The second question is from where did the pioneer movement derive its strength? The Zionist pioneering youth movements took on the responsibility of all Jewish public life, a bit too late perhaps, during the most difficult days. I believe that one does not have to probe too far to find the answer. It would be wrong, painfully wrong, to assume that the resistance displayed by the youth during the stormy days of destruction was the response of a few individuals, of Yitschak, or Zivia, or Mordechai, or Frumka. We have lived and still live with the conviction that our fate would have been very different had we not been members of the Movement, if we had not absorbed the values that it gave us from childhood.
This is the real secret of the movement’s strength. The Movement always knew how to demand everything from its members. The Movement’s goal had always been to educate a new kind of man, capable of enduring the most adverse conditions and difficult times while standing up for the emancipation of our people, of the Jew, of mankind. It was our movement education which gave us the strength to endure.
I don’t know if I succeeded in describing how much we tried to live up to those values. I did mention how we were almost obsessed at times with preserving the unblemished personal morality of each of our members as individuals, and of the movement as a whole….
What gave us this moral strength? We were able to endure the life in the ghetto because we knew that we were a collective, a movement. Each of us knew that he wasn’t alone. Every other Jew faced his fate alone, one man before the overpowering, invincible enemy. From the very first moment until the bitter end, we stood together as a collective, as a movement. The feeling that there was a movement, a community of people who cared about each other, who shared ideas and values in common, made it possible for each of us to do what we did. The greatest tragedy was that the Jews did not know what to do. From the very first days of demoralisation in the ghetto until the final days of destruction and death, they did not know what to do. We knew. Our movement values showed us our goals and how to achieve them. This was the source of the strength to live. It is the very same source which keeps the survivors alive even today.
Showing posts with label Youth Movement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Youth Movement. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
On Zionist Youth Movements - Tzvi Lamm
The motif of 'the rebellion of the son,' the kind that leads not to detachment from the parents, but to accepting responsibility over them, is at the core of all Zionist youth always came from the same motive - for the youth to break through the existence of the Jewish exile while leading the nation... The Zionist youth movements were in their essence an act of escape from the anomie (chaos of values in a changing world) because they rebelled against the society around them. The youth's self-awareness and the intellectualizing of the rebellion were what allowed the Zionist youth movements to take responsibility over the nation's future despite the fact that they rejected its present.
From the Address to the 9th Convention of Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed - Yitzhak Rabin
I used to be a member of the movement; I grew up in this movement where we slept in cabins. Cabins that were hot in the summer and, in the winter, leaked from the rain. I was among those who did Hachshara. I ended up in the Palmach, the Tzahal, and the rest we all know…
I came here today to greet you, but not only that, I also came to demand of you…
What do I expect of you? I was told by the mazkir that the issue for your discussion is: “Israeli society in times of peace.” Of course we have to look at the image of society once we will achieve peace, but we are still striving towards peace. The first thing I expect from this movement and from many others in this country is: Deal with the killers of peace! Deal with the Arabs and the Jews who are the killers of peace.
If there won’t be a movement of young people – and I mean your movement – that will know how to stand up, to support peace, and to resist the killers – those who want to assassinate peace… This is the movement that you have to be. This is your future.
The second thing is: Don’t accept conventions. Not in society, nor in any other fields. Whether it’s a society, a state, or any other kind of entity that does not know how to create change, it is an entity that has gone withered. The reality of today is different than the reality of fifty years ago in every aspect. If there is anything that is unique about youth, it’s the tendency towards rebellion against conventions. That is, not just for the sake of being a rebel, but for the sake of creating change…
This is why I place this demand on you – the youth movements. The youth movements in our times built an army and we built settlements because that was the need of the hour. Today the needs are different, more varied, and present more challenges for you to face. You will be tested in your ability to continue and change what there is to be changed. I wish for you to be like that. I believe you can be like that and, together, adults and youngsters, we will march this country into peace, security, prosperity and success.
I came here today to greet you, but not only that, I also came to demand of you…
What do I expect of you? I was told by the mazkir that the issue for your discussion is: “Israeli society in times of peace.” Of course we have to look at the image of society once we will achieve peace, but we are still striving towards peace. The first thing I expect from this movement and from many others in this country is: Deal with the killers of peace! Deal with the Arabs and the Jews who are the killers of peace.
If there won’t be a movement of young people – and I mean your movement – that will know how to stand up, to support peace, and to resist the killers – those who want to assassinate peace… This is the movement that you have to be. This is your future.
