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 (ie. the Nazis) 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.
Click here to read about the high suicide rate in post-World War I Germany.
CLICK HERE... to read one man's account of his struggle with shell shock...
