Children To A Degree - Growing Up Under the Third Reich by Christian Horst

Author:Christian, Horst [Christian, Horst]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Horst Christian
Published: 2013-11-30T16:00:00+00:00

Twelve

Karl enjoyed the stupid look he received from the boys. He was just about to start the conversation again when the order for Koppelschluss prompted the boys to firm up. He reached for the belts of the Herberts, determined not to let go.

He looked down the length of the boulevard where a group of Wehrmacht (army) motorcyclists came up. They were followed by several black Mercedes limousines which carried officers of the Wehrmacht and the SS.

All of them stopped for a moment between the HJ cordon and the grandstand to unload the military bigwigs. As each of the officers reached their designated seat, the loudspeakers announced their rank followed by their name.

Karl could clearly see Franz Halder from the General Staff and Wilhelm Keitel, the chief commander of the Wehrmacht. This was also the first time that he saw Admiral E. Raeder, Chief of the German Navy. The loudspeaker announced many names he did not recognize and he was surprised that apparently none of the well-known Panzer officers were present.

The dignitaries were barely seated when another motorcycle brigade announced the final two limousines. The first one stopped again in the same place and Karl heard that the dignitary was none other than the Chief of the German Intelligence Service, W.F. Canaris. He was accompanied by Dr. Josef Goebbels, the propaganda Minister of Germany.

The last car was a black Mercedes convertible. It carried Adolf Hitler and stopped about fifty feet short of the grandstand. As usual on these occasions, Herr Hitler got out and walked over to the cordon of the Jungvolk and started to shake hands with some of the boys. As he slowly walked towards Karl’s position the pressure of the throng of people behind the human barrier became nearly too much to bear. The crowd roared constantly their hail, hail, hail and pushed forward to get a better look at their beloved Fuehrer.

Karl noted that Herr Hitler walked alone; no body guards or secret service agents were needed to protect him because the population loved him. Karl counted that the Fuehrer shook hands with every fifth or so boy from the barrier detail. He started to figure in his head what the chances were that the Fuehrer would shake hands with him or at least lock eyes with him. But about 15 feet from Karl the Fuehrer turned away from the cordon and crossed the street towards his place on the grandstand.

Karl was more than disappointed but his mood changed when the first Panzerjaeger (panzer hunter) vehicles rolled slowly by. They were followed by all terrain troop carriers and the only difference seemed to be the thickness of the armor protecting the wheels.

The most impressive thing was the exact distance the vehicles kept between each other. It was as if they were all connected by invisible steel rods. After they passed, the air started to fill with the deep roar of the approaching heavy Tiger I engines.

The 101st SS Tiger I Panzer Battalion was grinding slowly but steadily toward them.

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