Erika Schmid

Erika Schmid (* 1918 in Ulm ; † September 2003 ibid) openly and actively opposed the Nazi regime as a youth . Today, her spirit of resistance against the National Socialists is honored in the permanent and temporary exhibition of the Weisse Rose Memorial in Ulm . Her resistance to the National Socialists was based on her Catholic faith and the fascination that emanated from the Catholic Heliand Association , in which she was organized with other girls.

After the Second World War, Erika Schmid and Inge Aicher-Scholl , the sister of Hans and Sophie Scholl , set up the Ulm Adult Education Center as managing director in order to carry out critical educational work in the spirit of the White Rose .

biography

In 1932, at the age of 14, Erika Schmid was recruited for the Catholic Heliand Association . At that time she went to the Catholic St. Hildegard Realschule in Ulm and felt honored to belong to this union for Catholic girls from secondary schools, who were concerned with a “new way of life in Christ ”.

She particularly liked the fact that the girls here were able to conquer a self-confident lifestyle that was previously reserved for boys from the Bundestag . They also went on trips or went on night hikes. The value orientation of the Heliand Association also corresponded to Schmid's convictions: truthfulness, naturalness, independence and helpfulness. Like all other members, she also wore the Heliand badge as a distinguishing mark. Each group had its own pennant, and each city had its own flag.

time of the nationalsocialism

In 1933, the Heliand Association in Germany had 1,600 members, the number of which rose to 4,500 (1939) despite reprisals from the National Socialists . Shortly after the " seizure of power " it became clear to Erika Schmid that the National Socialists disliked the Heliand Association. You and other members were put under pressure to adapt to the new regime and to join the NS youth organizations, because the NS regime wanted all German young people to join the Hitler Youth (HJ) and the Association of German Girls as part of the " Gleichschaltung " process (BDM).

"I never saluted the Hitler Youth flag" This statement by Erika Schmid underlines her resistance to the Nazi regime, because greeting the Hitler Youth flag was imperative. Max von der Grün wrote about the flag salute in the “ Third Reich ”: “Not greeting the flag in the Third Reich was not an offense, it was a crime.” This “crime” could be responded to with absolute severity. So, not greeting the flag was an open and dangerous act of resistance at the time.

Erika Schmid resisted this pressure from the Nazi regime and was morally supported by her mother, who also did not want her daughter to become a member of the BDM. Despite this intimidation policy, it was important to Erika Schmid and the other girls of the Heliand Association to demonstrate to the outside world that not all young people bowed to the pressure, but still go their own way. Erika Schmid and her friends demonstrated this. For example, when they were singing on the way to the Heliand Gautag at Niederalfingen Castle in 1934 and drove through Ulm with chants on an open truck. Her banner clearly showed her membership of the Catholic Girls' Union. That was a clear declaration that they did not want to bow to the pressure of the National Socialists, and also a clear sign to other young people that it is possible to continue on your own path - despite National Socialist reprisals.

Erika Schmid went one step further in her spirit of resistance and became more and more involved in the Heliand Association. In 1936 she even became “Burgfrau” and was therefore the city guide for all Ulm groups, which she coordinated from then on. As a result, she assumed a prominent, exposed position within Ulm's youth culture during the Nazi era , which was a thorn in the side of the National Socialists.

From 1936 the National Socialists increased the pressure to join the BDM. They made the Hitler Youth and thus also the BDM a state youth by law , banned all male youth groups outside the Hitler Youth and also increased the pressure on all girls in girl groups outside the BDM. But Erika Schmid remained steadfast and refused entry into the BDM. A direct consequence of this was that, after graduating from St. Hildegard Realschule, she was not allowed to go to the secondary girls' high school to do the Abitur there. This was reserved for BDM members only. Erika Schmid knew that. In doing so, she sacrificed her wish to study at a university.

Erika Schmid and other girls from the Heliand Association, who did not bow to the pressure of the National Socialists, were z. For example, their school performance was rated lower, they were insulted by classmates or - as in the case of their friend Hedwig Walter - they were even expelled from school because they were seen as an obstacle to the class community because they did not want to join the BDM.

Erika Schmid said to the Ulm Memorial Weisse Rose , which Erika Schmid's fate portrays in the permanent exhibition as well as in the temporary exhibition of the Ulm Memorial Weisse Rose: "They were naturally absorbed in their NS mania and their BDM mania". In addition, the parents of girls who withdrew from the BDM were also disadvantaged, as this could also endanger the father's career opportunities. Many parents therefore urged their daughters to keep their membership in the Heliand Association secret, so that many girls had to wear their Heliand badge under their lapels.

post war period

Even after the Second World War , Erika Schmid was still committed to the values ​​of the Heliand Association and democracy : She was active in various governing bodies of the Heliand Association until old age and was responsible for the Heliand women's group in Ulm.

From 1946 to 1978 she was the managing director of the Ulm Adult Education Center and was involved , among other things, in the development of rural adult education work and was actively committed to the goal of the Ulm Adult Education Center to do critical educational work in the spirit of the White Rose . Erika Schmid thus played an important role in establishing democratic educational work in post-war Germany .

References and comments

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Contents of the permanent exhibition “We wanted the other” at the Weisse Rose Memorial in Ulm ( memento of the original from July 9, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Max von der Grün: How was that actually? Childhood and Youth in the Third Reich. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1995.

literature

• Exhibition catalog of the Ulm Memorial White Rose, Ulm

Web links

• Homepage of the Heliand Association
• Homepage of the St. Hildegard girls' school in Ulm
• Homepage of the Ulm Adult Education Center
• Internet presence of the Ulm Memorial White Rose
• Contents of the permanent exhibition “We wanted the other” at the White Rose Memorial in Ulm online