Glenn Beck and his unfortunate mouth once again brought something from the Nazi era to the forefront. His comparison to the domestic terrorist incident in Norway over the weekend was a piece of his worst journalism to date. Tasteless and hypocritical Beck makes most of America nauseated with his inane remarks. Yet, still he is provided a soap box to stand on. The bastardization of free speech at its best, once again.

Shortly after news of the bombing and massacre broke he was on the air with these remarks:

"There was a shooting at a political camp, which sounds a little like the Hitler Youth, or whatever," Beck said. "I mean, who does a camp for kids that's all about politics? Disturbing." In the same show, Beck tied Anders Behring Breivik, the man who confessed to carrying out the two-pronged massacre, to supporters of "big government." "He is doing the work of a madman. He is doing the work of what all people who want big government always do, and that is commit terrorist acts," Beck said. http://peoplesworld.org/the-real-problem-with-glenn-beck-s-norway-comments/

What? Did he even glance at the manifesto that Breivik wrote? If he had he would likely recognize himself and many of his right wing idealogues right there between the rambling pages.

" His words were met with immediate condemnation. Torbjorn Eriksen, the former press secretary to Norway’s prime minister, said the remark was a “new low.”

When Hitler rose to power there was in fact a Hitler Youth created. Many youth participated in it, including the current Catholic Pope. What? Yes, thats old news. What you probably don't know is that not every youth participated. While there was 90% participation, there was that 10% who did not.

At it's peak the three pronged organization of the Hitler Youth was the largest youth organization in the world. It consisted of the Bund Deutsches Madel for the girls, the Deutsches Jungvolk for boys 10 to 14 and the Jugend, 14 to 18. The thing is the real desire was to educate the boys in the desired men model. With a sense of entitlement and loyalty to the state at stake, the Nazi machine determined they could not wait until these children were men, they needed to start early in the indoctrination process.

As the true nature of the Hitler Youth became obvious, there were some who dropped out. This was no easy thing, since the organization was mandatory, you had to practically disappear to disassociate from it. When the Nazi made the group manadatory, all other organizations for youth were banned. In addition, parents were threatened if they did not sign their youth up for participation. This proved to be effective and hence the volume of participants. Yet, some did not participate.

Hundreds of children dropped out of school as a way to avoid being in the Hitler Youth. They could not risk being associated with the Hitler Youth if they dropped out, it was necessary to also drop out of sight. Huge groups of these children began to converge in various cities.

Boys from the ages of 14 to 18 were organizing in places like Frankfurt, Leipzig, Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Cologne. Known by names such as "pirates, swings, cliques and packs", they did their best to organize and sabotage efforts of the Nazi forces, including the Hitler Youth. The Hitler Youth which had grown steadily into a type of menacing, bullying entity which was stealing, vandalizing, fighting without fear of police reprisal, was now encouraging the opposite with the almost spontaneous formation of these kinds of anti-Nazi groups.

The Edelweiss Pirates were so named by the small Edelweiss pins and badges they wore were joined in force by various sub groups in different cities.The Farhtenstenze, or Traveling Dudes were from Essen, the Kittelbach Pirates were from Oberhaussen and Dusseldorf and the Navajos were from Cologne. Cologne had about 3000 participants and all totals were about 5000. 

 The groups would gather on street corners, cafes and other places, all seemingly harmless activities but outlawed for all with the exception of the Hitler Youth, so actually dangerous.

They held low paying factory jobs and were considered social outcasts. Their parents were not educated, and they were too young for miliary service. So they were well bonded together by their common experiences in avoiding the Hitler Youth, and what they could do without being associated with that. In way they were rough types, and some had prior run ins with the law. They proved their role as the war escalated. They helped deserting German soldiers, escapees from work and concentration camps, did important sabotage work, carried information and supplies to the resistance, stood up to Hitler Youth sometimes engaging them with guns, and played pranks, mostly tagging anti Hitler slogans everywhere they could.

Sometimes caught they were brutilized, murdered without trial or tortured and released. In the end, after the war they were actually prosecuted for some of what they did since the judges in place were actually from wartime.

 In 1988, the Edelweiss Pirates were recognized as ”Righteous among the Nations” by Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, but it was not until 2005, at the continued urging of Julich and Pirate Gertrud Koch that the group was ”politically rehabilitated,” the criminal status deemed them by the Gestapo was dropped and they were officially recognized as ”resistance fighters” and heroes. ”We were from the working classes. That is the main reason why we have only now been recognized,” Koch, 81, told reporter Cleaver. ”After the war there were no judges in Germany so the old Nazi judges were used and they upheld the criminalisation [sic] of what we did and who we were.” Koch, incidentally, ”still goes by her Edelweiss codename of Mucki,” reported Cleaver and is noted as mentioning of the Pirates, ”There are only five of us left in Cologne. Four of the boys and me.” from The Edelweiss Pirates: A Story of Freedome, Love and Life by Katie Kellerman, on the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation website.

 http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/saviors/others/edelweiss-pirates-story/

So, the kids in Norway attending a summer camp with ideas about leadership and politics, were gunned down. Beck, how the hell does that compare to the activities and purpose of Hitler Youth?

" To put the Norwegian tragedy in perspective. It was a major political assassination. To kill 90 young leaders of the Labor Party is like someone killing more than 5,000 young Democratic or progressive leaders at once place at one time. The next generation of political leaders has been decimated."

Kitty Kurth, of Kurth Lampe

So much for Beck and his understanding of Hitler Youth, young people and their abilities to do what is a right thing and his take on history, political leadership and life.  For every voice like Becks out there, if free speech is to continue, we need good people to stand up and tell us the history, the truth and promise of all that he apparently colors and distains. STAND UP AGAINST GLENN BECK, share the truth, remember the history.

Copyright 2011 by SheilaTGTG55