Kitty Werthmann

Kitty Werthmann tells a story of her life as she saw it. A lot of people do not like what she said about the path of Austria and its acceptance of Hitler. In their articles and blogs opposing her you say the very spirit that brought about totalitarianism and war and eventually destruction for millions. The parallels do not have to be exact but similarities point to spiritual forces.

I found this one article but if you seek to read about her you will find more critics. They often knit pick at what she said desperately trying to prove there is no similarity. But the Socialism of the world has already captured the thinking of many people today.

Everyone is already eating with an appetite of the benefits of the Welfare of the Socialist state. The Roots of the Welfare State go deep in the world today.

Few are interested in fasting from their dainties of deception. They want to think that Public schools and Health care is free and do not want to think that they are already Biting one another.

I would like to bring your attention to the fact that she equates a Christian behavior with taking care of the needy of society. That job has become the duty of the state where as a hundred years ago it Religion defined it as the duty of the believer and the Church.

Religion was removed from public education which became mandatory. The only way she was spared was that her parents sent her away to a very private school with particular religious curriculum

Also it was essential to get one of their cards or you would starve when rationing became pervasive. I suspect that eventually parents may have to do the same to protect their children. We should not imagine that an exact parallel of events will take place but the same spirit is clearly growing in the world today.

Here are a few quotes:

“My mother was a Christian woman and believed in helping people in need. Every day we cooked a big kettle of soup and baked bread to feed those poor, hungry people – about 30 daily.’

“Hitler decided we should have equal rights for women. Before this, it was a custom that married Austrian women did not work outside the home. An able-bodied husband would be looked down on if he couldn’t support his family. Many women in the teaching profession were elated that they could retain the jobs they previously had been re- quired to give up for marriage.

“Then we lost religious education for kids

“Our education was nationalized. I attended a very good public school.. The population was predominantly Catholic, so we had religion in our schools. The day we elected Hitler (March 13, 1938), I walked into my schoolroom to find the crucifix replaced by Hitler’s picture hanging next to a Nazi flag. Our teacher, a very devout woman, stood up and told the class we wouldn’t pray or have religion anymore. Instead, we sang ‘Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles,’ and had physical education.

“Sunday became National Youth Day with compulsory attendance. Parents were not pleased about the sudden change in curriculum. They were told that if they did not send us, they would receive a stiff letter of warning the first time. The second time they would be fined the equivalent of $300, and the third time they would be subject to jail.”

"And then things got worse."

“The first two hours consisted of political indoctrination. The rest of the day we had sports. As time went along, we loved it. Oh, we had so much fun and got our sports equipment free.

“We would go home and gleefully tell our parents about the wonderful time we had.

“My mother was very unhappy,” remembers Kitty. “When the next term started, she took me out of public school and put me in a convent. I told her she couldn’t do that and she told me that someday when I grew up, I would be grateful. There was a very good curriculum, but hardly any fun – no sports, and no political indoctrination.

“I hated it at first but felt I could tolerate it. Every once in a while, on holidays, I went home. I would go back to my old friends and ask what was going on and what they were doing.

“Their loose lifestyle was very alarming to me. They lived without religion. By that time, unwed mothers were glorified for having a baby for Hitler.

“It seemed strange to me that our society changed so suddenly. As time went along, I realized what a great deed my mother did so that I wasn’t exposed to that kind of humanistic philosophy.

“In 1939, the war started, and a food bank was established. All food was rationed and could only be purchased using food stamps. At the same time, a full-employment law was passed which meant if you didn’t work, you didn’t get a ration card, and, if you didn’t have a card, you starved to death.

“No more freedom of speech. Anyone who said something against the government was taken away. We knew many people who were arrested, not only Jews, but also priests and ministers who spoke up.

“Totalitarianism didn’t come quickly, it took 5 years from 1938 until 1943, to realize full dictatorship in Austria. Had it happened overnight, my countrymen would have fought to the last breath. Instead, we had creeping gradualism. Now, our only weapons were broom handles. The whole idea sounds almost unbelievable that the state, little by little eroded our freedom.”