Free Children to a Degree - Growing Up Under the Third Reich by Horst Christian Page B

knew something about the island of Usedom and the Imperial bath houses in Heringsdorf.
    Karl had been instructed by Rudy to report to the local HJ office. While Karl took these instructions seriously he also took them with a grain of salt. He figured that his first obligation was to his parents and not to the HJ. His first stop was to the local post office where he sent a letter to his parents and another one to his grandparents. They were not long letters. He had penned them while sitting in a center seat on the ship while he gave his window seat to one of the younger children. The letters were already sealed and stamped and he merely wrote a rrived safely on the back of the envelope when he posted them.
    The local HJ office, which doubled as the Jungvolk, informed him that due to his position as a subleader of a KLV camp he had been promoted to Jungschaftsfuehrer, the leader for the smallest and lowest unit in the Junkvolk. He was also told that if he performed as required he would receive another promotion after his six-month stint.
    The leader of the local office wanted to know if Karl desired to attend classes in the village school. At first he did not understand but then it made sense to him. He was now almost 12 years old and the teachers in the camp would be conducting classes for the 8- and 9-year-old children. On first impulse he wanted to reject the local school because he believed that he knew already the course material due to his studies for the Napola but then he remembered his grandfather’s lesson. While he believed that the village school could not teach him anything new, he realized that he did not know it.
    Before he left the office, Karl asked the HJ leader for the directions to the school and presented himself to the principal. He was a nice white-haired gentleman. Karl guessed that he was at least 60 years old. The principal studied the copies of Karl’s report card and scratched his head.
    “It seems that you are somewhat advanced for our school. If you come back next Monday morning, I will arrange a test equal to our graduation test.” He turned around on his Drehstuhl (swivel chair) and took some books from a shelf, which he handed to Karl. Here is something to read up on. They will help you to prepare.”
    Karl reached enthusiastically for the books. He had never encountered a book in which he had not learned something new or of value. Sometimes it was a subject he knew little about, sometimes it was a single sentence. But every time he read a book he was rewarded with a new or better understanding.
    “Thank you Herr…” There was no name shield on the desk.
    “My name is Groneberg,” said the principal.
    “Thank you, Herr Groneberg.” Karl pressed the book under his arm. He was happy that he had decided to visit the school. If nothing else he had now some new books to digest.
    The boys who had been on the ship were sheltered in two boarding houses. Karl was assigned with 95 children to a home bordering the dunes. He shared his bedroom with seven other boys. The Baltic Sea was about 200 feet from his bedroom window and the boys enjoyed listening to the gentle slapping of the waves at night. The instruction manuals he had received from Rudy called for the implementation of an activity plan. They gave no examples and Karl deduced that the reason for the missing activity plan or examples was probably due to the fact that the HJ had none.
    He was right. The KLV camp in Heringsdorf, a resort village, was the first camp of its kind. It was 1942 and there had been only a few voluntary camps in existence. They were mostly on working farms where the boys were required to assist the farmers with their daily chores. These KLV camps served actually a dual purpose. Most, if not all, of the farm workers had been drafted and the work was piling up for the farmer. The boys were a welcome help and at the same time they were safe from the air attacks.  In a sense Karl was a trial run for the KLV