Highland camp

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The highlands camp was from 1936 to 1945, a Hitler Youth Camp (HJ-bearing), and later BDM bearings, on the site of the current youth settlement highlands or Jugendbildungsstätte Königsdorf in Königsdorf in today's district of Bad Toelz-Wolfratshausen . Before 1936, two large tent camps had taken place in other places in Upper Bavaria.

First highland camps in 1934 and 1935

The highland camp was a large tent camp organized by Hitler Youth area 19. Since this HJ area was responsible for the catchment area of ​​the NSDAP districts Munich-Upper Bavaria and Swabia, this HJ unit was nicknamed "Hochland".

The first large tent camp was organized by HJ area 19 under the direction of area leader Emil Klein in August 1934 in the area of ​​the communities Riegsee and Aidling near Murnau am Staffelsee . 6,000 boys lived for four weeks in the unspoilt forest and moor landscape between the villages. The Marine-HJ from Munich participated as the only HJ special unit . The members held exercises on the Riegsee.

The highland camp of 1935 took place in Jachenau , municipality of Lenggries . 4,000 boys each took part in two camp blocks. During the first block of the camp, the participants of the “Germany camp” were guests in the highland camp. The Hitler Youth owned 55 foreign organizations. Hitler Youths from 48 countries, including the USA and even from South West Africa (now Namibia ) visited the German Reich in 1935. Starting from a tent camp in Kuhlmühle (Brandenburg), these boys went on a trip to Germany, during which the participants were accompanied by party officials. Serious conflicts arose in Lenggries with the hunting tenants and the residents.

The tone of the barracks ruled the camp. For four weeks, the participants experienced sport, cross-country games, but primarily ideological training. The boys were supposed to internalize the militaristic and racist Nazi ideology in lectures, chants and songs. A black wall of honor stood on a Thingplatz in Riegsee in 1934. On it was emblazoned in white letters: "We were born to die for Germany". On the square in front of it, the boys performed two ideologically influenced plays: “Fähnlein Langemarck” and “Eine deutsche Passion”. The participants should not only be enthusiastic about militarism , but also be formed into fanatical supporters of National Socialism . At the end of the four weeks, the Hitler Youth leadership invited the village population and their parents to a harmless publicity event, the "Holala Circus". Sport, military drill and an impressive presentation of Nazi ideology were also to shape the future highland camps.

Rothmühle near Königsdorf 1936 to 1945

In the next year, the highland camp took place for the first time on its own premises near Königsdorf because of the conflicts with the residents and for financial reasons. Here the NSDAP acquired - but not until November 1936 - an area of ​​90 hectares from the state capital Munich for HJ area 19. For the first time, all special units of the Hitler Youth area 19 were involved: the Marine-HJ, the Nachrichten-HJ, the Motor-HJ, the Flieger-HJ and the strip-HJ. The camp's motto was “Discipline and Faith”. This year the camp was looked after by the Wehrmacht . After the area around the Rothmühle had become the property of the Hitler Youth, the entire area - not to be confused with the annual tent camps - soon bore the designation "Hochlandlager."

It is possible that the fact that the Hitler Youth became a state youth by law on December 1, 1936, caused a significantly lower number of participants in 1937 and in the following years: around 1,800 to 2,400 HJ leaders, the large summer camp in Königsdorf was now a leader's camp . One of the team camps took place at Lautersee near Mittenwald . In June 1937, a large tent camp for the girls of the BDM took place in Königsdorf for the first time.

In 1942, a military training camp was set up on the grounds of the highland camp . In April 1945, Hitler Youths and Pimpfe were to be trained as " werewolves ", i.e. partisans , within the camp grounds . These child soldiers were supposed to carry out attacks on Allied soldiers. The camp site at Rothmühle was presumably liberated by members of the US armed forces on May 1, 1945.

The site at Rothmühle after 1945

Since 1946, Jewish displaced persons have been quartered on the site of the former HJ highland camp - as in the nearby Föhrenwald camp - and prepared for settlement projects in Israel. In addition, the Jewish underground organization Hagana set up a training center for officers.

Since 1950 the sponsoring association Jugendsiedlung Hochland eV has maintained the “Jugendsiedlung Hochland” on the site.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Thomas Wagner: Hochlandlager 1934 Aidling / Riegsee. First large tent camp of the Hitler Youth in the Bavarian Oberland. St. Ottilien 2005, ISBN 3000176268 , pp. 49-70.
  2. ↑ Thomas Wagner: Hochlandlager 1934 Aidling / Riegsee , p. 103.
  3. ↑ Thomas Wagner: The Hitler Youth highland camp on the Rothmühle. In: then, here and now. Stadtbergen 2007, p. 53f. For this also: Michael Buddrus: Total education for total war. Hitler Youth and National Socialist Youth Policy. Berlin 2002, p. 172.
  4. ^ A b Thomas Wagner: Hochlandlager 1934 Aidling / Riegsee. Pp. 87-96.
  5. ↑ Thomas Wagner: Hochlandlager 1934 Aidling / Riegsee , p. 88.
  6. ↑ Thomas Wagner, Born to Die for Germany. The Hitler Youth in Southern Bavaria and their highland camps, Munich 2013, 127.
  7. ↑ Thomas Wagner: The Hitler Youth highland camp on the Rothmühle. In: then, here and now. Stadtbergen 2007, p. 53f.
  8. ↑ Thomas Wagner: The Hitler Youth highland camp on the Rothmühle. In: then, here and now. Stadtbergen 2007, p. 81f.
  9. ↑ Thomas Wagner: The Hitler Youth highland camp on the Rothmühle. In: then, here and now. Stadtbergen 2007, p. 84ff.
  10. ↑ Thomas Wagner, The HJ highland camp on the Rothmühle. In: then, here and now. Stadtbergen 2007, pp. 90f.
  11. ↑ Urban warfare on the Isar: The secret recruitment of Jewish soldiers at haGalil .com

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Coordinates: 47 ° 49 ′ 38 ″  N , 11 ° 31 ′ 7 ″  E