Figure 1.--The Hitler Youth (HJ) movement was fully functioning if undrground in the Czech Sudetenand before the arrival of the Wehrmacht. This also must be a factor in the joyful response of the children. And here we see a Sudeten German boy proudly wearing his HJ uniform, decorating the sodiers' banners with flowers. This was no occupation of a hesitant people, it was a heartfelt embrace of Hitler and the NAZIs. The press caption read, "We are grateful to our Fuehrer: A Hitler youth boy decorate the army flag of a motor detachment which occupied the town of Schluckenau (in 'zone number two') Oct. 2, with flowers. The inscription on the house in the background reads: 'We are greatful to our Fuehrer.'" Schluckenau was a center in Czechoslovakia for the pro-Nazi Sudeten German Party (SdP) led by Konrad Henlein. And an incident occured there during the Munich crisis. It n would a few months later be a Wehrmacht stageing area for the German occuption of Prague and the rest of Czechoslovakia. The town is now Šluknov in the Czech Republic. A reader tells us is more about the banners strung up on the town hall. "At the left I see the word 'Reich', without doubt part of the slogan 'Ein Volk, Ein Reich, ein Führer'. (One People, One Country, One Leader.) That slogan was shouted over and over again at Nazi rallies. The banner on the right reds reads, "... und danken unserm Führer." A better translation than that in the caption is ( ...and thank to our leader.) The vehicles are a light troop / cargo lorry built in 1938 called a Lastkraftwagen -- WH 5223. They were small triaxial trucks based on the Krupp Protze which was used as a troop transport, and Artilleritraktor with two spare wheels. Vehicles like this would provide the Wehrmacht needed mobility, but the total production run was only 7,000 unts. There were more than enough to invade Czechozlovakia, but hugely inadequate for the all-important invasion of the Soviet Union.

The Hitler Youth (HJ) movement was fully functioning if undrground in the Czech Sudetenand before the arrival of the Wehrmacht. This also must be a factor in the joyful response of the children. And here we see a Sudeten German boy proudly wearing his HJ uniform, decorating the sodiers' banners with flowers. This was no occupation of a hesitant people, it was a heartfelt embrace of Hitler and the NAZIs. The press caption read, "We are grateful to our Fuehrer: A Hitler youth boy decorate the army flag of a motor detachment which occupied the town of Schluckenau (in 'zone number two') Oct. 2, with flowers. The inscription on the house in the background reads: 'We are greatful to our Fuehrer.'" Schluckenau was a center in Czechoslovakia for the pro-Nazi Sudeten German Party (SdP) led by Konrad Henlein. And an incident occured there during the Munich crisis. It n would a few months later be a Wehrmacht stageing area for the German occuption of Prague and the rest of Czechoslovakia. The town is now Šluknov in the Czech Republic. A reader tells us is more about the banners strung up on the town hall. "At the left I see the word 'Reich', without doubt part of the slogan 'Ein Volk, Ein Reich, ein Führer'. (One People, One Country, One Leader.) That slogan was shouted over and over again at Nazi rallies. The banner on the right reds reads, "... und danken unserm Führer." A better translation than that in the caption is ( ...and thank to our leader.) The vehicles are a light troop / cargo lorry built in 1938 called a Lastkraftwagen -- WH 5223. They were small triaxial trucks based on the Krupp Protze which was used as a troop transport, and Artilleritraktor with two spare wheels. Vehicles like this would provide the Wehrmacht needed mobility, but the total production run was only 7,000 unts. There were more than enough to invade Czechozlovakia, but hugely inadequate for the all-important invasion of the Soviet Union.

Hitler Youth in the Sudetenland

The SdP promoted the Hilter Youth (HJ) movennts . HJ unites were orhanized throughout the Sudetenland. We believe theCzech Government bnned the HJ, but have not been ble to find detils. The Hitler Youth (HJ) movement was fully functioning if undrground in the Czech Sudetenand before the arrival of the Wehrmacht. This also must be a factor in the joyful response of the children. And here we see a Sudeten German boy proudly wearing his HJ uniform, decorating the sodiers' banners with flowers.

Sudeten Germans

This was no occupation of a hesitant people, it was a heartfelt embrace of Hitler and the NAZIs. The Sudeten Germans have for centuries lived in the area. The term "Sudeten Germans" has been used in the 20th century to designate the German population in the three provinces known in the Austro-Hungarian Empire as the lands of the Bohemian Crown. The Sudeten Germans are ethnically related to the major German tribes and are ethnically indistinguishable from Bavarians, Franconians, Saxons and Silesians. The population of the Sudetenland included about 3.5 million German speakers. Until 1919 they were governed by German-speaking Hapsburg rulers in Vienna. The peace conference at St. Germain in 1919, however, left them as part of the new independent Czechoslovakia. (The better known Versailles Peace Conference ended World War I with Germany. The St. Germain Peace Confernce ended the War with Austro-Hungary.) The Sudete Germans found themselves a minority within Czecheslovakia. HBC believes that they continued to have German-lamguage schools, but as a minority many government jobs requiring a command of the Czech language were difficult to obtain.