The second thing is: Don’t accept conventions. Not in society, nor in any other fields. Whether it’s a society, a state, or any other kind of entity that does not know how to create change, it is an entity that has gone withered. The reality of today is different than the reality of fifty years ago in every aspect. If there is anything that is unique about youth, it’s the tendency towards rebellion against conventions. That is, not just for the sake of being a rebel, but for the sake of creating change…
This is why I place this demand on you – the youth movements. The youth movements in our times built an army and we built settlements because that was the need of the hour. Today the needs are different, more varied, and present more challenges for you to face. You will be tested in your ability to continue and change what there is to be changed. I wish for you to be like that. I believe you can be like that and, together, adults and youngsters, we will march this country into peace, security, prosperity and success.
Zion and the Youth - Martin Buber
The youth are humanity's eternal possibility for happiness. This possibility occurs repeatedly and humanity misses it again and again. Generations of people in their twenties return to the stage again and again with the passion of absolute yearning in their hearts, devoted to ideals, ready and waiting to break through the blocked gates of Eden.
Nothing stands between this generation and the fulfillment of its obligation but the deed itself; and hence they prepare themselves. But in the hour of preparation an abundance of inferior and unimportant goals from the society around them take control of the youths' souls. Vain urges of egotism and the urges for excellence and power take control of them. Their environment preaches the perception that the 'facts' are stronger than the ideals and that we are subjects in a sequence of events that we cannot change, shape, or control, and that the aspiration to escape from the rituals of the all-powerful “greater good” will turn the rebel into an outsider from society and a hallucinatory person. He will become a man that lives a life of celibacy, who isolates himself from society, and is unsuccessful. This preaching overcomes the longings and devotion; the pure force, which was going to actualize a life of truth on earth, was coerced into becoming a burden of lies and the burden of the soulless walking on the sidelines. And the remaining few rebels, who were abandoned and left behind by their friends become – as was foretold – the exceptions that do not succeed in life. And again the empty mechanism was saved; it was proven again that inertia is stronger than the flight of the free spirit, which aspires to legislate more exalted laws. And again humanity did not receive the achievement and the chance that fate summoned for it, and a new generation rises up, a new youth, and what had happened to its predecessors will happen to it too.
However, the uniqueness of times in which great internal and external crises occur in the lives of nations and humanity as a whole, is that they refuse to surrender to the decree, they rebel against the law of inertia and dare to save the youthful vigor that did not yet disintegrate, and from it they dare to grow an act of revolution, an act of renewal. These times speak to the youth with lungs of fire, they demand from the youth, even command of it, not to surrender, to face the evil, to save the soul, and to do its deeds. And the youth listens.
This youth stretches via great exertion and shakes itself free from the coercion of the empty mechanism, and is not tempted by it. This youth dares to do what is beyond. It performs an act like Yehoshua in Givon: it delays the sun from rising in the sky until its endeavor is completed. It prolongs its youth by one hour, one great hour, and performs what is necessary for the turning point to occur.
Nothing stands between this generation and the fulfillment of its obligation but the deed itself; and hence they prepare themselves. But in the hour of preparation an abundance of inferior and unimportant goals from the society around them take control of the youths' souls. Vain urges of egotism and the urges for excellence and power take control of them. Their environment preaches the perception that the 'facts' are stronger than the ideals and that we are subjects in a sequence of events that we cannot change, shape, or control, and that the aspiration to escape from the rituals of the all-powerful “greater good” will turn the rebel into an outsider from society and a hallucinatory person. He will become a man that lives a life of celibacy, who isolates himself from society, and is unsuccessful. This preaching overcomes the longings and devotion; the pure force, which was going to actualize a life of truth on earth, was coerced into becoming a burden of lies and the burden of the soulless walking on the sidelines. And the remaining few rebels, who were abandoned and left behind by their friends become – as was foretold – the exceptions that do not succeed in life. And again the empty mechanism was saved; it was proven again that inertia is stronger than the flight of the free spirit, which aspires to legislate more exalted laws. And again humanity did not receive the achievement and the chance that fate summoned for it, and a new generation rises up, a new youth, and what had happened to its predecessors will happen to it too.
