The Artamans

After my release from prison, I got in touch with the Artamans. I had become acquainted with this organization and its goal during my imprisonment through their writings, and 1 had occupied myself very intensely with it. This was a community of young patriotic people, young men and women who had come out of the youth movement from all national alignments. They wanted to escape the unhealthy, decaying, and superficial life of the cities, especially the large metropolitan areas. They sought the natural way of life in the country. They abhorred alcohol and nicotine, in fact everything that was not good for the healthy development of mind and body; moreover, through this principle of living they hoped to return to the soil from which their ancestors had come forth, to the fountain of life of the German people, to the healthy farming community. This was also my way, my long-sought goal.

I resigned my position as an agricultural civil servant and joined the community of those who thought as I did. I broke all connections with my former friends and families because they could not understand my decision based on their traditional viewpoints, and because I wanted to start my new life without any interference.

In the first days there I became acquainted with my future wife, who, along with her brother, was inspired by the same ideals and had found her way to the Artamans. We knew from the very first moment that we belonged together. We found within ourselves a harmony of trust and understanding as if we had lived together from childhood on. All our views of life were the same. We completed each other in every respect. I had found the woman I had dreamed of during the long years of my solitude. Through all the years of our life together and even to this day, this inner harmony remains unchanged even by the misfortunes of life in spite of the outside forces.

But there is one thing that remains a steady sorrow to her. I could never share the things that deeply disturbed me—I had to settle everything alone, within myself. I could not confide even in her about them.

We got married as soon as it was possible [in 1929], in order to start our hard life together, a life freely chosen out of deepest inner conviction. Clearly we both saw the long, difficult, and trouble-filled road to our goal, but nothing was going to prevent us from reaching it. Our life truly was not easy in the following five years. But even the biggest hardships could not discourage us. We were happy and content when we were able to win over new believers to our idea by our example and our teaching. During that time three of our children were bom for the new tomorrow, for the new future. Our own land was soon to be allotted to us. But it did not happen that way!