FYI: Blockwart in Nazi Germany

[David Morris]

I can see how YOU might have misinterpreted a "neighborhood watch" to be an 
"American Blockwart,"  but you were dead wrong (this does display something 
about your prejudices).  You know what they say about assuming things...

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=assume*1+0
Assume:(ACCEPT)
verb [T]
to accept (something) to be true without question or proof

David Morris

>From: KXX4493553 at aol.com
>The "Blockwart". The Lower Party Functionaries in the National Socialist 
>Machinery of Terror and Control. The "Blockwart" functioning as an 
>intermediate between the NSDAP leadership and the society, are still 
>neglected in research, although the recollections of eyewitnesses often 
>described them as important in law enforcement in everyday life. These 
>"little Hitlers" who numbered about two million during World War II, acted 
>not only as ideological propagandists for numerous National Socialist 
>organisations, but also as effective instruments of widespread information 
>gathering in the neighborhoods. Examples show they also used their detailed 
>knowledge of local conditions to track down Jewish citizens and socalled 
>"Judenfreunde", who were later persecuted by other institutions. During the 
>years of war the "Blockwart" became increasingly important to organizing 
>the "inner front". They were in charge of food supplies for the civilian 
>population, responsible for maintaining public order and keeping morale 
>high. Overall it becomes clear that those who worked for the NSDAP in 
>neighborhoods, were nothing spectacular, they were constitutive elements of 
>the National Socialist persecution machine. They were the informers and 
>abettors of NS terror.


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