Berlin.
An explanation of the new Military Law has been given here by Major-General von Reichenau, head of the Wehrmachtsamts, whose position, deriving from that of Chef des Ministeramts created by the late General von Schleicher, combines roughly the functions of permanent Under-Secretary, right-hand man of the War Minister and the Commanders-in-Chief, and link between them.
The military service obligation lasts from the eighteenth to the forty-fifth year. The length of service with the colors is set by the Fuehrer, who has laid down that it shall be one year. In addition to long service non-commissioned officers, volunteers can engage for an extra year in the Army and for four years in the Navy and Air Arm. The personnel of the Navy and Air Arm will be supplemented solely from longer-service volunteers.
FORCED LABOR
Compulsory labor service will be a preliminary condition for active military service. It will probably begin on October 1. The classes of 1914 (21 years old) and 1915 (20 years old) are to be examined this year; they have already been registered. The medical and other examination necessary for the selection of recruits for service will begin in June. The 1914 class will be enrolled for the first 12 months’ service with the colors; the 1915 class will, after examination, be at disposal for labor service. The selected conscripts of the 1914 class will join up in the Army and the Air Arm on November 1. The Navy has various enrolment dates spread over the whole year, according to the type of service.
In East Prussia the 1910 class will also be called up for military service. The reason is understood to be that East Prussia is an area detached from the Reich which— theoretically, at least—must look after its self-defense independently and as it is a weakly populated area it requires two classes to select its annual contingent from.
PROVISION FOR VOLUNTEERS
Men of the 1913 to 1910 classes liable for service in the Reich generally may report voluntarily for active military service. They will not have to do a year’s active service, but only short training courses for the Supplementary Reserve.
Men who have completed their active military service remain in the reserve until the completion of their thirty-fifth year, when they pass into the Landsturm until they are 45. The Supplementary Reserve will consist of those who are not called up for active military service at the age of 21 (which will be the usual age of enrolment), or have not served as volunteers, or belong to those older and hitherto untrained classes which, as already indicated, are to undergo short training courses. They remain in the Supplementary Reserve until the age of 35.
THE RESERVE SYSTEM
Conditions have been published for entry into the Corps of Reserve Officers. A man who has done his year’s conscript service, put in three short courses during his first four or five reserve years, and passed the necessary examination and tests can become a reserve lieutenant in his fourth or fifth reserve year. Men between 25 and 35 who have not yet had military training can, after doing two training courses of two months, enter the reserve system at the same point as aspirants to reserve commissions who have just completed their active year. Provision is made for former officers of the Imperial Army and officers and n.c.o’s. of the Reichswehr, to obtain reserve commissions if they prove themselves suitable. It is clear, however, that such commissions are not to be gained easily by older men, and nowhere is there any indication that service with the S.A., S.S., or other semi-military Nazi organization will give an aspirant any advantage over others unless, perhaps, this knowledge and training enables him to attain commissioned rank in the minimum of four years’ reserve service.
“NON-ARYANS” SERVE
Not only will men failing to pass the medical examination be rejected, but also such as are ‘unworthy to serve” owing to previous serious convictions by law courts involving the deprivation of civic rights. As regards the “Aryan” question, the Army appears to have prevailed over the racial fanatics who wished it laid down that no person of “non-Aryan” origin was worthy to serve. Pure-blooded Jews are excluded, but “non-Aryans” and men with wives of “non-Aryan” origin may be admitted to active service with the colors if they apply and are found suitable as the result of the general personal impression made by them and of a test of “political reliability.” All “non-Aryans” will be subject to the obligation regulations applying to persons liable to serve. “Non-Aryans” who are allowed to serve will be eligible for promotion, but in case of war “a special regulation of this difficult question must be made,” which the Fuehrer himself reserves the right to determine.
It is laid down in the Military Law that serving soldiers may not take an active part in polities.
“It is clear,” said General von Reichenau, “that during his short term of service the soldier must concentrate his entire physical and mental energy to his training in arms, and that he can only be subordinate to a single authority, that of the Wehrmacht.” Consequently, during their military service, membership of the Nazi Party or its associated organizations remains in abeyance for all soldiers, as does their right to vote in elections or referendums.
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