SEAN - GEORG, TELL ME ABOUT YOUR FAMILY BACKGROUND
Georg - I grew up in Neu-koln, Berlin, my father was an Engineer before the first war, my mother stayed at home and i had 2 younger sisters. my father died in the war, he was in a reserve regiment on the western front, i think it was 1917 when he died, the last letter my mother recieved was dated December 1916.
I never met my father, well i certainly cannot recall meeting him due to my age when he died, i grew up not understanding where or why he died, i wasnt the only boy like this, many boys at my school had no father because of the war, i suppose we just got on with childhood without a father.
My mother would work during the morning whilst a neighbour looked after us, of course the neighbour was paid for this.
We lived in a block of small apartments in Neu - koln, ours was the top floor, we had to share a toilet with 2 other families on the same floor, sometimes we would eat together when money was bad, i thought for years that the other family who would join us where relatives of ours but they werent, i suppose it was needs must for people like us, we certainly had no holidays away from Berlin, in fact a trip to Mitte(Central Berlin) was an adventure for us.
SEAN - WAS POVERTY AN ISSUE FOR YOU AS A CHILD?
Georg - No not really, i mean we knew no different, our area was a poor working class area so we saw no difference, no class barriers.
SEAN - WHEN DID YOU FIRST HEAR OF HITLER AND THE NS PARTY?
Georg - I think it was in 1929-30, the depression was bad for us, i was working instead of being at School, i moved coal near to the Anhalter Bahnhof, the locomotives excited me so the work wasnt so bad, all my wages went to my mother for food, i was always hungry well we all were, sometimes the rich train passengers would leave half eaten food near to the exit barriers, it was almost a riot to get the scraps sometimes, you had no room for pride when your hungry.
I saw my first NS leaflet whilst at work, it was a speech by Hitler, i wasnt so interested, if i had some pepper id had probably eat it instead of reading it(smiling).
SEAN - HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH THE STURMABTEILUNG?
Georg - My friend Norbert told me about an SA meeting in a Bierhall in Neu Koln on the next Friday night, i went more because we were promised some soup and bread, Norbert was convinced by Hitlers promises even then.
So we went, it was crowded i think because of the free soup, no women just men and some younger teenagers like us, they were clever, they would only serve the soup after the speeches.
The speeches were dull and promised us bread and freedom, someone shouted "GIVE US THE BREAD WE CAN WAIT FOR THE FREEDOM COMRADE!", the whole hall erupted and a fight broke out, the SA men jumped from the small platform and,well it was scary, but i was so excited, i threw some punches but i have no idea who at, the SA men stood firm at the front and fighting spilled out into the street, the police arrived, some on horses and people ran in every direction, Norbert and myself stood and watched, SA men wearing brown shirts sang, i knew these men where my type of people and well, i wanted to be an SA Mann from that day.
SEAN - HOW SOON AFTER DID YOU JOIN?
Georg - The Monday after, i met the Trupp leader, he swore me in, i attended meetings and political speeches by local SA leaders, i wasnt so interested in speeches, i wanted action and in Neu koln it was everywhere, Neu Koln was a Redfront area, i wasnt so old but i was fiesty for a fight.
SEAN - DID YOU KNOW ANYBODY IN THE REDFRONT?
Georg - oh sure, look, we didnt live in different areas, we lived in the same blocks, the same streets, i would say hello to a friend who was in the Redfront then maybe fight at one of theyre meetings and sometimes wave over the room to them, it was serious stuff but we had fun times too.
SEAN - WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR UNIFORM FROM?
Georg - The Brownshirt was issued by my Sturm but we had to pay weekly for it, my armband was homemade. My kepi again was issued and paid for weekly, sometimes i couldnt pay but they were ok with this as long as you didnt miss payments often, i was so proud in my uniform, i felt i was part of something good.
SEAN - DID YOU HAVE MORE THEN ONE SHIRT OR KEPI?
Georg - No, i couldnt afford more then one of each, my mother would repair it when damaged in battle, she was good to me but didnt agree with my choice of being an SA mann, mainly because of my safety, its a mothers thing i suppose, my sisters would laugh at me with my uniform on, but they were young girls they didnt understand.
SEAN - HOW STRICT WERE THE UNIFROM REGULATIONS
Georg - very, we couldnt even have a button missing, alot of old soldiers where in our Sturm, smartness was everything to us, the Redfront had the reputation of being shabby and unclean.
SEAN - WHERE BUTTONS ALWAYS SMOOTH OR PEBBLED?
Georg - smooth silver buttons, i cannot recall anyone in my Sturm wearing military pebbled buttons, buttons were issued in bulk as we lost so many in fights and general wear and tear.