However, the uniqueness of times in which great internal and external crises occur in the lives of nations and humanity as a whole, is that they refuse to surrender to the decree, they rebel against the law of inertia and dare to save the youthful vigor that did not yet disintegrate, and from it they dare to grow an act of revolution, an act of renewal. These times speak to the youth with lungs of fire, they demand from the youth, even command of it, not to surrender, to face the evil, to save the soul, and to do its deeds. And the youth listens.
This youth stretches via great exertion and shakes itself free from the coercion of the empty mechanism, and is not tempted by it. This youth dares to do what is beyond. It performs an act like Yehoshua in Givon: it delays the sun from rising in the sky until its endeavor is completed. It prolongs its youth by one hour, one great hour, and performs what is necessary for the turning point to occur.
Getting the History Right - 'Socialist-Zionism' NOT 'Socialism' and 'Zionism'
Borochov, Syrkin, Pinsker, Brenner and the other thinkers who developed our movement's ideology were all clearly writing about 'Socialist-Zionism' as the best way forwards for the Jewish People in exile, before the State of Israel existed. They were writing in direct contradiction to the 'Socialists' at the time, who saw the way forwards for the Jews as uniting with all the lower-classes internationally and joining the workers' revolution. They also wrote critically about the (non-Socialist) Territorialists and (non-Socialist) Zionists, because they were certain that the new Jewish State must be created on a basis fundamentally linked to Socialist values of equality. Before people such as Borochov and Syrkin, there were separate 'Socialist' and 'Zionist' ideologies, separate 'Socialist' and 'Zionist' movements and separate 'Socialist' and 'Zionist' youth movements. Only afterwards was there a distinct and separate 'Socialist-Zionist' movement, which attempted to unify the Jewish people behind this combined ideology of making a new egalitarian Jewish State in Israel.
The people who first put these new ideological theories into practice were the pioneers (chalutzim) of the 2nd and 3rd Aliyah, before either Habonim or Dror existed. Many of them were from Hashomer Hatzair. They developed the 'intimate kvutzot' like Degania, which became the first kibbutzim, and the beginning of the kibbutz movement. Each kvutza or kibbutz was an example of a community that combined freedom and equality - no centralized government with a nationalized economy forced people to share, but instead a group of idealistic individuals used their own free choice in order yo 'give acording to their abilities and get according to their needs'. Whilst this utopian lifestyle choice succeeded for a small group of people, it relied upon maximum trust, honesty and collective responsibility, and so was not easily maintained as kibbutzim grew, and certainly would break down on the level of the whole nation. Therefore, rather than building one huge kibbutz in Israel, the first kvutzot had a vision of a network made up of many smaller kvutzot and kibbutzim. Here we start to see the wider ideological implications - that very slowly over a long period of time, through great determination, vision, hard work, and 'dugma ishit', more and more Jewish people would use their freedom in order to choose equality - i.e. join a kibbutz. As more and more kibbutzim were built, and the network got bigger, gradually an entire sub-society of socialist communities evolved in Israel. The utopian, idealistic plan of 'Socialist-Zionism' was that evolutionarily, with many thousands of kibbutzim all over the country, linked together by the network of the Kibbutz Movement, the State of Israel would develop as a new exemplary society, valuing both freedom and equality.
Both Dror and Habonim were youth movements that developed after the unification of 'Socialist-Zionism', and after the creation of the first kvutzot and kibbutzim. We were inspired by the 'Socialist-Zionist' ideology, and we put it into practice (i.e. realized it - 'Hagshama') by following the example of our leaders ('Dugma Ishit'), who made aliyah to build the first kvutzot and kibbutzim. Habonim-Dror's 'Socialist Zionism' was expressed through freely choosing to join the Kibbutz Movement, as an attempt to pioneer a new, free, egalitarian society in Israel. This is obviously a very idealist vision, which takes a very long time, perhaps even forever, to achieve. From the 1930's until the 1980's it was clear in Habonim and Dror around the world that our ultimate hagshama was 'Chalutzik Kibbutz Aliyah' - i.e. furthering the goals of 'Socialist Zionism' by building a new kibbutz or by joining a developing kibbutz, in order to get closer to that utopian vision.
The debate about the future of Habonim Dror's ideology must begin to take place in the correct historical context of this unified ideology. The mistake of separating our ideology into 3-5 'pillars' or 'platforms' has led to huge misunderstanding of our own movement identity in recent years. We are not 'socialists' and 'Zionists', and we never were. We were 'socialist Zionists', and sadly it is no longer clear what we are, partially because the debate has been taking place in the wrong context, due to a lack of knowledge about our own history.
