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534,000 Telephones
Used by Germans
The civil telephone system consists
of 534,000 telephones in use by Ger-
man subscribers in the US-occupied
areas, excluding the state of Bremen,
an increase of some 7,000 main line
and 6,200 extension telephones during
the three-month period ending Nov. 30,
1947. In addition, there are more than
41,500 telephones serving the occupa-
tionol forces which are connected to
German switchboards operated and
maintained by the Reichspost.
Telephones currently In service on
Reichspost switchboards  constitute
more than 75 percent of the total in
use in the same area at the end of
the fiscal year 1937, and an increase
of 21 percent during the past 12
months.
The number of telephone central
offices in service remained unchanged
during the reporting period at 1,713,
although the Reichspost was making
steady progress in the rehabilitation
and expansion of switchboards de-
spite the continued shortage of main-
tenance items and materials for new
construction, as well as plants for the
manufacture of telecommunications
equipment.
The number of central offices now
in service exceeds the total employed
in 1937 by 15, although the capacity
of equipment currently in use was
seriously reduced by damage suffered
during the war. - Military Gover-
nor's Report No. 30.
Scholarships Created
One hundred Berlin students will
receive scholarships of RM 200 each
from an aid grant made by US Mili-
tary Government to a German Student
Scholarship Committe, education offi-
cials of OMG Berlin Sector have an-
nounced.
The scholarship will be awarded to
students with outstanding scholastic
records who are in extreme financial
need. They will be applicable at three
Berlin educational institutions - the
Technical University, Teachers Uni-
versity, and the University of Berlin.
APRIL 6, 1948
An appeal to Americans In Germany
to help teach democracy among the
youth of Germany was made recently
by Miss Margaret Sorenson, EUCOM
GYA educational adviser In Frankfurt.
Miss Sorenson addressed an audience
of military and civilian personnel at
the Harnack House Berlin, after the
showing of two Hitler Youth films.
Part of her speech follows:
We cannot use words to explain to
the Germans that democracy works if
given a chance. We've got to demon-
strate it. Not just a few of us must do
the demonstrating. It will take all of
us by hundreds of big and little acts
of humanity, fair play, and under-
standing to teach the German youth
the real meaning, of democracy ...
Years of indoctrination into Nazi
principles were followed by a com-
plete vacuum after Germany's defeat.
Youngsters who are accustomed to
having their thinking done for them,
and every waking moment of their
day vigorously planned for them,
suddenly found themselves without a
director or a direction.
The children with whom you work
and play In GYA Youth Centers today
will be the leaders of the Germany
of tomorrow. You have a chance to
be the guiding influence in the lives
of some of these youth.
Re-orienting these children is not a
task that can be accomplished in an
hour, or a year, or even five years
Their minds have, over a period of
years, been filled with the wrong
concepts and they cannot be quickly
changed. However, with all of work-
ing wholeheartedly on the task, they
can be changed.
To a German child, democracy can
be the lady who smiled at him as she
passed him on the street. It can be
the bundle of warm clothing that is
going to make the winter easier. It
can be the rollicking unrestrained
laughter of a group at play.
The American women are going to
have to take this job of reorientation
in hand and work at it. To be an
ideal democratic citizen you don't have
to understand the framework of demo-
cracy, but you must have from birth
lived in a democratic and free at-
mosphere. We must provide the Ger-
man youth with new moral, social, and
political incentives to Invite active
participation in the reconstruction of
their country.
You may be able to contribute only
an hour of your time each week.
Girls of the Wetzlar GYA Center write letters to Campfire Girls In
Detroit, Mich., thanking them for the receipt of shoes, clothing and
party kits. Mrs. Lawrence P. Fick (book In hand) wife of the Wetzlar
post GYA officer, helps the girls put their Ideas on paper. (Signal Corps)
INFORMATION BULLETIN
Aid Sought in Advancing GYA
9