Page View
Military government weekly information bulletin
Number 74 (January 1947)
Press and radio comments, pp. 24-43
PDF (10.3 MB)
Page 32
OCCUPATION PROGRESS REVIEWED (Continued from page 18) tional framework for coordinating and supervising youth work. On the whole the program for German youth is developing in a satisfactory manner, and there are many hopeful signs that good leadership is emerging and the goals for German youth are being achieved. Looking ahead, it is anticipated that the economic situation will show substantial im- provement, and that the development of democratic government and of German Youth Activities will progress even more favorably during the coming year. These factors should lead towards a peaceful, self-supporting, and democratic Germany, provided you, the Ger- man people, have a'n honest desire to reach this goal. The support -you give your own elected government, your, productive efforts in agriculture and industry, as well as your general attitude towards democratic proce- dure during the coming year, will be care- fully noted as a measure of your desire. Believing that the great mass of German peopf sincerely wish to attain this end, I express the hope that your next and suc- ceeding Christmas holidays will prove hap- pier than those upon which you are now entering. YOUTH AMNESTY EXTENSION Finally, I have approved an extension of the terms of the Youth Amnesty to approxi- mately 800,000 individuals who are not chargeable under the Law for Liberation from National Socialism and Militarism as major offenders or offenders, and whose financial status conclusively shows that they have not profited from Nazi greed and am- bition. This Amnesty will also include those persons not chargeable as major offenders or offenders who suffer from more than fifty percent disability. I am sure that this Am- nesty will permit German administration to proceed more vigorously to seek out and punish the -active Nazis who brought de- struction on their country and at the same time will encourage those who come under its terms to seek the ways of democracy. Details will be announced today by my Office of Military Government. * * * Another recent statement by the Military Governor reviewed the US Army's youth activities program. It is printed below in its entirety. German youth have responded to their new freedom to join groups of their own choosing to an extent far greater than was expected by Military Government youth officials. In recent weeks there has been an accelerated upswing in the number of groups authorized and the volume of par- ticipants. This growth can be seen best by consider- ing the fact that membership in youth groups jumped in the last three months from 477,734 as of 1 August 1946, to 718,192 as of 1 No- vember 1946, a gain of 241,000, or approx- imately 50 percent. Organized groups also in- creased from 2,901 to 6,621. In November an additional 1,200 groups have been authorized. GROWTH RESULT OF ARMY AID This spurt forward has come about as the result of several factors, primary of which has been the 5 October directive which made possible the greatly increased Army assis- tance program. This program is already undergirding and strengthening existing Ger- man organizations and encouraging new programs to spring into life. Nearly 1,000 military personnel are actively engaged in assistance to German youth activities. As a matter of fact, US troops have play- ed a very important role in the revival of Germany's youth activities from the very end of the war. At that time the Hitler Jugend, which was the only youth group permitted under the Nazis, was disbanded and youth life was completely disorganized. As early as September 1945 local troop detachments began to assist youth groups to come to life on a democratic basis. These troops have organized sports events, youth days, and youth clubs; directed discussion 32
As a work of the United States government, this material is in the public domain.| For information on re-use see: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/Copyright