The people who first put these new ideological theories into practice were the pioneers (chalutzim) of the 2nd and 3rd Aliyah, before either Habonim or Dror existed. Many of them were from Hashomer Hatzair. They developed the 'intimate kvutzot' like Degania, which became the first kibbutzim, and the beginning of the kibbutz movement. Each kvutza or kibbutz was an example of a community that combined freedom and equality - no centralized government with a nationalized economy forced people to share, but instead a group of idealistic individuals used their own free choice in order yo 'give acording to their abilities and get according to their needs'. Whilst this utopian lifestyle choice succeeded for a small group of people, it relied upon maximum trust, honesty and collective responsibility, and so was not easily maintained as kibbutzim grew, and certainly would break down on the level of the whole nation. Therefore, rather than building one huge kibbutz in Israel, the first kvutzot had a vision of a network made up of many smaller kvutzot and kibbutzim. Here we start to see the wider ideological implications - that very slowly over a long period of time, through great determination, vision, hard work, and 'dugma ishit', more and more Jewish people would use their freedom in order to choose equality - i.e. join a kibbutz. As more and more kibbutzim were built, and the network got bigger, gradually an entire sub-society of socialist communities evolved in Israel. The utopian, idealistic plan of 'Socialist-Zionism' was that evolutionarily, with many thousands of kibbutzim all over the country, linked together by the network of the Kibbutz Movement, the State of Israel would develop as a new exemplary society, valuing both freedom and equality.
Both Dror and Habonim were youth movements that developed after the unification of 'Socialist-Zionism', and after the creation of the first kvutzot and kibbutzim. We were inspired by the 'Socialist-Zionist' ideology, and we put it into practice (i.e. realized it - 'Hagshama') by following the example of our leaders ('Dugma Ishit'), who made aliyah to build the first kvutzot and kibbutzim. Habonim-Dror's 'Socialist Zionism' was expressed through freely choosing to join the Kibbutz Movement, as an attempt to pioneer a new, free, egalitarian society in Israel. This is obviously a very idealist vision, which takes a very long time, perhaps even forever, to achieve. From the 1930's until the 1980's it was clear in Habonim and Dror around the world that our ultimate hagshama was 'Chalutzik Kibbutz Aliyah' - i.e. furthering the goals of 'Socialist Zionism' by building a new kibbutz or by joining a developing kibbutz, in order to get closer to that utopian vision.
The debate about the future of Habonim Dror's ideology must begin to take place in the correct historical context of this unified ideology. The mistake of separating our ideology into 3-5 'pillars' or 'platforms' has led to huge misunderstanding of our own movement identity in recent years. We are not 'socialists' and 'Zionists', and we never were. We were 'socialist Zionists', and sadly it is no longer clear what we are, partially because the debate has been taking place in the wrong context, due to a lack of knowledge about our own history.
Youth Movement Principles - Chaim Schatzker
An attempt will now be made to define the phenomenon of the youth movement according to seven characteristics, exercising a clear, explicit reservation that we are talking here about an ideal, Max Weber-type entity. In actuality, these characteristics are not always so fully noticeable, and their appearance in the various movements is variable. These seven characteristics were not determined arbitrarily. The determination was preceded by many years of research, in the course of which the texts of various movements were examined for their motivations and characteristics. An analysis of these elements may then explain the essential character or essence of the different youth movements and their behavior in various historical situation, including the Holocaust, in which the reaction of youth belonging to a youth movement differed from that of unorganized youth.
Discontent with "Society"and the Striving for "Community"
In its critique of society, the youth movement deplores the atomization of men in the age of technology; the dissolution of organic relationships and bonds; loneliness and heartlessness; the ugliness and constriction of the large cities; modern technology and the rational industrial society which, through its one-sided emphasis on the development of the intellect, leads to the spiritual and emotional impoverishment of mankind. Dissatisfaction with this state of affairs prompts the striving for a new life style, for a community, a collectivity in which all those frustrated and withered vital shoots can thrive and blossom out in a new and satisfying life.
Inner Truth as an Ontological Criterion
The endeavor to "fashion life in the spirit of inner truth," proclaimed in the Meissner Formula, indicates the crucial importance of this theme within the total concept of the youth movement. In the youth movement's critique of society, the one feature most frequently pilloried was the lies and falsehood behind the facade of social norms and conventions. They were confronted with "inner truth" or "the spirit of truth" as a criterion of a fulfilled and righteous life conducive to strengthening community bonds. The movement sought the key to the discovery and recognition of this truth in the intuition, the subjective inner stirrings of the individual and the community, while rejecting rational, objective criteria as inadequate and misleading. It was art rather than science, sentiment rather than reason, intuitively grasped rather than externally established norms that were considered the effective instruments in a genuine search for truth.
