Alfons Heck
Encyclopedia
Alfons Heck was born in the Rhineland
. From 1938 through the end of World War II
, he was a member of Hitler Youth
, eventually becoming a Hitler Youth Officer and a fanatical adherent of Nazism
’s ideologies. Decades later, after emigrating to the United States
via Canada
, Heck wrote candidly of his youthful military experiences in news articles and two books. Thereafter, he partnered with Jewish Holocaust survivor Helen Waterford, each presenting their differing wartime circumstances before more than 200 audiences, most notably in schools and colleges.
, Germany
. He entered grammar school at the age of 6 where he and his classmates were first exposed to effective Nazi indoctrination by their virulently nationalistic teacher. Four years later Heck and his classmates joined the 5 million-member Hitler Youth.
Although Heck was a good student and found learning to be easy, the next 4 years brought no advancement within the junior branch of Hitler Youth. He and his Hitler Jungvolk companions enjoyed singing, military band, camping and maneuvres, but were bored by marching and drilling. Heck became leader of about 10 other boys. By then, his indoctrination and his devotion to the proud future of Hitler’s Third Reich were nearly complete. He understood that the first rule of service to a greater Germany was to follow orders without question, and he was willing to report “suspicious actions" or comments, even by friends or family, to the Gestapo.
plane training. But, within weeks he'd become obsessed with flying and landing gliders. His life course had changed. He would not study to be a priest as his grandmother had hoped. He devoted himself to the task of eventually becoming a Luftwaffe
fighter pilot. He’d been taught to believe that living under Bolshevik-Jewish slavery was too horrible to contemplate. The only alternative was German victory. Capture seemed to him worse than death. He thought that only a glorious death over the battlefield stood in the way of his sharing in Germany’s inevitable triumph. His final transformation to fanaticism
had begun. He described this extended period of glider training from late 1942 until early 1944 as the happiest of his life. At 16 Heck became the youngest scholar to receive a diploma from Aeronaut’s Certificate in Sailplane Flying.
But the beginning of the Allied
offensives in France
caused his group of 180 Flying Hitler Youth, of which Heck had become the officer in charge, to be returned to the Wittlich area in order to organize the excavation of large antitank barriers on the nearby defensive Westwall. Battlefield losses raised Heck’s Hitler Youth rank to Bannführer, nominally in charge of 3,000 Hitler Youth workers in the town and its 50 surrounding villages. One of his antiaircraft crews shot down a damaged B-17 bomber trying to return to its base. Later, he gave orders in a combat engagement against advancing Americans in which participants on both sides were killed. During this period he was considered by friends and superiors to be ambitious and ruthless. At one point he gave orders to have an elderly Luxembourg priest shot if he dared return to the school that Heck had commandeered for his workers. The priest did not return. In another incident, he drew his pistol to shoot a Hitler Youth deserter but was prevented from doing so by a Wehrmacht
sergeant. Heck admitted at the time, as well as afterwards, that he had become intoxicated by the power he wielded.
As the approaching Americans consolidated their gains, the 16 year old Bannführer was ordered back to his Luftwaffe training base. Once there, with the suspension of training, flight candidates were being ordered to the front lines to face the American infantry. However, a Luftwaffe officer, likely for the purpose of preserving Heck’s life, ordered Heck to organize the retrieval of needed radar equipment near Wittlich and then to take a four day leave in his home town. This enabled Heck to don civilian clothes before surrendering to the advancing Americans there. Unaware of his Hitler Youth rank, the U.S. soldiers used Heck as a translator until French military authorities began occupying the area. The French arrested Heck and he served 6 months hard labor before finally being released.
traveling within occupied Germany, he made his way to Nuremberg
to witness what he could of the trials
of former Nazi officers and officials. He later emigrated, first to Canada, working in several British Columbia
saw mills, then to the U.S. where, living in San Diego, he became a Greyhound long distance bus driver.
