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"The Family – The Core of the Rebirth of Germany," Article by School Councilor G. Wolff, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Germany (August 30, 1946)

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One thing must be clearly recognized: dying families have a society-destroying effect. Along with the family, every other community dies. The family has proven itself through millennia as a fundamental social construct, because from it flows the power of nature and of life as it is lived. Many other conditions are causally linked to the recovery of the family: work ethic, morality, education, property. Like the human being, the family, too, grows only by doing and acting. Therefore, no weakening of the educational power of the family. Therefore, promotion of all external preconditions of family life through an improvement of housing and clothing, diet and work. Give a new family to those who have become orphaned and alienated from their homeland. Let us give our special attention to the issue of illegitimate children.

And for this it is necessary that all – men and women – fulfill their political duty. When it comes to the woman’s productive work, adequate attention must be paid to her nature. All women’s work must facilitate and enable the combination of motherhood and work. The burden of raising children must be – at least in part – also a matter of the community. Existing marriages need protection and strengthening and promotion in these difficult days. The question of divorce must not be seen simply as a private matter between adults; rather, it must also be seen from the perspective of the needs and future of the children of the marriage. After all, the final models of education are and always will be father and mother.

That is why the LDP affirms its commitment to the family in its program with binding words: “The family is the primordial and germ cell of the community. As such, it must be restored and preserved; it is the indispensable precondition for the recovery of Germany.” With our ballot, we should also profess the importance and strength of the family.



Source: G. Wolff, "The Family – The Core of the Rebirth of Germany" ["Die Familie – der Kern der deutschen Wiedergeburt"], in Der Morgen, Tageszeitung der Liberaldemokratischen Partei Deutschlands [The Morning, Daily Paper of the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany], August 30, 1946; reprinted in Udo Wengst and Hans Günther Hockerts, Geschichte der Sozialpolitik in Deutschland seit 1945, Bd. 2/2: 1945-1949: Die Zeit der Besatzungszonen. Sozialpolitik zwischen Kriegsende und der Gründung zweier deutscher Staaten. Dokumente [The History of Social Policy in Germany since 1945, Vol. 2/2: 1945-1949. The Era of the Occupation Zones. Social Policy between the End of the War and the Founding of Two German States. Documents]. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2001, No. 85, pp. 183-84.

Translation: Thomas Dunlap

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