The Bund
This organizational cell of the youth movement also owes its origin to a collective emotional experience. "For the constitution of the 'Bund' emotional experiences are vital, they form its 'foundation.'" "The flame of the 'Bund' only leaps up when those stirred to their depths as individuals meet, mutually recognize the common direction of their 'feeling' and on that basis kindle one another's enthusiasm."
The collective will (volente generale) is forged at the Bund rally, mostly through strong emotional attachments focused on the personality of an inspiring leader. Born as a flash of intuition, the collective will is subsequently spelled out in statutes and resolution. Any deviation from that collective will must end either in separation from the Bund or in a recantations. Discussions may well take place within the Bund, but decisions are arrived at by the rising into consciousness of an "inner truth," not by the mechanistic method of democratic vote-counting. Sparked by the emotional ambiance of the Bund rally, this "liberating" idea illuminates the road ahead.
Totality of Commitment
Although activities accounted for only a small proportion of the time of its members, the youth movement was not content with the role of an additional and subsidiary instrument of eduction, but endeavored, on the whole with success, to totally dominate the lives of its members. Actually, the striving for "wholeness" and total commitment follows from the characteristics of the youth movement already described here. In its critique of society the youth movement deplored the fragmented, mechanistic relations between men, and its search for communion was expressed in a yearning for a pattern of organic, harmonious and all-embracing relations between the members of the community. Thus, there is a straight line leading from the principle of "inner truth" and the attempt to translate it into real life to the principle of the "totality" of the youth movement. "Inner truth," as it was truth in its purest form - in contrast to all externally imposed norms - demanded unconditional compliance, irrespective of society and social circumstances. It was bound to be regarded as indivisible and exempt from the need to enter into compromises with other "truths," exempt from the need to iron out differences and find a middle way. The more that "inner truth" was felt to be an elementary phenomenon of nature, the more complete was its demand for total submission. The educational approach chosen by the youth movement to translate its postulate into reality and to harness the total identities of its members consisted in the endeavor to mold their "conviction" and their "bearing."
Molding "Conviction" and "Bearing"
The youth movement based its approach on the assumptions that in education the relationship between cause and effect, challenge and response, is never a straightforward and direct one, but that human reactions and modes of behavior in real situations are determined by psychological predispositions, classified as Gesinnung and Haltung, conviction and bearing. These predispositions in turn are derived from certain value judgments.
Having adopted this concept, which is diametrically opposed to that of modern behaviorism, the youth movement proceeded with faultless logic to draw a conclusion that is vital for an understanding of the movement. Once it is accepted that an individual's mode of behavior is governed entirely by convictions and bearing, there is little point in attempting to influence behavior directly in the course of the educational process. What matters instead is to dominate convictions and bearing. This would then spontaneously and without any further outside intervention - perhaps with redoubled efficacy as a result of refraining from exerting any external pressure - direct behavior into the desired channels. An unshakable faith in the inner logic and inevitability of this process confirmed the youth movements in its tendency to concentrate almost exclusively on the molding of the convictions of its followers, while the customary "schoolmasterly" methods of behavioral drill were spurned with ridicule and contempt, as they appeared to be based on a confusion of cause with effect in the sphere of education.
The same interpretation was applied to social processes. All the sections of the youth movement, representing a broad spectrum of different hues and divergent tendencies, were united in the belief that a transformation of the social order could only be effected by human beings who themselves had been transformed beforehand, and that only a "different" type of man would be able to ensure the survival of a new order. On the other hand, a genuine transformation could never be brought about by the use of violence to enforce changes in external circumstances, unless such changes were preceded by a spiritual transformation of the human beings concerned,
"Indirect" Education
The youth movement looked upon "indirect" education as the most effective means of influencing the conviction and bearing of its followers. In place of the "direct" education practiced in the schools, which endeavored to transmit to the pupil information, opinions, skills and modes of behavior, the youth movement sought to affect the conviction and bearing of its followers indirectly, not by preaching the word, but through the mysterious workings of symbols and allusions, and above all through the participation in experiences charged with emotion; not through the impact of outside influence, but though the inward force of moved hearts and souls.