TO BE CONTINUED THIS WEEKEND, BEAR WITH ME FELLAS - SEAN
Georg - I grew up in Neu-koln, Berlin, my father was an Engineer before the first war, my mother stayed at home and i had 2 younger sisters. my father died in the war, he was in a reserve regiment on the western front, i think it was 1917 when he died, the last letter my mother recieved was dated December 1916.
I never met my father, well i certainly cannot recall meeting him due to my age when he died, i grew up not understanding where or why he died, i wasnt the only boy like this, many boys at my school had no father because of the war, i suppose we just got on with childhood without a father.
My mother would work during the morning whilst a neighbour looked after us, of course the neighbour was paid for this.
We lived in a block of small apartments in Neu - koln, ours was the top floor, we had to share a toilet with 2 other families on the same floor, sometimes we would eat together when money was bad, i thought for years that the other family who would join us where relatives of ours but they werent, i suppose it was needs must for people like us, we certainly had no holidays away from Berlin, in fact a trip to Mitte(Central Berlin) was an adventure for us.
SEAN - WAS POVERTY AN ISSUE FOR YOU AS A CHILD?
Georg - No not really, i mean we knew no different, our area was a poor working class area so we saw no difference, no class barriers.
SEAN - WHEN DID YOU FIRST HEAR OF HITLER AND THE NS PARTY?
Georg - I think it was in 1929-30, the depression was bad for us, i was working instead of being at School, i moved coal near to the Anhalter Bahnhof, the locomotives excited me so the work wasnt so bad, all my wages went to my mother for food, i was always hungry well we all were, sometimes the rich train passengers would leave half eaten food near to the exit barriers, it was almost a riot to get the scraps sometimes, you had no room for pride when your hungry.
I saw my first NS leaflet whilst at work, it was a speech by Hitler, i wasnt so interested, if i had some pepper id had probably eat it instead of reading it(smiling).
SEAN - HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH THE STURMABTEILUNG?
Georg - My friend Norbert told me about an SA meeting in a Bierhall in Neu Koln on the next Friday night, i went more because we were promised some soup and bread, Norbert was convinced by Hitlers promises even then.
So we went, it was crowded i think because of the free soup, no women just men and some younger teenagers like us, they were clever, they would only serve the soup after the speeches.
The speeches were dull and promised us bread and freedom, someone shouted "GIVE US THE BREAD WE CAN WAIT FOR THE FREEDOM COMRADE!", the whole hall erupted and a fight broke out, the SA men jumped from the small platform and,well it was scary, but i was so excited, i threw some punches but i have no idea who at, the SA men stood firm at the front and fighting spilled out into the street, the police arrived, some on horses and people ran in every direction, Norbert and myself stood and watched, SA men wearing brown shirts sang, i knew these men where my type of people and well, i wanted to be an SA Mann from that day.
SEAN - HOW SOON AFTER DID YOU JOIN?
Georg - The Monday after, i met the Trupp leader, he swore me in, i attended meetings and political speeches by local SA leaders, i wasnt so interested in speeches, i wanted action and in Neu koln it was everywhere, Neu Koln was a Redfront area, i wasnt so old but i was fiesty for a fight.
SEAN - DID YOU KNOW ANYBODY IN THE REDFRONT?
Georg - oh sure, look, we didnt live in different areas, we lived in the same blocks, the same streets, i would say hello to a friend who was in the Redfront then maybe fight at one of theyre meetings and sometimes wave over the room to them, it was serious stuff but we had fun times too.
SEAN - WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR UNIFORM FROM?
Georg - The Brownshirt was issued by my Sturm but we had to pay weekly for it, my armband was homemade. My kepi again was issued and paid for weekly, sometimes i couldnt pay but they were ok with this as long as you didnt miss payments often, i was so proud in my uniform, i felt i was part of something good.
SEAN - DID YOU HAVE MORE THEN ONE SHIRT OR KEPI?
Georg - No, i couldnt afford more then one of each, my mother would repair it when damaged in battle, she was good to me but didnt agree with my choice of being an SA mann, mainly because of my safety, its a mothers thing i suppose, my sisters would laugh at me with my uniform on, but they were young girls they didnt understand.
SEAN - HOW STRICT WERE THE UNIFROM REGULATIONS
Georg - very, we couldnt even have a button missing, alot of old soldiers where in our Sturm, smartness was everything to us, the Redfront had the reputation of being shabby and unclean.
SEAN - WHERE BUTTONS ALWAYS SMOOTH OR PEBBLED?
Georg - smooth silver buttons, i cannot recall anyone in my Sturm wearing military pebbled buttons, buttons were issued in bulk as we lost so many in fights and general wear and tear.
TO BE CONTINUED THIS WEEKEND, BEAR WITH ME FELLAS - SEAN
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