13th October 1943
Wehrmacht-Fürsorge-Offizier

The correspodence reads:

'The above-mentioned severely war-disabled person has completed his training at the Pusback company in Lübeck and would like to set up his own business in Kükelühn, district of Oldenburg. In a letter dated Nov. 42, you informed the Wehrmacht welfare officer that the procurement of tools will not cause any difficulties, as H. is severely war-disabled.

You are asked to help H. obtain the tools. H. is asked to contact the Chamber of Crafts directly.'

Additional information on the role of the Wehrmacht-Fürsorge-Offizier is written in an article for 'The Argus' published in Melbourne, Australia. The article appeared in the newspapaer on 13th May 1940, titled 'SOLDIERS OF THE NEW GERMANY - Morale Sound, But Not Indescructible' by François de Tessan. The piece reads as follows:

In reorganising the German Army, the leaders of the Third Reich derived their conceptions from the system recommended by Marshall von Falkenhayn, German Minister for War in 1914.

On the eve of the Great War he informed Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg of a plan which had been approved by the Emperor, and provided for the recruitment of all Germans physically capable of bearing arms.

These masses have been gradually organised, officered, and equipped with powerful material. In this respect, considerable progress was made in 1936. The officers' corps and that of the non-commissioned officers was entirely reconstituted. There were some who alleged that it would be difficult to find the necessary elements for the subaltern grades. In reality the- re-enlistment of former active officers, the transfer of police officers to the army, the promotion of non-commissioned officers with a good record provided the Hitlerian army with a sufficient number of officers of all grades.

New military training schools were opened, and also institutes for the education and formation of technicians of all kinds. From 1933 to 1940 the training was pushed forward everywhere with an unheard-of intensity, and since the beginning of the present war the perfecting of officers and non-commissioned officers has continued at a speed and with a discipline that has resulted in a still further increase in the number and efficiency of the men in command. No one will deny that the German army is a formidable fighting instrument.

But what is the state of its morale and what are the methods employed by the leaders of the new Germany to ensure the necessary esprit de corps, since it is common knowledge that in modern warfare the human factor is of decisive importance?

This subject was dealt with in an article published by the 'Berliner Boersen-Zeitung' of February 19, 1939. A German critic suggested that in this respect the democracies would be less well off than the Germans, since those countries had no 'watchword' rooted in a sound ideology for the guidance of the nation and of the people.

'To-day', he said, 'courage must spring from the very depths if it is to be an element of victory. The tests to which a man is put in the battle are numerous and inexorable. Neither discipline nor individual bravery nor self-control can suffice for the achievement of that culmination of the offensive spirit and that supreme devotion which are necessary. For this there must be a fanaticism born of faith, confidence in the leaders, in the lasting values of the national community and in the righteousness of the cause to be defended. Fighters and non-combatants alike must be imbued with this faith if they are to maintain their conviction of a hard-to-be-won victor against the most terrible odds.'

To the German author of this matter it seemed that the 'democratic ideal' would be powerless to incite to such miracles of abnegation as might be achieved by Hitlerian fanaticism The theme has frequently been developed in the military reviews of the Reich. They emphasise the psychological condition for maintaining in the troops a 'glory spirit of service' (Dienstfreudigkeit) and a resolution to surmount all difficulties. Traditional patriotism has, it would seem, been replaced by a new spirit of comradeship, of youth, of devotion to German union on the lines laid down by the Fuhrer.

According to the 'Military -Wissenschaft-Riche Rundschau':

'National Socialist Germany has no use for a military corps which would confine itself to teaching its men to handle their arms. Decision is not reached by the weapon alone, but by the man who wears it. Adolf Hitler's soldier is not in fact responsible to this or that senior officer, he represents the principle incarnated in the Fuhrer. He practises the virtues of his ancestors by placing them in the service of the cause of which Germany's regenerator is the symbol. Adolf Hitler's soldier is governed even in peace by the law of war. Each of his acts must express the triumph of the National Socialist State. This is still more the case when, in hours of stress, he has to fight for the ideas of the party, ideas reflecting the greatness of his mission which, in its turn, is bound up with the greatness of his country.'

This is the argument put forward by the Nazi theorists. It had not always been unreservedly approved by many of the leaders of the old German army. The latter feared that it would result in a too far-reaching modification of the traditional forms and in the weakening of discipline.

What it has been possible to note under fire is that the morale of the younger classes is none the less very high. The fanaticism which has been inculcated in the army during the last few years has borne its fruits. It was but natural that the war should bring about the unification of German patriotism. Among the officers, as in the ranks, the discussion which may have arisen at a given moment as to the advantages or disadvantages of this or that discipline have ceased. Supervision has, moreover, been reinforced, and measures have been taken to inform the high command of the morale of both front and rear.

This is one of the reasons why Germany has reintroduced the 'Mutual Aid Service', through which the relations between soldiers and their families are assured by special officers. The mutual aid officer (Wehrmacht fursorge offizier) acts as an adviser and supervisor in removing administrative difficulties, and in hearing the grievances voiced on both sides. But it is quite clear that an agent of the kind is instructed, above all, to check an morale. He is in constant communication with the National Socialist party and State services, with the organisations providing assistance and recreation for the soldiers, with the labour offices, and with the various units of the army. His work is of extreme importance. Mutual aid officers also existed during the last war. Their role has now been extended in view of the political objects pursued in the army itself.

The German morale, sustained by all these means, and by the incessant propaganda carried on at the front as well as in the other formations, is further protected by the various measures taken the police. It is solid, but not indestructible, for it will not be in a position to resist indefinitely the forces of truth. The first blow struck at the German moral was the naval victory of the Allies, the effect of which will be enhanced by the striking revenge which is being prepared in Belgium.

Hitler's Germany will finally succumb under its own aggressions and mistakes. She will see the fulfilment of President Roosevelt's prophecy- love will always be stronger than hate, for, in the last instance, a country or group of countries having recourse to hate will be internally devoured by this same factor.

The Allied victory will be a military victory. In this they will he assisted by the debacle of German morale, which will occur at any moment not yet to be fixed, but which is inexorably approaching.

About the author:

François de Tessan (1883-1944) French journalist, man of letters and radical politician.

From Wikipedia.Fr, in part:

Elected deputy of the radical party in 1928, he was part of the group of young Turks elected that year as deputy for Seine-et-Marne (1928-1942). He also became Undersecretary of State (1936-1937), President of the General Council of Seine-et-Marne (1937 - until its dissolution by the Vichy government), Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1937-1938) and Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1938), amongst various other political appointments.

He is among those who denounced the Munich agreement and declared that he preferred that France could for a time ally with the USSR (which was nevertheless a communist state) in order to fight fascist countries, like the Nazi Germany or Italy.

Entering the resistance, he was arrested on denunciation, in Evaux-les-Bains (Creuse department) at the end of November 1942. He was transferred on 12th January, 1943 to the Compiègne-Royaldieu camp and was then deported only in January 1944 to Germany, to the Buchenwald camp.

François de Tessan, officer of the Legion of Honor, for his activities as a resistance fighter, 'died for France' of illness and exhaustion in April 1944.

In memory of his actions as a resistance fighter, a column was built in the cemetery of Nanteuil-les-Meaux.

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