Contrary to the educational principle of rationality, which took it for granted that rational thinking will of necessity engender rational, and thus "positive" action, the youth movement believed that if only the youngster was exposed to the "right" type of experience, if he became "moved," his convictions and bearing would be molded the "right" way and appropriate action was bound to follow in due course.
The Movement and the "Moved"
The features listed here suggest a new and unconventional definition of the youth movement, summing it up primarily not as an organization of young people but rather as Jugendbewegtheit, youth's state of being moved, of being emotionally gripped by the sense of being young. This interpretation in terms of a movement of the human spirit appears to be supported by the general usage of the youth movement, which in referring to its followers never spoke of "members," bur of Jugendbewegte, the "youth-moved" or "moved youth."
Yet, such movements of the human spirit, peaks of spiritual agitation, are by their very nature transient and fugitive, whereas social structures, even if generated in the first place by a movement of the human spirit, tend to outlast the inspiration and take on the character of movements in the sense of organizations, and then moods are superseded by statutes, feelings by actions, formative experience by tasks, and the free, unshackled gathering of the young by a lifelong association tied to limited objectives.
In this way the youth movement fell victim to an inexorable dialectic: for a perpetuation of the state of being spiritually moved and in the grip of emotion without ever reaching the stage of bringing the ideals down to earth and proving them viable in real life was bound to reduce the youth movement to absurdity, whereas the translation of the ideals into reality spelled the dissolution of the movement. The span between the two poles of this dialectical process constitutes the history of the various youth movements.
Summing up, the youth movement can be regarded as a manifestation of a profoundly pessimistic view of modern culture, aiming at a radical transformation of man as a prerequisite for the transformation of the real world.
Discontent with "Society"and the Striving for "Community"
In its critique of society, the youth movement deplores the atomization of men in the age of technology; the dissolution of organic relationships and bonds; loneliness and heartlessness; the ugliness and constriction of the large cities; modern technology and the rational industrial society which, through its one-sided emphasis on the development of the intellect, leads to the spiritual and emotional impoverishment of mankind. Dissatisfaction with this state of affairs prompts the striving for a new life style, for a community, a collectivity in which all those frustrated and withered vital shoots can thrive and blossom out in a new and satisfying life.
Inner Truth as an Ontological Criterion
The endeavor to "fashion life in the spirit of inner truth," proclaimed in the Meissner Formula, indicates the crucial importance of this theme within the total concept of the youth movement. In the youth movement's critique of society, the one feature most frequently pilloried was the lies and falsehood behind the facade of social norms and conventions. They were confronted with "inner truth" or "the spirit of truth" as a criterion of a fulfilled and righteous life conducive to strengthening community bonds. The movement sought the key to the discovery and recognition of this truth in the intuition, the subjective inner stirrings of the individual and the community, while rejecting rational, objective criteria as inadequate and misleading. It was art rather than science, sentiment rather than reason, intuitively grasped rather than externally established norms that were considered the effective instruments in a genuine search for truth.
The Bund
This organizational cell of the youth movement also owes its origin to a collective emotional experience. "For the constitution of the 'Bund' emotional experiences are vital, they form its 'foundation.'" "The flame of the 'Bund' only leaps up when those stirred to their depths as individuals meet, mutually recognize the common direction of their 'feeling' and on that basis kindle one another's enthusiasm."
The collective will (volente generale) is forged at the Bund rally, mostly through strong emotional attachments focused on the personality of an inspiring leader. Born as a flash of intuition, the collective will is subsequently spelled out in statutes and resolution. Any deviation from that collective will must end either in separation from the Bund or in a recantations. Discussions may well take place within the Bund, but decisions are arrived at by the rising into consciousness of an "inner truth," not by the mechanistic method of democratic vote-counting. Sparked by the emotional ambiance of the Bund rally, this "liberating" idea illuminates the road ahead.
