people, male and female, to give one year to the labor corps. During the
day, the girls worked on the farms, and at night they returned to their
barracks for military training just like the boys. They were trained to
be anti-aircraft gunners and participated in the signal corps. After
the labor corps, they were not discharged but were used in the front
lines. When I go back to Austria to visit my family and friends, most of
these women are emotional cripples because they just were not equipped
to handle the horrors of combat. Three months before I turned 18, I was
severely injured in an air raid attack. I nearly had a leg amputated, so
I was spared having to go into the labor corps and into military
service.
Hitler Restructured the Family Through Daycare:
When
the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government
immediately established child care centers. You could take your children
ages 4 weeks to school age and leave them there around-the-clock, 7
days a week, under the total care of the government. The state raised a
whole generation of children.. There were no motherly women to take care
of the children, just people highly trained in child psychology. By
this time, no one talked about equal rights. We knew we had been had.
Health Care and Small Business Suffer Under Government Controls:
Before
Hitler, we had very good medical care. Many American doctors trained at
the University of Vienna . After Hitler, health care was socialized,
free for everyone. Doctors were salaried by the government. The problem
was, since it was free, the people were going to the doctors for
everything. When the good doctor arrived at his office at 8 a.m., 40
people were already waiting and, at the same time, the hospitals were
full. If you needed elective surgery, you had to wait a year or two for
your turn. There was no money for research as it was poured into
socialized medicine. Research at the medical schools literally stopped,
so the best doctors left Austria and emigrated to other countries.
As
for healthcare, our tax rates went up to 80% of our income. Newlyweds
immediately received a $1,000 loan from the government to establish a
household. We had big programs for families. All day care and education
were free. High schools were taken over by the government and college
tuition was subsidized. Everyone was entitled to free handouts, such as
food stamps, clothing, and housing.
We had another
agency designed to monitor business. My brother-in-law owned a
restaurant that had square tables. Government officials told him he had
to replace them with round tables because people might bump themselves
on the corners. Then they said he had to have additional bathroom
facilities. It was just a small dairy business with a snack bar. He
couldn’t meet all the demands. Soon, he went out of business. If the
government owned the large businesses and not many small ones existed,
it could be in control.
We had consumer protection.
We were told how to shop and what to buy. Free enterprise was
essentially abolished. We had a planning agency specially designed for
farmers. The agents would go to the farms, count the live-stock, then
tell the farmers what to produce, and how to produce it.
Continued:
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
