"I Don't Want to Be a Soldier"

Perhaps the only genuinely popular slogan that went through Germany immediately after the capitulation was Schluss mit der Soldatenspielerei (No more of this soldier business).

This week, scarcely two years later, German men were being actively recruited for military service in at least two of the occupation zones. At Horcheim near Coblenz, the French opened a Foreign Legion recruiting station, invited German veterans between the ages of 19 and 35 to join up for service in Indo-China (war criminals and former SS men were not welcome).

In the Russian zone, "recruitment" sounded like the draft. In Leipzig, Saxony and the Berlin area several hundred men got a note from the Soviet military administration "At 0800 hours, June 15, you will report at with two blankets, underwear and two days' food. Your relatives can reach you through Field Post No. ."

Many of the draftees will do ordinary construction work in the Soviet zone. Most will probably be offered special treatment if they volunteer for service with the Russian Navy, recently expanded by the addition of many former Axis vessels.