GRANNY'S GOTTA GO

The more ruthless a tyrant is, the smarter he is, or at least it seems that way.

Historians have on occasion remarked on the oddity that the most ruthless of dictators have an affection for children. (I've read that Santa Anna was one.) But this so-called "affection" may have a sinister purpose behind it. 

THE UNHOLY TRINITY

Lenin and Stalin knew it and so did Hitler. And what was that? They knew that if their revolution was to succeed, one thing had to happen--children must be, absolutely must be, separated from their parents and grandparents. The reason for this separation is simple--that unholy trinity knew that the two older generations were set in their ways. They knew that they couldn't teach the old dogs new dogmas. 

Therefore, granny had to go. When I say, "Granny had to go," I'm not speaking metaphorically, I mean, literally, she had to go. But of course, those three madmen knew they couldn't get away with lining all the grandmothers up before a firing squad, but granny  had to go.

But wait? Why pick on the babushkas? It was because the regime had already taken the Russian mothers out of their homes and put them to work, thus leaving the children in the care of the grandmothers of the Motherland. It was simple: the fathers were gone to the military or to work and the mothers were in the factories, so the only obstacle left was the old, wrinkled-faced grandmother.

The way they did this was to begin a systematic campaign to vilify grandmothers in the eyes of their grandchildren. They did this through their compulsory education system. They indoctrinated the children with fables and pictures of grandmothers as old crones, scary old hags who did scary things to children.
 

Why the war on grandmother? Because it was the grandmothers of Stalinist Russia who kept the old ways of religion alive. These grandmothers would, against the parents' wishes, sneak their grandchildren to secret baptisms and give them clandestine religious instruction at home. 

(This is not to say that their theology was grace oriented; I'm only using this as an historical illustration of the fact that all dictators, to stay in power, must somehow break the connections between the children and the two older generations.)

JUMPING TO GERMANY

Hitler, in order to separate the children from their parents and the old ways, not only outlawed homeschooling, he invented an organization called, "The Hitler Youth." 

When boys entered The Hitler Youth at age 10, they took an oath:

"In the presence of this blood-banner which represents our Fuehrer I swear to devote all my energies, and my strength to the Savior of our Country, Adolf Hitler. I am willing and ready to give up my life for him, so help me God. One People, one Reich, one Fuehrer."

There was a "Hitler Youth" for both boys and girls; that was it, because Hitler outlawed all other auxiliary groups for children, so that by 1932, 90% of the German youth were enrolled in The Hitler Youth which was his counterpart to the Boy Scouts in England.  The purpose was clear: to produce Nazis so as to ensure the Third Reich would endure for its predicted 1,000 years. 

By 1933, Hitler had formulated his education program as to its ultimate product:

My program for educating youth is hard … weakness must be hammered away. In my castles of the Teutonic Order, a new youth will grow up, before which the world will tremble. I want a brutal, domineering, fearless and cruel youth. Youth must be all that. It must bear pain. There must be nothing weak and gentle about it. The free, splendid beast of prey must once again flash from its eyes…That is how I will eradicate thousands of years of human domestication…That is how I will create the New Order. - See more at: http://alphahistory.com/nazigermany/children-in-nazi-germany/#sthash.iEik065P.dpuf

"My program for educating youth is hard. Weakness must be hammered away. In my castles of the Teutonic Order a youth will grow up before which the world will tremble. I want a brutal, domineering, fearless, cruel youth. Youth must be all that. It must bear pain. There must be nothing weak and gentle about it. The free, splendid beast of prey must once again flash from its eyes…..That is how I will eradicate thousands of years of human domestication...That is how I will create the New Order."

Hitler sought to achieve the disconnect between children and their parents/grandparents by encouraging boys to be arrogant and violent towards adults in general, activities for which they would suffer no consequences.  

Hitler set up a Youth Office whose responsibility it was to remove children from homes which were critical of the government, friendly to Jews, refused to enroll their boys and girls in The Hitler Youth. They removed any children who refused to give the Nazi salute.

BREATHING POISONED AIR

Hitler poisoned the atmosphere of the family by encouraging children not only to question their parents, but also to spy on and report them to the government for any remark or action critical of the government. This effectively shut down parental guidance, wisdom, and advice not sanctioned by the government. This spying carried over into the school system as the government encouraged students to spy on and report their classmates for any behavior not deemed "good" by the Nazis.

HOW BAD DID IT GET?

At the beginning of the war, the Air Force told a German mother that her son was missing in action and presumed dead. But later, friends told her that they'd heard on a British radio broadcast that her son was alive and was a POW. The mother reported her friends to the authorities for listening to a foreign broadcast, which was against the law.

