Kitty Werthmann
Kitty Werthmann survived Hitler.
“What I am about to tell you is something you’ve probably never heard or read in history books,” she likes to tell audiences.
“I am a witness to history.
“I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history.
Adolph Hitler
“We voted him in.”
If you remember the plot of the Sound of Music, the
Von Trapp family escaped over the Alps rather than submit to the Nazis.
Kitty wasn’t so lucky. Her family chose to stay in her native Austria.
She was 10 years old, but bright and aware. And she was watching.
“We elected him by a landslide – 98 percent of the vote,” she recalls.
She wasn’t old enough to vote in 1938 – approaching her 11th birthday. But she remembers.
“Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force.”
No so.
Hitler is welcomed to Austria
“In
1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce
was unemployed. We had 25 percent inflation and 25 percent 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.’
“We
looked to our neighbor on the north, Germany, where Hitler had been in
power since 1933.” she recalls. “We had been told that they didn’t have
unemployment or crime, and they had a high standard of living.
Austrian girls welcome Hitler
“Nothing
was ever said about persecution of any group – Jewish or otherwise. We
were led to believe that everyone in Germany 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,” remembers Kitty, “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.
Austrians saluting
“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.
“Then we lost religious education for kids
Poster promoting "Hitler Youth"
“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.”
And then things got worse.
“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,” remembers Kitty. “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.
A pro-Hitler rally
“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.
“Then food rationing began
“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.
Young Austrians
“It
was compulsory for young people, male and female, to give one year to
the labor corps,” remembers Kitty. “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.
“When the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government immediately established child care centers.
“You
could take your children ages four weeks old to school age and leave
them there around-the-clock, seven 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.
“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 percent 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, too
Austrian kids loyal to Hitler
“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, and then tell the
farmers what to produce, and how to produce it.
“In
1944, I was a student teacher in a small village in the Alps. The
villagers were surrounded by mountain passes which, in the winter, were
closed off with snow, causing people to be isolated.
“So
people intermarried and offspring were sometimes retarded. When I
arrived, I was told there were 15 mentally retarded adults, but they
were all useful and did good manual work.
“I
knew one, named Vincent, very well. He was a janitor of the school. One
day I looked out the window and saw Vincent and others getting into a
van.
“I
asked my superior where they were going. She said to an institution
where the State Health Department would teach them a trade, and to read
and write. The families were required to sign papers with a little
clause that they could not visit for 6 months.
“They were told visits would interfere with the program and might cause homesickness.
“As
time passed, letters started to dribble back saying these people died a
natural, merciful death. The villagers were not fooled. We suspected
what was happening. Those people left in excellent physical health and
all died within 6 months. We called this euthanasia.
“Then they took our guns
“Next
came gun registration. People were getting injured by guns. Hitler said
that the real way to catch criminals (we still had a few) was by
matching serial numbers on guns. Most citizens were law abiding and
dutifully marched to the police station to register their firearms. Not
long afterwards, the police said that it was best for everyone to turn
in their guns. The authorities already knew who had them, so it was
futile not to comply voluntarily.
Kitty Werthmann
“No
more freedom of speech. Anyone who said something against the
government was taken away. We knew many people who were arrested, not
only Jews, but also priests and ministers who spoke up.
“Totalitarianism
didn’t come quickly, it took 5 years from 1938 until 1943, to realize
full dictatorship in Austria. Had it happened overnight, my countrymen
would have fought to the last breath. Instead, we had creeping
gradualism. Now, our only weapons were broom handles. The whole idea
sounds almost unbelievable that the state, little by little eroded our
freedom.”
“This is my eye-witness account.
“It’s true. Those of us who sailed past the Statue of Liberty came to a country of unbelievable freedom and opportunity.
“America is truly is the greatest country in the world.
“Don’t let freedom slip away.
“After America, there is no place to go.”
Dr. Jim Garrow
On the early morning hours of March 1, 2012, conservative media firebrand Andrew Breitbart collapsed on a street near his home in Brentwood, CA. Breitbart was only 43 years old.
Best-selling author of techno-military thrillers Tom Clancy died last week on Oct. 2 at the age of 66.
The
history of civilization dating back some five millennia is one of
unrelenting tyranny, rapaciousness, arrogance, and stupidity. The
players and the places changed, but the slaughter was unremitting, the
suffering broken only by occasional brief periods of peace, good weather
and crops. For most of the past, war, famine, and disease killed most
people.
An election for President and Commander in Chief of the Military must strive to be above reproach. Our public institutions must give the public confidence that a presidential candidate has complied with the election process that is prescribed by our Constitution and laws. It is only after a presidential candidate satisfies the rules of such a process that he/she can expect members of the public, regardless of their party affiliations, to give him/her the respect that the Office of President so much deserves.
