Communist Youth Association of Germany (1920)

Logo of the KJVD

Demonstration march of the KJVD in Berlin on May 1, 1925

Demonstration by members of the Young Spartakus Association (JSB) in Berlin on May 1, 1925

Group of the KJV in Berlin-Neukölln (approx. 1926/27), in the last row Olga Benario-Prestes , photo from the Federal Archives

The Communist Youth Association of Germany ( KJVD ) was the youth organization of the Communist Party of Germany .

history

The KJVD emerged in 1920 as the Communist Youth of Germany (KJD) from the Free Socialist Youth of the KPD.

The Free Socialist Youth was an amalgamation of communist youth groups that took place in October 1918 with the support of the Spartakusbund . After the unification of the KPD and the USPD majority at the end of 1920, part of the Socialist Proletarian Youth of the USPD joined the KJD. In 1925, the joint KJD organization was renamed the Communist Youth Association of Germany . The association was a member of the Communist Youth International (KJI) founded in 1919 .

In 1933 the Communist Youth Association of Germany was banned by the National Socialists. Many members of the KJVD were murdered under National Socialist rule. Nevertheless, many members were committed against National Socialism. From 1936 they also fought in the interbrigades in the Spanish civil war against the fascist putschists around Francisco Franco and from 1939 to 1945 they were members of partisan units or fought in the ranks of the Red Army in various European countries .

Chairperson

Richard Gyptner (1920-1924)
Hermann Jacobs (1924–1925)
Conrad Blenkle (1925–1928)
Walter Häbich (1928–1929)
Kurt Müller (1929–1931)
Artur Becker (1931-1932)
Fritz Große (1932–1934)
Gabo Lewin (1934–?)

program

The KJVD was a revolutionary youth organization. He supported the actions of the Communist Party of Germany. Many KPD functionaries emerged from its ranks. The ideological cornerstones of the KJVD were Marxism and proletarian internationalism . The KJVD saw itself as the only youth organization that stood up for the political rights of young people and developed a clear program for realizing their demands.

literature

Barbara Köster: "The Young Guard of the Proletariat". Investigations on the Communist Youth Association of Germany in the Weimar Republic. Univ. Bielefeld, Diss., 2005 PDF

Web links

Youth in Germany 1918 to 1945: Workers' Youth Movement (NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne)