Children to a Degree - Growing Up Under the Third Reich by Horst Christian

administration.
    All of the activity plans Karl initiated had to be reported to the KLV and the HJ headquarters in Berlin. Many of his plans were later adopted as examples or became mandatory. Karl was keenly aware of the emphasis the HJ placed on physical education and activities and he was not about to let his personal preferences for academic studies interfere with his task.
    But first he conferred with Frau Niehaus and Frau Seeger as to their school plan. He wanted to be mindful of the hours the boys were already occupied. He did not bother to consult with the third teacher who made a point of avoiding him. He did not even know her name. Besides, most of the time she seemed to be sleeping. Frau Niehaus was in charge of his facility and Frau Seeger was in charge of the other rooming house.
    Karl’s first questions concerned Helmut. The little boy without friends and from a different school district was on Karl’s mind and he was kind of leaning on Frau Seeger to find out about it.
    Then he started to develop his first activity plan with something obvious. At least it was obvious for him and became mandatory in all camps the moment he reported it to Berlin.
    He initiated a ‘Letter to Home’ hour. Twice each week, for one hour at a time, he required that the boys write a letter home. He helped the boys by posting writing subjects on a blackboard. Topics ranged from the food they ate, descriptions of shells and other things they found on the beach, all the way to their physical activities. He also wrote on the blackboard a sample of the correct way to address an envelope. When he saw that a boy was struggling with the writing, he assigned one of his deputies to assist the ‘partner’. In the beginning he addressed every one of the boys as ‘partner’ because he was unable to remember all their names. During the hours the boys were writing home he wrote the articles for the Jungvolk periodical and the school paper.
    Karl’s next activity item was also obvious. After all, the camp was on the Baltic Sea, so he initiated swimming instructions. He himself did not know how to swim and neither did any of the teachers. He solved this predicament by going to the HJ office and asking for help. Since the local boys were born by the sea, there was no shortage of instructors. Within a few weeks Karl knew how to swim. He liked it so much that he participated in all the water activities.
    Two days after Karl had implored Frau Seeger to find out about Helmut, he had his answer. It turned out that on the day of their departure from Berlin there had been a second ship destined to the Baltic Sea. Both of the ships had the same name except that they were differentiated by the number 1 and the number 2.
    Helmut, by some kind of error, had wound up on the wrong boat and his real destination was Ahlbeck. It was the village the boys had stayed overnight at on their march to Heringsdorf. Karl asked Gert-his strongest deputy- to assemble a team of six boys to walk Helmut to his real destination and also to carry his suitcases.
    A little bit later Gert approached him in the dining hall. “I selected six boys, but two of them refuse to carry any suitcases. What do you want me to do?” Karl got up from his chair and blew the whistle. There were about 50 boys in the room from the second seating who now paid attention to him.
    “I need six volunteers to carry two suitcases to Ahlbeck. You will leave early on Saturday morning. Before you return you are allowed one free hour to explore the village.”
    Karl could see more than ten hands in the air. “Make your selection,” he said to Gert and sat down again. Frau Seeger showed up next to Karl.
    “I think that I should go with them,” she said. “Just to make sure they go to the right place and don’t get lost.”
    Karl shook his head. “There is only a single road connecting us to Ahlbeck and they will not get lost in the small village. But if you insist, you better ask again for