The 1919 Versailles Treaty mandated that Germany must have no W.W. I veterans organizations or conventions of any kind; 18 years later the Nazi leadership in Germany thought that was all a bunch of stuff and nonsense and so the War Veterans Associations (Kriegsopferversorgung) was formed.
Convening on July 30, 1934 - the 19th anniversary that marked the start of the war, the first official gathering of that country's Great War veterans was held in Cologne; a reporter from the American Legion Monthly was in attendance (as was Hitler), and she had absolutely no sense of foreboding. |