Sudetendeutsche Partei, SdP

Adolf Hitler and the NAZIs seized power in Germany (January 1933). Hitler at the onset he pursued a moderate foreign policy as he consolidated his hold on Germany. Hitler made, however, no secret of his attitude toward the new Czech state, refering to it as an ilegitimate state imposed on Germany by the Versaills Treaty. Sudeten Germans began organizing NAZI Party units. Thus the Czech Government banned the NAZI Party. In response, NAZI-loyalist Konrad Henlein founded the Sudetendeutsche Partei (Sudeten German Party -- SdP) to get around the NAZI ban (October 1933). These groups a similar units in the Saarland, Austria, and Poland proved iseful because he could turn on and off public displays as it suitted his foreign policy. These offshoots received direction and support from Berlin. At first, however, before his Aufrüstung (rearmament process) has srengthened his position, he did not want to cause too much trouble. Henlein a a result of demands from the Czech Government renamed the Sudetendeutsche Partei (April 1935). The Sdp helped propagate claims of physical attacks and brutal rapes< They were argely the product of the ferile mind of Reich Minister of Propoganda, Josef Goebels, but as the campaign to seize the Sudetenland gained monentum, were widely covered in the NAZI controlled German media.

Town Hall Banner

The press caption read, "We are grateful to our Fuehrer: A Hitler youth boy decorate the army flag of a motor detachment which occupied the town of Schluckenau (in 'zone number two') Oct. 2, with flowers. The inscription on the house in the background reads: 'We are greatful to our Fuehrer.'" A reader tells us is more about the banners strung up on the town hall. "At the left I see the word 'Reich', without doubt part of the slogan 'Ein Volk, Ein Reich, ein Führer'. (One People, One Country, One Leader.) That slogan was shouted over and over again at Nazi rallies. The banner on the right reds reads, "... und danken unserm Führer." A better translation than that in the caption is ( ...and thank to our leader.)

Schluckenau

Schluckenau is located in the Šluknov Hook. It was a center in Czechoslovakia for the pro-Nazi Sudeten German Party (SdP) led by Konrad Henlein. And after Hitler announced at the Nuremberh Party Congress that he was determined to seize the Sudetenland (September 1938), the Sdp began organizng incudents attacking Czr=ech state outposts like polie srations to help escalate the crisis. The largest susch ction occured there during the Munich Conference (September 1938). It would a few months later be a Wehrmacht stageing area for the German occuption of Prague and the rest of Czechoslovakia. The town is now Šluknov in the Czech Republic. The Sdp organized the Zwischenfall in Schluckenau (Schluckenau Incident). This involved fighting between the between The Sudetendeutsche (Sdp) Freikorps and the German Army on one hand and sections of the State Defense Guard (SOS) and the Czechoslovak Army on the other side. It was part of the effort by Hitler to pressure Chamberlain, terrified that the ZCzechs might ignite a War. Chamberlain at the time was involved in the Munich Conference and all too aware that it was an incident in the Balkands that had set off World war I.

German Vehicles: Lastkraftwagen

The vehicles are a light troop / cargo lorry built in 1938 called a Lastkraftwagen -- WH 5223. Lastkraftwagen translate as something like 'heavy load truck'. They were small triaxial trucks based on the Krupp Protze which was used as a troop transport, and Artilleritraktor with two spare wheels. Vehicles like this would provide the Wehrmacht needed mobility, but the total production run was only 7,000 unts. There were more than enough to invade Czechozlovakia, but hugely inadequate for the all-important invasion of the Soviet Union. We see quite a few images of these and similar German vehicles--some done as half tracks during the first years of the War. You can see the Lastkraftwagen here towing small artillery pieces, probably 75mm cannons -- the standard German field gun. Larger Lastkraftwagen were needed to tow the the more potent German 88 mm cannon. It may seem like 75mm and 88mm is not much differet. The entire cannon and carriage is, however, much smaller. less then half the size of a 88. The 88 was much bigger because of the pneumatic recoil system built onto the 88 to absorb the very heavy recoil that was designed for that gun as an anti-aircraft gun which needed much power to fire upwards and which gave the 88 a long range and powerful punch making it a potent anti-tank weapon. The half-track Lastkraftwagen tower had a stronger engine and more gun crew space for the 88s. We see fewer of the vehicles on the battlefield as the Luftwaffe lost air superority and battlefiekd oponests becme increasingly well armed. And the Germans had to increasingly focus limited industrial capacity in other areas.

Created: 3:50 PM 4/22/2015
Last updated: 3:50 PM 4/22/2015