In the summer of 1934 I was also in Germany and traveled the country from Königsberg to Friedrichshafen and from Bremerhaven to Berchtesgaden. Certainly, I was always in a hurry, but I still met and talked with many men and women from all occupations. I paid special attention to the worker and his sphere of activity in daily life.

In Germany’s larger cities I attended many meetings of workers and their leaders. The central point of their discussions was always the idea and the question of the "life interests of the worker". I came to the conviction that one finds an energetic movement in Germany whose goal is to raise the life standard of the workers, of the simple man in the city and in the countryside, by the most diverse means and by new methods. I must repeatedly point out that the new government has overcome the previous class struggle and created the desired unity of all segments of the industrious German people. I find a national brotherhood among them, an admirable comradeship. Workers and people of other occupations work together without any difference in their rank or social position and without regard for the wealth or poverty of their families.

If one wants to fully understand what has been done in Germany for the worker, one must not forget that there were seven million unemployed when National Socialism came to power. If one figures in the women and children, that means that one fourth of the entire nation was dependent on state support! The new government combated unemployment to such a degree that today three million have again found work. This has naturally given them the means to live, and their work in turn creates work and bread for the entirety, because the government and the people are of the same mind in their goals and efforts. This fact alone should bring success to the government’s fight against unemployment.

I have the impression that Germany wishes a happier, health nation. The example the Führer himself gives through his simple life style has produced new trust and joy in all of those who were previously in a state of dissatisfaction and hopelessness. The German worker’s will to work has been greatly strengthened. Germany sees its people gain strength through a feeling of happiness and again becomes strong. The movement called "Strength through Joy" gives the people new life interest. "Strength through Joy" plays a very important role in the New Germany. The efforts of this organization are directed at improving the lot of the common man who - throughout the world – previously had a relatively sad existence. In the New Germany this organization gives him a better general knowledge, awakens new life interests, gives him new work strength through recreation and entertainment, hence brings him genuine life joy! It has thus taken the organization of free time into its ordering, leading hand. Planned work and sensible free time form the day of the German worker. "Strength through Joy" is the recognition of the total freedom of the individual. Nobody is compelled to participate or spend money in the evening. Whoever finds entertainment in his fashion is free to pursue it. The organization endeavors to create recreation and entertainment in every conceivable rotation, every kind of recreation that is at the same time connected to the cultural education of the people. In other words, it gives the worker and is family an opportunity to enjoy the success of his work, to see the beauty of nature and to rise to a higher standard of culture. And how has this been made possible, the reader asks? It can be explained this way: The "German Work Front" that combines all issues affecting the worker has turned over this social-political work to the organization "Strength through Joy". "Strength through Joy" itself has several divisions whose designations show that the "German Work Front" takes many paths to raise the entire life standard of the German worker. These include sports, inexpensive vacation travel, beautification of residence and workplace, better nourishment in the factories and much more. The highest cultural pleasures are also made available to the masses in the appropriate form. It is an educational work that develops the taste for beauty and at the same time shows the path to national art. In this manner the old culture is awakened again. A special division of the organization, the "Culture Group", occupies itself with all issues of culture and cultural events. It organizes special events in all areas of culture, concerts and festive gatherings, and it makes arrangements for free performances, for free tickets or for tickets at extremely cheap prices for plays, operas, concerts and the like. For example, in the "Theater an the Nollendorfplatz" in Berlin a series of operas was performed and the tickets only cost 70 Pfennig for each performance. The program of this series included Beethoven’s "Fidelio" and "Die Fledermaus" by Johann Strauss among others. The largest theater in Berlin, formerly called "Grosse Schauspielhaus", is now named "Theater of the People". The most famous German plays with first-class casts are performed there every evening. EACH seat costs 50 Pfennig and the unemployed receive free tickets!

Further divisions of the organization are: the office "Traveling and Hiking", "Sports Office", "Folk and Homeland", the "Office for Education", the "Office for Beauty of Work" and the "Office for self-help and settlement". Indeed, "Strength through Joy" has made it its task to bring genuine joy into the life of the simple worker and his family! The office "Traveling and Hiking" organizes cheap excursions and trips through all of Germany. Thousands of people who had never seen the sea have pleasurable vacation days on the seashore or experience sea trips to the island Wight or to the Norwegian fjords. A steamship trip of seven days on the steamer "Berlin" costs only 23 Reichsmark. This price includes breakfast with coffee, eggs, rolls and oatmeal porridge, a midday meal with three or four courses, a dinner and later sandwiches as well as coffee and cake in the course of the afternoon. Another seven day trip through Germany, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Rhineland and the Black Forest costs between 30 and 34 Reichsmark, inclusive of travel ticket, plentiful meals, sleeping quarters and sightseeing! This enables an East Prussian to travel on the Rhine or a North German to visit Bavaria. The Rhinelander can travel to the Black Forest and the Bavarian is in the position to see the North Sea or the Baltic Sea. The Sport Office organizes instructional courses for every kind of sport for both men and women: gymnastics, running, swimming, light athletics, soccer, tennis, boxing, skiing and sailing. EVERY citizen can participate in these courses. He does NOT have to be a member of the National Socialist party. It suffices to fill out a participation form at the Sport Office. One can become a member for the small fee of 20 Pfennig per year and thereby receive the programs listing the sporting events of the office. For light athletics there are community courses for men and women as well as community courses for swimming in various public swimming pools. Separate courses have been established for the other kinds of sports. The special courses for women are called, for example, "Joyous Gymnastics and Games". The boxing course for men enjoys a very strong attendance.

