Evening star., 1939-08-20
By TOM and HARLE DAMMANN.

czars; but since Poland regained
her independence after the war
LODI has been an important city in
the Polish Republic. So legally Hans
Is a Pole.
But Hans doesn't speak Polish we'll.
Three hundred years ago one of his
ancestors emigrated to Lodz from
Brunswick, Germany. And like that
ancestor, like his father and mother,
Hans speaks, reads and thinks Ger
man.
We met Hans in the Albert Forster
Youth Hotel in zoppot, the popular
German bathing resort on the Baltic
Sea, just inside the Free State and
halfway between Danzig and the
Polish port, Gdynia. From one win
dow in the central eating room we
could see the Polish trenches and
tank traps down in a little valley
and out at sea three destroyers
prowled about. From another win
dow we could see tank traps on the
Danzig side of the main road to
Gdynia.
Swimming Is Good.
We had gone to Zoppot for the
week end because there is good
swimming there. We stayed in the
hostel because hostels are always
good places to meet people and
rooms are cheap-it costs about Is
cents night We got the last two
beds and, aside from young SWede
who was hitch hiking through the
Baltic states, we were the only for
eigners. There was large troup
of young girls uniformed in white
blouses and blue things that looked
like work overalls and skirts COM
bined. There were several groups
of Hitler youth hiking from vari-
Gus parts of East Prussia to Nurem-
burg for the big party rally in Sep
tember.
Usually when you live in
youth hostel you are given one Of
the double-deck hunks and that be-
comes your headquarters as long as
you stay. You do all the work and
cook your own meals. The troops
of boys and girls who come to hos
tells always choose cook for the
night. But because we were for
eigners the "Haus Frau" arranged
things so that we could have room
to ourselves and some of the girls
cooked us a good supper of meat
balls, gravy, bread and hot choco-
late
After supper we went into the sit
ting room which was plainly fur
nished and decorated with pictures
of Hitler. Goering, Goebels, Albert
Forster. the Danzig Gau leader. for
whom the hotel is named, and other
leading national Socialists. The
room was a bedlam. On one side
girls sat at tables busily writing
in their diaries and reading aloud
excerpts midst much gigglng. At
the other end two boys played &C
cordions while others sang.
In one corner three girls and four
boys sat watching and quietly chat
ting together. They were all dressed
In ordinary street clothes except for
one who wore the uniform of lead
er of the Hitler Youth. He was
Hans.
Filled With Troopers.
We studied them for while and
finally chanced going over to strike
up a conversation.
Gould you tell us if there is an
other hotel in Danzig where we
might stay?" we asked.
I'm afraid you'll find them all
full now" Hans replied.
"Oh, of course, there must be a
lot of young Germans here now
that it is so warm and pleasant"
Germans, yes, but not boys and
girls, and not necessarily because it
is warm and pleasant here" Hans
laughed. The hotels are full of
SIS and SA men"
But what about that huge new
hostel on top of the hill almost
in the center of town? We hear
that's very modern and will hold
1000 people.
They all grinned Hans said Its
not finished yet. Anyway we won't
be able to use it for long time;
its reserved. You can't get very
near it now, because it's fenced off
by barbed wire and guarded by SIS
men"
We wanted to ask more about the
youth hostels and the uniformed
men and soldiers we had been seeing
In the street, but decided to wait.
Hans invited us to sit down and
introduced us to his friends, telling
us they all came from Poland.
"Oh, then you're Poles"
mo, we're not; we're Germans"
They were vehement.
Prom the CORRIDOR"
mo, no; from Lodz, farther south
and east" Hans said.
We asked what they were doing
In Danzig and Zoppot and the girls
and one boy said they were holiday
making.
I'VE three got kicked OUT; Hans
pointed to the two boys sitting on
his right.
"Why?"
because we're German"
One of the boys said. II just got
out of Jail"
What were you in for?" we asked
him.
Because I'm German"
Hans Gives Viewpoint.
The next day when we went SWIM
ming, Hans said the German people
in Lodz didn't expect to get into
the Reich in the near future. They
looked forward to the taking over
of the Free State and the Polish
Corridor in the hope that eventually
something would come of it for
them. He spoke bitterly of life in
Lodz where he had worked in a
textile factory. He said about $4,000
people of German descent lived
there and until recently they had
enjoyed comparative peace. But now
they are being thrown into Jail and
don't dare speak German on the
streets for fear of being beaten.