German young people
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The German Jungvolk (DJ), also known as Jungvolk for short , was a Hitler Youth organization for boys between 10 and 14 years of age during the Nazi era . After that, anyone who was not appointed as a Young People's Leader and as such did not want to remain in agreement with higher Young People's Leaders in the Young People was referred to the Hitler Youth. The aim of the organization was to indoctrinate the youth in the spirit of National Socialism, to educate them in loyalty to Adolf Hitler and to train them to be pre-military. The members of the Deutscher Jungvolks officially called themselves “Jungvolkjungen”, in casual parlance for the youngest age group “ Pimpf ”.
The organization was part of the National Socialist concept of equalizing and controlling all areas of human life . The Deutsche Jungvolk existed as a youth organization until the collapse of National Socialism in 1945.
history
The name Jungvolk was coined by nationalistic offshoots of the Wandervogel movement in Vienna after the end of the First World War . In the summer of 1930, Austrian and Reich German groups united in consultation with the leadership of the Hitler Youth to form the German Young People, Bund der Tatjugend Greater Germany .
When Kurt Gruber resigned from the office of Reichsführer of the HJ in March 1931, the HJ headquarters was relocated from Plauen to Munich and the previously independent Bund Deutsches Jungvolk was incorporated into the HJ: 15-year-olds had to attend the actual HJ, 18-year-olds continued to join the Change SA .
The claim of the leading functionaries of the Hitler Youth was, according to Arno Klönne , “to grasp the entirety of the youth as well as the whole area of life of young Germans”. After Hitler's " seizure of power " in 1933, membership in the German Young People grew strongly through bans, dissolution, self-dissolution, conversion and takeover of other youth associations. According to the Hitler Youth Act of December 1, 1936, all German youth were to be grouped together in the Hitler Youth in accordance with the principles of the Führer principle , where, in addition to school and parental home, they “physically, mentally and morally in the spirit of National Socialism for the service of the people and the national community “Should be educated. Baldur von Schirach , the Reich Youth Leader of the NSDAP , declared 1936 the "Year of the German Young People".
In the early days of the “Third Reich”, the Bund element still had a considerable influence on the German Young People . Many Bündische not only underestimated the power of the National Socialist youth organizations, but also acted either directly in favor of National Socialism or at least in appreciation. The traditional songs and written material were further cultivated in the young people , certain tent shapes and musical instruments were used and a group-specific gulf was worn. Former Bundestag youth leaders played a key role in shaping the magazine Deutsches Jungvolk . This changed with the purge of the National Socialist youth organizations after June 30, 1934 . By 1936 at the latest, the Bündischen traditions in the leadership formations of the young people were eliminated. At the grassroots level alone, Graubünden traditions seem to have continued, albeit increasingly hidden.
At the end of the 1930s, however, it also became apparent that more and more young people were trying to evade the drill and coercion. Of the many young people who enjoyed participating in the Jungvolk groups, only relatively few did so out of political conviction, but mainly because of the youthful community life, the career opportunities and the sporting activities. Matthias von Hellfeld and Arno Klönne argue that the National Socialist youth organizations such as the Jungvolk did not develop a “broader layer of fanatically active young National Socialists”, but rather “training young people to adapt to the system, to renounce political and social decision-making and spontaneity ”Achieved what amounted to a“ political and social incapacitation of the youth ”.
In the Second Implementing Ordinance (Youth Service Ordinance) to the Act on the Hitler Youth of March 25, 1939, compulsory membership in the German Young People was established. The service during the Second World War included clean-up and collection campaigns for clothes, scrap metal and the winter relief organization .
As a subdivision of the Hitler Youth, the German Young People was banned and dissolved by the Control Council Act No. 2 after the end of the war , and its property was confiscated.
Organizational structure
Units of the German Young People (DJ)
- Jungschaft - includes about ten to 15 youngsters
- Young train - generally includes three youngsters
- Fähnlein - generally comprises four young trains (due to class structure)
- Young tribe - includes four pennants (depending on the location)
- Jungbann - includes about five young tribes (depending on the location)
The young people units were initially only independent until the Jungbann. From the organizational level onwards, the Hitler Youth and the Deutsches Jungvolk had joint offices. After the beginning of the war, the Jungbann also dropped.
Ranks
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The rank of service was to be distinguished from the position (task). There were positions in the young people from the Jungschaftsführer to the Jungbannführer, also the main youth leader was a position. The latter was indicated by different colored strings attached to the left shoulder. A special feature of the Jungvolk uniform was the lack of the left shoulder flap in the lower ranks up to and including the Oberjungzugführer. In contrast to the Hitler Youth, in which the badges of rank were attached to both epaulettes, the lower Jungvolk batches wore their badges on the right upper sleeve. The Jungvolk badges consisted of black discs with white stars and angles (instead of the stranded bars common with the Hitler Youth).