During the 1950s and 60’s, Alfons Heck did not speak of his wartime activities or of his former involvement in Hitler Youth. Over the years, he’d read hundreds of books about the Third Reich, tracing the histories of surviving Nazi leaders and maintaining an interest in West German
politics. He felt that his generation of young Germans had been callously betrayed by brutal Nazi strategists. Of the nine and a half million German war dead, two million were teenagers, both civilian and Hitler Youth. In 1971, at age 43, he became disabled by heart disease. Without a productive future and increasingly frustrated by his contemporaries’ failure to speak out, Heck began attending writing classes so that he might record what it was like to be a pawn of Nazi militarism
.
In 1978, Helen Waterford, a Holocaust survivor who had been lecturing about her wartime captivity in Nazi concentration camps, read one of Heck’s newspaper articles. Soon after contacting Heck, they both began to recognize the other’s capacity for truthfulness. They joined forces to form an unusual team, describing, through firsthand knowledge, the totalitarian machinations of the Nazi regime as they'd experienced them, to an ever-widening audience. Heck wrote his first book, A Child of Hitler: Germany in the Days When God Wore a Swastika, in 1985, covering his life until the end of the war. His second book, The Burden of Hitler’s Legacy was published in 1988. Often confronted with comments from his audience that similar malevolent indoctrination wouldn’t occur again, Heck replied that if any regime chose to do so, children at such vulnerable ages could be coerced into the same sort of blind obedience for a cause, that the Hitler Youth were taught to accept.
Heck also provided testimony on the parallels between Nazism
and Islamism
and was featured in the documentary Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West
.
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
. From 1938 through the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he was a member of Hitler Youth
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...
, eventually becoming a Hitler Youth Officer and a fanatical adherent of Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
’s ideologies. Decades later, after emigrating to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
via Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Heck wrote candidly of his youthful military experiences in news articles and two books. Thereafter, he partnered with Jewish Holocaust survivor Helen Waterford, each presenting their differing wartime circumstances before more than 200 audiences, most notably in schools and colleges.
Early life
Heck was raised by his grandmother at her farm in the crossroads wine country community of WittlichWittlich
The town of Wittlich is the seat of the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and thereby the middle centre for a feeder area of 56 municipalities in the Eifel and Moselle area with its population of roughly 64,000...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. He entered grammar school at the age of 6 where he and his classmates were first exposed to effective Nazi indoctrination by their virulently nationalistic teacher. Four years later Heck and his classmates joined the 5 million-member Hitler Youth.
Although Heck was a good student and found learning to be easy, the next 4 years brought no advancement within the junior branch of Hitler Youth. He and his Hitler Jungvolk companions enjoyed singing, military band, camping and maneuvres, but were bored by marching and drilling. Heck became leader of about 10 other boys. By then, his indoctrination and his devotion to the proud future of Hitler’s Third Reich were nearly complete. He understood that the first rule of service to a greater Germany was to follow orders without question, and he was willing to report “suspicious actions" or comments, even by friends or family, to the Gestapo.
Flying Hitler Youth
At 14, all Hitler Jungvolk were required to join the senior Hitler Youth branch, the Hitlerjugend. In part to avoid becoming an infantry officer, Heck applied to the elite Flying Hitler Youth (Flieger Hitlerjugend), although he was apprehensive about its year-long gliderGlider (sailplane)
A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the sport of gliding. Some gliders, known as motor gliders are used for gliding and soaring as well, but have engines which can, in some cases, be used for take-off or for extending a flight...
plane training. But, within weeks he'd become obsessed with flying and landing gliders. His life course had changed. He would not study to be a priest as his grandmother had hoped. He devoted himself to the task of eventually becoming a Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
fighter pilot. He’d been taught to believe that living under Bolshevik-Jewish slavery was too horrible to contemplate. The only alternative was German victory. Capture seemed to him worse than death. He thought that only a glorious death over the battlefield stood in the way of his sharing in Germany’s inevitable triumph. His final transformation to fanaticism
Fanaticism
Fanaticism is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal, particularly for an extreme religious or political cause or in some cases sports, or with an obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby...
had begun. He described this extended period of glider training from late 1942 until early 1944 as the happiest of his life. At 16 Heck became the youngest scholar to receive a diploma from Aeronaut’s Certificate in Sailplane Flying.
But the beginning of the Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
offensives in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
caused his group of 180 Flying Hitler Youth, of which Heck had become the officer in charge, to be returned to the Wittlich area in order to organize the excavation of large antitank barriers on the nearby defensive Westwall. Battlefield losses raised Heck’s Hitler Youth rank to Bannführer, nominally in charge of 3,000 Hitler Youth workers in the town and its 50 surrounding villages. One of his antiaircraft crews shot down a damaged B-17 bomber trying to return to its base. Later, he gave orders in a combat engagement against advancing Americans in which participants on both sides were killed. During this period he was considered by friends and superiors to be ambitious and ruthless. At one point he gave orders to have an elderly Luxembourg priest shot if he dared return to the school that Heck had commandeered for his workers. The priest did not return. In another incident, he drew his pistol to shoot a Hitler Youth deserter but was prevented from doing so by a Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
sergeant. Heck admitted at the time, as well as afterwards, that he had become intoxicated by the power he wielded.
As the approaching Americans consolidated their gains, the 16 year old Bannführer was ordered back to his Luftwaffe training base. Once there, with the suspension of training, flight candidates were being ordered to the front lines to face the American infantry. However, a Luftwaffe officer, likely for the purpose of preserving Heck’s life, ordered Heck to organize the retrieval of needed radar equipment near Wittlich and then to take a four day leave in his home town. This enabled Heck to don civilian clothes before surrendering to the advancing Americans there. Unaware of his Hitler Youth rank, the U.S. soldiers used Heck as a translator until French military authorities began occupying the area. The French arrested Heck and he served 6 months hard labor before finally being released.
Post war
Heck was unable to believe that the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazi regime had actually taken place. Despite the difficulty oftraveling within occupied Germany, he made his way to Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
to witness what he could of the trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
of former Nazi officers and officials. He later emigrated, first to Canada, working in several British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
saw mills, then to the U.S. where, living in San Diego, he became a Greyhound long distance bus driver.
During the 1950s and 60’s, Alfons Heck did not speak of his wartime activities or of his former involvement in Hitler Youth. Over the years, he’d read hundreds of books about the Third Reich, tracing the histories of surviving Nazi leaders and maintaining an interest in West German
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
politics. He felt that his generation of young Germans had been callously betrayed by brutal Nazi strategists. Of the nine and a half million German war dead, two million were teenagers, both civilian and Hitler Youth. In 1971, at age 43, he became disabled by heart disease. Without a productive future and increasingly frustrated by his contemporaries’ failure to speak out, Heck began attending writing classes so that he might record what it was like to be a pawn of Nazi militarism
Militarism
Militarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
.
In 1978, Helen Waterford, a Holocaust survivor who had been lecturing about her wartime captivity in Nazi concentration camps, read one of Heck’s newspaper articles. Soon after contacting Heck, they both began to recognize the other’s capacity for truthfulness. They joined forces to form an unusual team, describing, through firsthand knowledge, the totalitarian machinations of the Nazi regime as they'd experienced them, to an ever-widening audience. Heck wrote his first book, A Child of Hitler: Germany in the Days When God Wore a Swastika, in 1985, covering his life until the end of the war. His second book, The Burden of Hitler’s Legacy was published in 1988. Often confronted with comments from his audience that similar malevolent indoctrination wouldn’t occur again, Heck replied that if any regime chose to do so, children at such vulnerable ages could be coerced into the same sort of blind obedience for a cause, that the Hitler Youth were taught to accept.
Heck also provided testimony on the parallels between Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
and Islamism
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
and was featured in the documentary Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West
Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West
Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, also called Obsession, is a 2005 documentary film about the perceived threat of radical Islam to Western civilization. Using extensive Arab television footage it claims to give an 'insider's view' of the hatred preached by radicals to incite global...
.
External links
- http://thephoenix.com/Boston/News/55446-A-child-of-Hitler/?page=1#TOPCONTENT