This is a very powerful blog. Dated, and discussed but should be revisited time to time for clarity
Still being validated at SNOPES since Dec 2012 with an Undetermined finding
=============================================
Truly is the Greatest Country in the World. Don't Let Freedom Slip Away
By: Kitty Werthmann
What I am about to tell you is something you've probably never heard
or will ever read in history books.
I believe that I am an eyewitness to history. I cannot tell you that
Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. We
elected him by a landslide - 98% of the vote.. I've never read that
in any American publications. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled
in with his tanks and took Austria by force.
In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our
workforce was unemployed. We had 25% inflation and 25% 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.
The Communist Party and the National Socialist Party were fighting
each other. Blocks and blocks of cities like Vienna , Linz , and Graz
were destroyed. The people became desperate and petitioned the
government to let them decide what kind of government they wanted.
We looked to our neighbor on the north, Germany , where Hitler had
been in power since 1933. We had been told that they didn't have
unemployment or crime, and they had a high standard of living.
Nothing was ever said about persecution of any group -- Jewish or
otherwise. We were led to believe that everyone 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, 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.
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.
Hitler Targets Education - Eliminates Religious Instruction for Children:
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.
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. 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. 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.
Equal Rights Hits Home:
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. It was compulsory for
young people, male and female, to give one year to the labor corps.
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.
Hitler Restructured the Family Through Daycare:
When the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government
immediately established child care centers. You could take your
children ages 4 weeks to school age and leave them there
around-the-clock, 7 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.
Health Care and Small Business Suffer Under Government Controls:
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% 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. 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, then tell the farmers what to produce, and how
to produce it.
"Mercy Killing" Redefined:
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.
The Final Steps - Gun Laws:
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 after-wards, 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.
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.
After World War II, Russian troops occupied Austria . Women were
raped, preteen to elderly. The press never wrote about this either.
When the Soviets left in 1955, they took everything that they could,
dismantling whole factories in the process. They sawed down whole
orchards of fruit, and what they couldn't destroy, they burned. We
called it The Burned Earth. Most of the population barricaded
themselves in their houses. Women hid in their cellars for 6 weeks as
the troops mobilized. Those who couldn't, paid the price. There is a
monument in Vienna today, dedicated to those women who were massacred
by the Russians. This is an 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 Truly is the Greatest Country in the World. Don't Let Freedom Slip Away
Still being validated at SNOPES since Dec 2012 with an Undetermined finding
=============================================
Truly is the Greatest Country in the World. Don't Let Freedom Slip Away
By: Kitty Werthmann
What I am about to tell you is something you've probably never heard
or will ever read in history books.
I believe that I am an eyewitness to history. I cannot tell you that
Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. We
elected him by a landslide - 98% of the vote.. I've never read that
in any American publications. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled
in with his tanks and took Austria by force.
In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our
workforce was unemployed. We had 25% inflation and 25% 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.
The Communist Party and the National Socialist Party were fighting
each other. Blocks and blocks of cities like Vienna , Linz , and Graz
were destroyed. The people became desperate and petitioned the
government to let them decide what kind of government they wanted.
We looked to our neighbor on the north, Germany , where Hitler had
been in power since 1933. We had been told that they didn't have
unemployment or crime, and they had a high standard of living.
Nothing was ever said about persecution of any group -- Jewish or
otherwise. We were led to believe that everyone 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, 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.
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.
Hitler Targets Education - Eliminates Religious Instruction for Children:
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.
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. 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. 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.
Equal Rights Hits Home:
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. It was compulsory for
young people, male and female, to give one year to the labor corps.
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.
Hitler Restructured the Family Through Daycare:
When the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government
immediately established child care centers. You could take your
children ages 4 weeks to school age and leave them there
around-the-clock, 7 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.
Health Care and Small Business Suffer Under Government Controls:
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% 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. 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, then tell the farmers what to produce, and how
to produce it.
"Mercy Killing" Redefined:
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.
The Final Steps - Gun Laws:
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 after-wards, 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.
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.
After World War II, Russian troops occupied Austria . Women were
raped, preteen to elderly. The press never wrote about this either.
When the Soviets left in 1955, they took everything that they could,
dismantling whole factories in the process. They sawed down whole
orchards of fruit, and what they couldn't destroy, they burned. We
called it The Burned Earth. Most of the population barricaded
themselves in their houses. Women hid in their cellars for 6 weeks as
the troops mobilized. Those who couldn't, paid the price. There is a
monument in Vienna today, dedicated to those women who were massacred
by the Russians. This is an 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 Truly is the Greatest Country in the World. Don't Let Freedom Slip Away