One mother, upon learning that her 16-year old daughter who was away at a Nazi youth camp was now expecting a baby, rushed to be with her. Her daughter told her to leave or she would report her to the Gestapo. 

The spying of family members upon each other and the spying of students on their classmates produced a poisoned atmosphere of 24-hour a day terror, relieved only when asleep. Goebbels, a high-ranking Nazi, joked, "The only individual with a private life in Germany is the person who is asleep." Dark humor--it was no joke. Spies at school, spies at home, spies in the neighborhood, spies among friends, all contributed to an unrelieved vague sense of terror.

ASK YOURSELF 

What do we see in our society that's taking children away from their parents? What are we experiencing in our churches and schools and culture that separates children from their parents? That's a separate study in and of itself.

 THE RUSSIAN GRANDMOTHERS

My program for educating youth is hard … weakness must be hammered away. In my castles of the Teutonic Order, a new youth will grow up, before which the world will tremble. I want a brutal, domineering, fearless and cruel youth. Youth must be all that. It must bear pain. There must be nothing weak and gentle about it. The free, splendid beast of prey must once again flash from its eyes…That is how I will eradicate thousands of years of human domestication…That is how I will create the New Order. - See more at: http://alphahistory.com/nazigermany/children-in-nazi-germany/#sthash.iEik065P.dpuf 

THOSE RUSSIANS AGAIN

Lenin and Stalin had a formidable enemy in the babushkas, and they knew it. For example, when Lenin and Stalin made the celebration of Christmas illegal, wanting to wipe it from the face of the earth (as Castor did in Cuba, decades later), there they were, the old Russian grandmothers standing as sentinels, telling the old, old Story of the Incarnation. 

Godly grandmothers, the Babushka Brigade--may their tribe increase!


 By 1939, 90 percent of children in Germany were members of the Hitler Youth. Hitler believed that this aspect of his regime was extremely important because it introduced the Nazi ideology at a young, impressionable, age. The Hitler Youth created a generation that only embodied characteristics that were compatible with Nazism and emphasized the passing on of these characteristics to future generations. This played a major role in ensuring Hitler of the success of the “Thousand Year Reich,” as all future generations would be subjected to this same indoctrination.By 1939, 90 percent of children in Germany were members of the Hitler Youth. Hitler believed that this aspect of his regime was extremely important because it introduced the Nazi ideology at a young, impressionable, age. The Hitler Youth created a generation that only embodied characteristics that were compatible with Nazism and emphasized the passing on of these characteristics to future generations. This played a major role in ensuring Hitler of the success of the “Thousand Year Reich,” as all future generations would be subjected to this same indoctrination.
By 1939, 90 percent of children in Germany were members of the Hitler Youth. Hitler believed that this aspect of his regime was extremely important because it introduced the Nazi ideology at a young, impressionable, age. The Hitler Youth created a generation that only embodied characteristics that were compatible with Nazism and emphasized the passing on of these characteristics to future generations. This played a major role in ensuring Hitler of the success of the “Thousand Year Reich,” as all future generations would be subjected to this same indoctrination.

By 1939, 90 percent of children in Germany were members of the Hitler Youth. Hitler believed that this aspect of his regime was extremely important because it introduced the Nazi ideology at a young, impressionable, age. The Hitler Youth created a generation that only embodied characteristics that were compatible with Nazism and emphasized the passing on of these characteristics to future generations. This played a major role in ensuring Hitler of the success of the “Thousand Year Reich,” as all future generations would be subjected to this same indoctrination.By 1939, 90 percent of children in Germany were members of the Hitler Youth. Hitler believed that this aspect of his regime was extremely important because it introduced the Nazi ideology at a young, impressionable, age. The Hitler Youth created a generation that only embodied characteristics that were compatible with Nazism and emphasized the passing on of these characteristics to future generations. This played a major role in ensuring Hitler of the success of the “Thousand Year Reich,” as all future generations would be subjected to this same indoctrination.

By 1939, 90 percent of children in Germany were members of the Hitler Youth. Hitler believed that this aspect of his regime was extremely important because it introduced the Nazi ideology at a young, impressionable, age. The Hitler Youth created a generation that only embodied characteristics that were compatible with Nazism and emphasized the passing on of these characteristics to future generations. This played a major role in ensuring Hitler of the success of the “Thousand Year Reich,” as all future generations would be subjected to this same indoctrination.

By 1939, 90 percent of children in Germany were members of the Hitler Youth. Hitler believed that this aspect of his regime was extremely important because it introduced the Nazi ideology at a young, impressionable, age. The Hitler Youth created a generation that only embodied characteristics that were compatible with Nazism and emphasized the passing on of these characteristics to future generations. This played a major role in ensuring Hitler of the success of the “Thousand Year Reich,” as all future generations would be subjected to this same indoctrination.