The University Student in Germany

P ROMINENT among those who will furnish the answer to the vexing question of the political and mental health of Germany are the students at German universities and higher schools. Will they follow the example of an earlier generation of German students who led the fight for freedom in the age of Metternich, or are they once again, as in the late days of the Weimar Republic, withdrawing into the ivory tower or else succumbing to the latest version of the Nazi siren song? The answer is by no means clear. Such information as we have has been conflicting, some of it disquieting. But there is cause for hope as well as alarm. In West Germany there exists today a widespread student organization, known as the Association of German Student Bodies (Verband Deutscher Studentenschaften),' whose program of activities makes reassuring reading. Founded apparently on broad democratic principles, this organization has displayed resolution and determination as well as a deep attachment to liberty. No complete report or detailed analysis of the movement is possible as yet, for the information is too fragmentary; this article is, rather

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