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Book: Children to a Degree - Growing Up Under the Third Reich by Horst Christian
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Authors: Horst Christian
Tags: Literature & Fiction, History, German, European, Germany, Europe, Continental European, Drama & Plays, Regional & Cultural, Dramas & Plays
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tear from his eyes. “Be a role model, Karl. But most of all be good.”
He went to bed because he had to leave for work early in the morning.
When Karl went to bed he could hardly sleep. The excitement of leaving home and traveling with a group of children to an unfamiliar destination was one thing. Saying goodbye to his parents was another and he loved his little brother and his sister.
The worst was still ahead of him: saying goodbye to his mother. He tried not to think of it and wondered if he had made the right decision, but sooner or later he would have to leave home anyhow. “ Might as well get used to it early on ,” he thought by himself.
***
The next morning was a beautiful day. Spring was coming and the bright and almost warm sun chased last night’s doubts from his mind. On the evening before, his mother had taken his sister and brother to the grandparents and was now traveling with him on the city train to Tegel where the river boat waited on the pier.
There were over 200 children crying and saying goodbye to their parents. Karl was not sure who cried the most. It was a toss-up between the adults and the kids.
There were also several boat workers who loaded the luggage on handcarts and rolled them into the freight room of the riverboat. This again caused a certain panic because some of the parents had no name tags attached to the baggage.
On this particular trip all of the children were between 8 and 9 years old and belonged to the Berliner school district of Kreuzberg. Karl knew the subway station of the area but that was about all. His luggage was already on board. As he stood next to his mother under the large sign marked “V” for the first letter of his last name he saw Rudy walking up to him. The squad leader was relieved when he spotted him. He shook hands with Karl’s mother and then slipped a white and red armband over Karl’s arm sleeve.
“Unterfuehrer” (sub leader) it proclaimed in big black letters.
“Say goodbye to your mother. I will console her. We need you to board the ship to install order among the kids. You are the only sub leader we have on this trip and the teachers will be happy to see you. Do it now.” He urged as he saw some hesitation on Karl’s part.
Karl was happy to be forced to say a fast goodbye. He kissed his mother’s tears away and closed his arms around her. “I love you Mutti. I will be back in six months,” he whispered in her ear and then disentangled himself from her arms. He snapped a salute at Rudy and walked with firm steps toward the boat.
Before he entered the gangway he turned around and waved to his mother and then snapped his sharpest salute in the direction of a small musical band of World War One invalids who played the German farewell song: “ Muss I denn aus dem staedeli hinaus. ” His salute was answered with a rousing shout of “Heil Hitler,” though he thought that he heard someone yelling “g o to Hell,” but he might have been mistaken. He could not discern his mother in the crowd, so he turned and entered the lower deck of the double deck boat.
As soon as he walked between the rows of crying and shouting children sitting on benches across the width of the ship he was discovered by a female teacher. “Over here, sub leader” she shouted in a warm voice and pointed to a seat next to the ship’s window. Karl was amazed that his name and designation was on a card pinned to back board of the seat bench.
“Does every child have their name on a seat?” he asked the teacher, who had a plain but friendly face. No lipstick. She looked older than his mother, which in his mind made her old.
“No, only the teachers have a reserved seat. My name is Frau Niehaus.” She offered Karl a handshake.
“My name is Karl Veth,” Karl introduce himself. Frau Niehaus smiled.
“I know,” she said pointing to his name on the seat. “You are the only sub leader on board.” She wanted to say more but a squeaky loudspeaker announced that
He went to bed because he had to leave for work early in the morning.
When Karl went to bed he could hardly sleep. The excitement of leaving home and traveling with a group of children to an unfamiliar destination was one thing. Saying goodbye to his parents was another and he loved his little brother and his sister.
The worst was still ahead of him: saying goodbye to his mother. He tried not to think of it and wondered if he had made the right decision, but sooner or later he would have to leave home anyhow. “ Might as well get used to it early on ,” he thought by himself.
***
The next morning was a beautiful day. Spring was coming and the bright and almost warm sun chased last night’s doubts from his mind. On the evening before, his mother had taken his sister and brother to the grandparents and was now traveling with him on the city train to Tegel where the river boat waited on the pier.
There were over 200 children crying and saying goodbye to their parents. Karl was not sure who cried the most. It was a toss-up between the adults and the kids.
There were also several boat workers who loaded the luggage on handcarts and rolled them into the freight room of the riverboat. This again caused a certain panic because some of the parents had no name tags attached to the baggage.
On this particular trip all of the children were between 8 and 9 years old and belonged to the Berliner school district of Kreuzberg. Karl knew the subway station of the area but that was about all. His luggage was already on board. As he stood next to his mother under the large sign marked “V” for the first letter of his last name he saw Rudy walking up to him. The squad leader was relieved when he spotted him. He shook hands with Karl’s mother and then slipped a white and red armband over Karl’s arm sleeve.
“Unterfuehrer” (sub leader) it proclaimed in big black letters.
“Say goodbye to your mother. I will console her. We need you to board the ship to install order among the kids. You are the only sub leader we have on this trip and the teachers will be happy to see you. Do it now.” He urged as he saw some hesitation on Karl’s part.
Karl was happy to be forced to say a fast goodbye. He kissed his mother’s tears away and closed his arms around her. “I love you Mutti. I will be back in six months,” he whispered in her ear and then disentangled himself from her arms. He snapped a salute at Rudy and walked with firm steps toward the boat.
Before he entered the gangway he turned around and waved to his mother and then snapped his sharpest salute in the direction of a small musical band of World War One invalids who played the German farewell song: “ Muss I denn aus dem staedeli hinaus. ” His salute was answered with a rousing shout of “Heil Hitler,” though he thought that he heard someone yelling “g o to Hell,” but he might have been mistaken. He could not discern his mother in the crowd, so he turned and entered the lower deck of the double deck boat.
As soon as he walked between the rows of crying and shouting children sitting on benches across the width of the ship he was discovered by a female teacher. “Over here, sub leader” she shouted in a warm voice and pointed to a seat next to the ship’s window. Karl was amazed that his name and designation was on a card pinned to back board of the seat bench.
“Does every child have their name on a seat?” he asked the teacher, who had a plain but friendly face. No lipstick. She looked older than his mother, which in his mind made her old.
“No, only the teachers have a reserved seat. My name is Frau Niehaus.” She offered Karl a handshake.
“My name is Karl Veth,” Karl introduce himself. Frau Niehaus smiled.
“I know,” she said pointing to his name on the seat. “You are the only sub leader on board.” She wanted to say more but a squeaky loudspeaker announced that
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