The horde leader was marked with an angle (with the tip pointing downwards), the Oberhordenführer two angles, the Jungschaftsführer one star, the Oberjungschaftsführer one star over an angle, the young platoon leader two stars, the senior junior leader two stars over an angle. The higher ranks, from the Fähnleinführer upwards, wore the insignia on their shoulder boards. In this they largely followed the example of the Hitler Youth. Instead of the angles, stranded beams were used next to the stars. The Fähnleinführer was marked with about three triangular stars, the Oberjungstammführer four stars above a stranded beam, the Hauptjungbannführer two oak leaves above a star, and the regional young leader three oak leaves. In 1942 the offices of HJ and BDM z. T. put together. There was now only the designation area and ban, the designations Obergau and Untergau with the corresponding department and rank names were omitted.
Pimpfenprobe
The boys were prepared for the pimp test in home afternoons, on the sports field and by taking part in trips (e.g. tent camps).
The examination regulations of February 1, 1938 read:
- 70 meter run in max. 15 seconds
- Long jump 3.50 m
- Ball throwing 25 m
- Hold your breath for 1 minute
- Participation in a one-day trip
- Knowledge of the structure and leadership of the DJ ensign
- Knowledge of the Germany song , the Horst Wessel song and the Hitler Youth flag song
- Knowledge of the "sword words of the Hitler Youth" (modified for Jungvolkjungen with the word "Jungvolkjungen"):
- Young folk boys are tough, silent, and loyal.
- Young folk boys are comrades.
- The youngest boy's highest is honor.
In some units, the newcomer also had to be able to recite Hitler's curriculum vitae (about six to ten sentences).
The result of the pimp test was entered in the "DJ performance book". In 1941 this book cost 30 Reichspfennige to buy.
The pimp test was a prerequisite for wearing the Hitler Youth knife . After the pimp test, the DJ badge could be acquired during membership with the prescribed minimum performance. After being accepted into the Hitler Youth as a 15-year-old, there was the opportunity to obtain the HJ badge of achievement if the requirements staggered according to age were met - for 15-year-olds in iron, 16-year-olds in bronze and 17-year-olds in silver. For Hitler Youth leaders there was the Hitler Youth Leader Sports Badge in gold and with an oak wreath.
magazine
Der Pimpf was a magazine published for young people between the ages of 10 and 14, in particular the members of the German Young People, under the editorial direction of main editor Herbert Reinecker . It was above all exciting adventure stories that made the young people attractive and prepared them for their propaganda purposes for inclusion in the National Socialist concept.
See also
literature
- Heinz Boberach: Youth under Hitler. Droste, Düsseldorf 1982, ISBN 3-8112-0660-5 .
- Jean-Denis Lepage: Hitler Youth, 1922-1945: An Illustrated History. McFarland & Company, Jefferson NC (USA) 2009, ISBN 978-0-7864-3935-5 .
Web links
- German Digital Library: Certificate of completion of the "Pimpfenprobe"
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c cit. According to Jürgen Reulecke: "I want to be like them ...". Men's societies in the 20th century. Campus, Frankfurt / M. 2001, p. 140.
- ^ Wolfgang Mück: Nazi stronghold in Middle Franconia: The völkisch awakening in Neustadt an der Aisch 1922–1933. Verlag Philipp Schmidt, 2016 (= Streiflichter from home history. Special volume 4); ISBN 978-3-87707-990-4 , p. 182.
- ^ Kurt Schilde: Youth opposition 1933-1945. Selected contributions. Lukas Verlag, Berlin 2007, p. 108.
- ↑ Jürgen Reulecke: "I want to be like them ...". Men's societies in the 20th century. Campus, Frankfurt / M. 2001, p. 221.
- ↑ Heinz Boberach: Youth under Hitler. Droste, Düsseldorf 1982, ISBN 3-8112-0660-5 , p. 29.
- ^ Youth in Germany 1918 to 1945: Hitler Youth (NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne)
- ↑ slightly different information on the Pimpfenprobe with Cornelia Schmitz-Berning: Vokabular des Nationalozialismus . 2nd edition, Berlin 2007, p. 468f., Which cites the manual Pimpf im Dienst , 1938.
- ↑ Heinz Boberach: Youth under Hitler. P. 50.
- ↑ Heinz Boberach: Youth under Hitler. P. 35 with illustrations.
- ↑ German Historical Museum: Youth magazine "Der Pimpf" u. a. on the training of the Hitler Youth ( Memento from October 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive )