Democracy at Work

In Germany last week, one denazification project looked like a success. Officials had nothing to do with it. It was the inspiration of G.I.s themselves. To a military conference in the U.S. Army's Bremen area, Sergeant Patrick J. Moriarty, a big, blue-eyed, redheaded Irishman from Shakopee, Minn., described the job.

Moriarty fought the war in the South Pacific. He went to Germany last spring. Said he: "I saw kids in the streets picking up cigaret butts and begging. They all looked hungry, backward, scared. You know, they got an awfully dirty deal in this war; never had anything to look forward to. Me, I lost a redheaded kid brother, and I looked at these kids and at our job over here, and, by God, I don't ever want to think he died in vain. So I decided to do something."

Moriarty and nine other G.I.s of the Labor Supervision Office, where he works, put an ad in the local paper: "Ten American soldiers are willing to spend free time organizing club for German boys ages 10 to 17. No politics allowed."

Said Moriarty: "I didn't think we'd get 25 answers. Well, we got a deluge. After we reached 6,500, we called a halt. Kids were climbing in windows, telephoning, crowding at the door. In all, we had at least 7,000 who applied."

Of those 7,000, 100 boys were chosen as members of the Bremen Boys' Club, BBC for short. Two original members, Martin Girschner, 16, now temporary president, and Guenther Hoist, 15, now temporary vice president, helped with selections. Applicants were asked to fill out forms. On the basis of these forms and the way in which questions were answered, the selections were made. Membership had to be limited, but there are now about 20 more than the limit of 100 in the club.

Secret Ballot. The German boys run the club themselves. Sergeant Moriarty and his nine friends call themselves counselors. They provide transport, equipment, refreshments and other necessary items out of their own pockets. But from the first, Moriarty pounded home the point that the object of the club was to teach German boys the independent, democratic way of life. And they are learning it. First they elected temporary officers. G.I.s and counselors guided them. One of the first things the boys wanted to know was how the secret ballot system works. The temporary officers then drew up temporary rules. Rule No.11: no political party domination. Other rules: good conduct, no taking food out of the club, no begging or picking up butts in the street, etc.

The next step was selection of committees: social welfare, which helps needy boys get jobs, clothing, better housing, sports, theater, etc. Members of these committees are now drawing up the club constitution. Its basic principles: the four freedoms.

All this was initiated by the boys themselves. Moriarty and his fellow G.I.s gave guidance and advice only when asked for it. Said Sergeant Moriarty: "When we leave here, we want these kids to be able to go on running the club on their own. So we keep out of things and leave it to them."

By Moriarty's decree, certain topics are forbidden in the club: no racial discussion (several club members are Jewish); no talk of concentration camps ("I don't want these kids to feel that the sins of their fathers are being visited on them"); no political arguments, except club affairs.

Back in Shakopee, Moriarty has a mother who is as energetic as he is. He wrote her asking if she could get a few friends to send gift parcels for the boys at Christmas. Mrs. Moriarty put the story in Shakopee's local paper. The agencies picked it up, and from all over the U.S. Moriarty got 35,000 letters asking for the boys' addresses. Said he, "I never saw anything like it."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.