Evening star., 1933-01-29

rushing pell-mell from their quarters
to the cobbled parade ground. Gen
Kallenbach. in charge of the training
camp. was wasting no time No doubt
he felt that his exercises had been de-
layed long enough.
There were ITO men at Castle York
undergoing an intensive three weeks
course. The instruction included pa
background drill. physical training eX-
ercises. extended order drill, difficult
obstacle races" and preliminary work
with small arms, minnewerfers. etc
wooden dummy arms. Of course. The
obstacle race" was interesting to watch
and exhausting to perform. The OBJ
stacles were such as might be encoun-
tered under semi-open warfare condi-
tions. Here was the sequence:
Log barricade, barbed-wire entangle-
ment, three-foot wall, low barbed wire
under which men crawled tediously on
their bellies, trench section. more barb
ed wire, trenches, plain, low hurdles,
l0-foot horizonal bars, parados OF
trench, seven-foot wall a water filled
ditch and in conclusion some easy
hurdles. In groups of 10 each the s.
AS approached these hazards. At the
finish the groups were reaSSembled, and
the entire unit marched past the Nazi
nag. giving the Hitler salute.
In Silesia alone there are at least
six Of these training camps. say "at
least six because there Is secrecy about
certain training bases. The policy of
the Hitlerites is not to train men in
large groups, nor to go in for mass ma
neuvers, but to give intensive training
at threescore or more camps, with
groups Of about 100 at each camp.
Most Of these intensive training camps
have been started during the last six
Castle York was inaugurated in June.
1882.
A senior Nad officer estimated that
between $4,000 and 100000 young men
can thus be made physically fit by
means of three-week courses during a
12-month period. Youths who are OBJ
served to be the kind of raw material
which might be whipped into officers
are allowed to stay several months. and
perhaps they are sent to special officers
training camps.
Quite q potential army" indis-
creetly remarked to one of the officers.
1T IS ridiculous to call 1t an army"
he retorted. These exercises combine
the best elements of sports and physical
training. The men can't even get q
smattering Of war training In SO short a
period. But German youth must be
trained and disciplined. These courses
| supply the foundation"
There are admitted to be between
$4,000 and 100000 Sturm- -Abteilung
members in Germany at the present
! time December, 1882. These men are
not paid They even pay for their own
uniforms and, except when they are
| transported in NaZi trucks, they must
| provide their own travelling expenses.
Between II and 80.
Most Of the s. AS are between II and
| 30. The vast majority are unmarried.
| Without doubt, Germany'S unemployed
have aided materially in augmenting
Hitler's army" Approximately two
thirds Of the S. AS are unemployed,
and they look forward to three profit
| able and well fed weeks at the Nazi
| training camps.
These are ofilcered mostly by men
with actual war experience. This ap-
plies, almost without exception, to the
senior officers. Some Of the officers
under 80 are, Of course. too young to
have served during the 1914-1918 fracas.
but even many Of these have had ex-
perience with such units as the Ross
bach Free Corps and the black"
| Reichwehr.
Many Of the Maxi camps are located
on the large estates Of Germany's aris-
| tocracy. And this raises an interesting
question: Why have the aristocracy
turned over expensive castle grounds
| and estates to the Hitlerites? There are
several possible answers
Large estates. especially those with
elaborate castles, are terrifically taxed.
But II an owner turns his estate over to
an organization for "philanthropic"
purposes, his taxes are proportionately
reduced or even. in the case of taxes
levied against the buildings, remitted.
Another possible answer is this: If
you were q large landowner and one Of
the most important political parties ia
vored q form Of socialization,l including
partitioning Of large estates, wouldn't t
you consider it excellent insurance" to
offer this party the use Of part of your
estate?
Also estate owners may consider that
they are doing q national service in
facilitating the training Of German
youth: and many may genuinely SYM
pathize with Hitler's aspirations. Sew
are high officers in the Na1 army"
and there are others in the rank and
file. The roster IS an extended one, be-
ginning with Prince August Wilhelm
(popuArly called Prince Au' wiz, the
fourth son of the ex-Kaiser. and rum
ming on down through the list until we
find one son Of the ex-Crown Prince
in an ordinary 8. A. uniform.
But let's return TO the Castle York
grounds and to the exercises there.
Continued on Third Page.)