The division "Folk and Homeland" organizes tours for the worker through the splendid museums and galleries, great factories and government facilities, a porcelain factory or a cigar factory, a large power station or a slaughterhouse, a radio station or an observatory, a thousand year old church or castle ruins.

The "Office for Education" conducts inexpensive courses in foreign languages, bookkeeping, history, genealogy and shorthand. Here, too, anybody can take these courses. The "Office for Beauty and Work" was created in the realization that the workplace is a kind of second home for the workers. Therefore, the work quarters, the factory halls, the courtyards and canteens, the dressing rooms and washrooms should look clean and orderly. Everything should not just be practical, but also attractive. The division "Office for Self-help and Settlement" advises and supports those work comrades who wish to give up life in the city and return to the land.

It is generally known that the new government wishes to preserve the great cultural works of the German past, including the prehistoric period. Knowledge and care for German culture is the best guarantee for Germany’s unity. In Oldenburg I had a look at the prehistoric period. I attended the filming of a German culture film. During the excavations I had the opportunity to look at the culture of the bronze ear and the stone era. Later I attended the launching of a reconstruction of an old German ship from the year 400 at Lemwerder. It was manned by eighty sailors just like back then. Two hundred shippers had been gathered in a great pavilion with coffee and cake. Then they were greeted by the federal representative Röver and the Reich Office Leader Dr. Stang. Dr. Jörg Lechler held a short speech, easily understood by everyone, about national German culture.

Also of note was that in the fall the "harvest day" was celebrated with a gigantic festival of peasants from the whole people. On September 30, 1934 I attended the mass assembly of 70,000 peasants who presented themselves to their Führer Adolf Hitler. The massive assembly took place at the "Bückeberg" not far from the historic city Hameln. Hameln has a population of just 27,000, but the 50,000 visitors enjoyed the exemplary hospitality of the city and its inhabitants! In a conversation with two young girls - they worked in the office of a large insurance company and had taken the trip with the help of "Strength through Joy" – I learned how this gigantic problem had been solved. The talked about their own experiences that are just one example for thousands of others. For their round-trip ticket from Berlin, including sleeping quarters, that had paid 6.30 Reichsmark. (The normal third class ticket for this ticket costs more than 30 Reichsmark!) They said they took the trip in order to see the Führer and to experience the harvest day as girls from the city among peasants. Like so many other girls, they had slept the first night in a school in the city. For an American woman it is certainly amazing that young ladies from good family would sleep on straw, but I immediately understood their enthusiastic desire to participate in the festival as comrades. The next evening a Storm-trooper Sturmführer – who noticed that the young ladies were visitors to the city – offered them the comfort of the home of his wife and family. They told him that they slept quite comfortably on the straw and that it was a pleasant experience for them. But he told them that he had to work that evening and would gladly place a room at their disposal where they could sleep more comfortably. "Even though I am a simple worker and only have a small home", he said, "with two rooms and a kitchen, we are nonetheless National Socialists, so you will be welcomed in good comradeship." His wife had six year old twins, naturally little Hitler Youths ("Pimpfe") in brown uniforms. They greeted the young ladies with the words, "You must be our guests! No, no! Without any payment!" They accepted the hospitable invitation. The next morning the woman of the house gave them pastries ("Stullen") for lunch after preparing them breakfast of coffee, sausage, rolls, butter and honey! This additional demonstration of comradeship was appreciated by the young ladies. When they left, they gave their hosts a bouquet of flowers and some cigarettes and chocolate. But their hosts refused any payment. At their departure the Sturmführer told them: "We are glad we had you as guests. As long as we have a roof over our heads and something to eat, we are willing to share it with our comrades." A picture of the whole Nazi family was quickly snapped with the Kodak. I suspect they will also send each other small Christmas gifts! I wish to add that the host had been unemployed for three years, but he now had work again. This one incident clearly illustrates the feeling of genuine comradeship that I generally found among the German people. That is not just genuine comradeship and folk community, rather practical and convincing humanity.

The diverse observations I made through contact with the people, the worker and his family led to the following conclusion: there has been a general improvement of the cultural and material life standard of the people in the New Germany. Just think what it means to a worker who not only had lived with limited means, but who even had to do without significant life necessities. Imagine the work I have described, performed by the present government in an impoverished nation, the creation of employment, bread and recreation for all. Happiness was brought to a nation of 65 million people! Furthermore, people abroad should image the joyful courage and the fresh, faithful trust awakened in all of the people who had vegetated in dissatisfaction and hopelessness because of the mistakes of the old German government. Then one will understand the spirit of this great work that is now undertaken in the interest of humanity. Today it finds its most beautiful expression in the national brotherhood of the German people. Therein lies the success of the German government in its struggle against unemployment and for the rights of the workers, a success that has been carried by the enormous trust the workers have in their peoples Chancellor and their "German Work Front".

