Today in Labor History October 27, 1942: Helmuth Hübener, 17, was beheaded for distributing anti-Nazi propaganda. He was the youngest person to be sentenced to death by the Sondergericht "special court." He was a Mormon and a Boy Scout, at least until the Nazis banned Scouting in Germany. He had originally joined the Nazi Youth, as all boys were required to do, but quit after Kristallnacht. After middle school, he began listening to enemy radio broadcasts and developed a friendship with a communist boy. He began composing anti-National Socialist texts and anti-war leaflets, which he distributed throughout town.
In one of his leaflets, he wrote: "German boys! Do you know the country without freedom, the country of terror and tyranny? Yes, you know it well, but are afraid to talk about it. They have intimidated you to such an extent that you don't dare talk for fear of reprisals. Yes you are right; it is Germany – Hitler Germany! Through their unscrupulous terror tactics against young and old, men and women, they have succeeded in making you spineless puppets to do their bidding."
As he faced the judges, he said: "Now I must die, even though I have committed no crime. So now it's my turn, but your turn will come."
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