Totality of Commitment
Although activities accounted for only a small proportion of the time of its members, the youth movement was not content with the role of an additional and subsidiary instrument of eduction, but endeavored, on the whole with success, to totally dominate the lives of its members. Actually, the striving for "wholeness" and total commitment follows from the characteristics of the youth movement already described here. In its critique of society the youth movement deplored the fragmented, mechanistic relations between men, and its search for communion was expressed in a yearning for a pattern of organic, harmonious and all-embracing relations between the members of the community. Thus, there is a straight line leading from the principle of "inner truth" and the attempt to translate it into real life to the principle of the "totality" of the youth movement. "Inner truth," as it was truth in its purest form - in contrast to all externally imposed norms - demanded unconditional compliance, irrespective of society and social circumstances. It was bound to be regarded as indivisible and exempt from the need to enter into compromises with other "truths," exempt from the need to iron out differences and find a middle way. The more that "inner truth" was felt to be an elementary phenomenon of nature, the more complete was its demand for total submission. The educational approach chosen by the youth movement to translate its postulate into reality and to harness the total identities of its members consisted in the endeavor to mold their "conviction" and their "bearing."
Molding "Conviction" and "Bearing"
The youth movement based its approach on the assumptions that in education the relationship between cause and effect, challenge and response, is never a straightforward and direct one, but that human reactions and modes of behavior in real situations are determined by psychological predispositions, classified as Gesinnung and Haltung, conviction and bearing. These predispositions in turn are derived from certain value judgments.
Having adopted this concept, which is diametrically opposed to that of modern behaviorism, the youth movement proceeded with faultless logic to draw a conclusion that is vital for an understanding of the movement. Once it is accepted that an individual's mode of behavior is governed entirely by convictions and bearing, there is little point in attempting to influence behavior directly in the course of the educational process. What matters instead is to dominate convictions and bearing. This would then spontaneously and without any further outside intervention - perhaps with redoubled efficacy as a result of refraining from exerting any external pressure - direct behavior into the desired channels. An unshakable faith in the inner logic and inevitability of this process confirmed the youth movements in its tendency to concentrate almost exclusively on the molding of the convictions of its followers, while the customary "schoolmasterly" methods of behavioral drill were spurned with ridicule and contempt, as they appeared to be based on a confusion of cause with effect in the sphere of education.
The same interpretation was applied to social processes. All the sections of the youth movement, representing a broad spectrum of different hues and divergent tendencies, were united in the belief that a transformation of the social order could only be effected by human beings who themselves had been transformed beforehand, and that only a "different" type of man would be able to ensure the survival of a new order. On the other hand, a genuine transformation could never be brought about by the use of violence to enforce changes in external circumstances, unless such changes were preceded by a spiritual transformation of the human beings concerned,
"Indirect" Education
The youth movement looked upon "indirect" education as the most effective means of influencing the conviction and bearing of its followers. In place of the "direct" education practiced in the schools, which endeavored to transmit to the pupil information, opinions, skills and modes of behavior, the youth movement sought to affect the conviction and bearing of its followers indirectly, not by preaching the word, but through the mysterious workings of symbols and allusions, and above all through the participation in experiences charged with emotion; not through the impact of outside influence, but though the inward force of moved hearts and souls.
Contrary to the educational principle of rationality, which took it for granted that rational thinking will of necessity engender rational, and thus "positive" action, the youth movement believed that if only the youngster was exposed to the "right" type of experience, if he became "moved," his convictions and bearing would be molded the "right" way and appropriate action was bound to follow in due course.
The Movement and the "Moved"
The features listed here suggest a new and unconventional definition of the youth movement, summing it up primarily not as an organization of young people but rather as Jugendbewegtheit, youth's state of being moved, of being emotionally gripped by the sense of being young. This interpretation in terms of a movement of the human spirit appears to be supported by the general usage of the youth movement, which in referring to its followers never spoke of "members," bur of Jugendbewegte, the "youth-moved" or "moved youth."
Yet, such movements of the human spirit, peaks of spiritual agitation, are by their very nature transient and fugitive, whereas social structures, even if generated in the first place by a movement of the human spirit, tend to outlast the inspiration and take on the character of movements in the sense of organizations, and then moods are superseded by statutes, feelings by actions, formative experience by tasks, and the free, unshackled gathering of the young by a lifelong association tied to limited objectives.
In this way the youth movement fell victim to an inexorable dialectic: for a perpetuation of the state of being spiritually moved and in the grip of emotion without ever reaching the stage of bringing the ideals down to earth and proving them viable in real life was bound to reduce the youth movement to absurdity, whereas the translation of the ideals into reality spelled the dissolution of the movement. The span between the two poles of this dialectical process constitutes the history of the various youth movements.
Summing up, the youth movement can be regarded as a manifestation of a profoundly pessimistic view of modern culture, aiming at a radical transformation of man as a prerequisite for the transformation of the real world.
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