I owe many of the explanations of the tasks and goals of the "German Work Front" to the Reich Organization Leader Dr. Robert LEY, who recently granted me another very interesting interview at 8:00 PM after a day filled with work. Joy and pride shown in his eyes as we spoke about his remarkable organization "Strength through Joy". The accomplishments during the first year of existence have proven a thousand times over that an exemplary effort is made for the physical and mental well-being of all working people in the New Germany. The following figures just for Berlin are shining examples of an honest, practical socialism. I take them from an official statement of November 26, 1934 in the daily newspaper of the "German Work Front", "Der Deutsche", No. 276 of November 27, 1934:

"The division for travel, hiking and vacation has experienced an amazing expansion in a few months. We all know that that Berlin’s first "Strength through Joy" vacation-train departed for Upper Bavaria in February of this year amid great enthusiasm. Since then, numerous more Berlin folk comrades have taken vacation trips to all parts of Germany as well as on the sea. Altogether 77,000 folk comrades participated. The most popular destination was Upper Bavaria-Allgaeu with 16,617 vacationers followed by the Rhineland with 12,283 vacationers and the North and Baltic Sea with 11,394.

"The number of Sunday excursionists in Berlin traveling by train, bus or steamer is about 125,000. Therefore, the division for travel, hiking and vacation has set over 200,000 Berliners in motion by mid-November. The price of an eight-day vacation trip was 21 to 36 Reichsmark. The sea trips cost 32, 42 or 47 Reichsmark. A large portion of the "Strength through Joy" vacationers had previously not been in a position to travel on holidays. Tens of thousands of German folk comrades have now seen Germany’s beauties. The number of thank you letters arriving at this division speak a clear language.

"The division for education and sport has held courses for about 3,500 participants during the six month period between April and September 1934. They were conducted in seven schools for German, English, French, business math, shorthand, geography, geopolitics and history. 122 instructors were used for these courses, including members of the National Socialist Teachers Federation. Altogether there were 4,426 instruction hours in the summer semester. The number of new registrations for the second half, October 1934 to March 1935, exceeds 7000!

"The sports office of the province of Greater Berlin started its first courses on April 13. To date almost 35,000 annual sport tickets have been issued. This means that 35,000 Berliners are participants in the sport courses. By October 31 roughly 126,000 sport double hours had been conducted by over 100 sport instructors. The goal and task of the sport office is to reach all of the folk comrades who had not previously decided to do physical exercises and to offer them, without long-term commitment, some kind of sport, game or gymnastics.

"The division for beauty of work has likewise successful work, but that is small compared to what has been prepared and will be done during the coming months. To date several hundreds of thousands of Reichsmarks have been used for workplace improvements.

"Through the "Strength through Joy" in the province of Greater Berlin, about 150,000 folk comrades have also been able to participate in Berlin exhibits with low-cost tickets reduced by up to 50%.

"Among the memorable events of the past months were the great aviation day on April 1 at the Tempelhofer airfield, where about 250,000 people gathered, as well as the aviation day in Adlershof, conducted jointly with the German Aviation Sports Federation, that attracted 120,000 participants.

"Approximately 700,000 folk comrades have attended theater productions, concerts and the like. Starting with the state opera, nearly all Berlin theaters of Berlin’s "Strength through Joy" have opened their gates. The Theater of the People has had 500,000 visitors and enjoys great popularity.

"A significant part of Berlin’s tourism is represented by visitors from other German provinces. Now in the winter months they come here in especially large numbers. To date about 75,000 folk comrades have had an opportunity to visit Berlin for three days, thanks to "Strength through Joy".

"The division Folk and Homeland has also made good progress in Berlin with the promotion of folk customs and folk art. To date about 70,000 folk comrades have visited the Berlin events. Among the tasks of this division is the division for tours, which continually organizes tours through Berlin’s factories, museums etc. To date this division has served 130,000 folk comrades who do not reside in Berlin.

"Now the provincial office of "Strength through Joy" has its own sound film facility at its disposal. It has already been used at many events. About 25,000 folk comrades have attended film showings by "Strength through Joy", some of which took place in connection with German Work Front meetings.

"We know that we can never be satisfied with what has been previously achieved. It will be our task to learn from our experiences and to use them for the future free-time programs for the benefit of all German folk comrades. Today we are already making arrangements to handle the expected increase of "Strength through Joy" travelers next year. In 1935 we will substantially increase travel. The newly created travel saving account will contribute a lot to this. The best thanks for the voluntary office administrators is that they see how their work – that started with so many difficulties – always grows and becomes bigger day by day for the benefit of the German worker."

The above is an excerpt from the book AN AMERICAN SEES THE NEW GERMANY by Doug Brinkley. It is available for sale for only $10.00. For more information simply click on the link.

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