2008 Woodie Awards
Former Hitler Youth member redefines villains
By: Thomas Marcetti
Issue date: 11/7/07 Section: News
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He said if he could do one thing now it would be to foster the belief that "villains in history do not wear black hats."
Lintz was a guest speaker in HST 280: Nazi Germany and the Holocaust on Tuesday in Pearce Hall.
History Professor Eric Johnson said he met Lintz a few years ago when he was interviewing people for the book he co-authored "What We Knew: Terror, Mass Murder, and Everyday Life in Nazi Germany."
"It gives the class a chance to meet someone who lived through it and ask him questions," he said. "It gives them an idea of how dictatorships really function."
It also gave students a chance to see and grill both sides.
Johnson said it was important to note that all male Germans Lintz age were required to join the Hitler Youth - including Pope Benedict XVI.
"I wouldn't have invited him to campus if I thought he was a Nazi pig," Johnson said.
Lintz said the Hitler Youth was similar to the Boy Scouts of America.
"We played a lot of games like soccer and hand ball," he said. "There was preparation for camping and wilderness survival."
Lintz told students about growing up during the war and having to hide under sheet metal during bombing raids.
He said it was wartime and that meant everyone had to contribute.
"The young men had to do firefighting and rescue work during bombing raids," he said. "We had to run out as the bombs were falling and dig people out of the wreckage."
Later, Lintz served as part of the Air Force Helpers, which drafted all males ages 13 to 15 years old.
Lintz said the day after his 17th birthday, April 29, 1945, he received the present of hearing of Hitler's suicide.
He said after the war people tried to rationalize or deny what they were hearing about the actions of the Nazi party.
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