War library of the German youth

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The War Library of German Youth was a German booklet series that was published from 1939 to 1945 in a weekly edition by Steiniger-Verlagen, Berlin . It was initiated by the Reichsjugendführer Baldur von Schirach and had the support of the High Command of the Army , the High Command of the Navy and the Commander in Chief of the Air Force . In addition to the 156 volumes published in a row, 14 unnumbered reprints were published from 1942 to 1945, which were not for sale and were apparently delivered to institutions such as the Wehrmacht through official channels . The booklets were published in medium format with a volume of 32 pages. Due to a lack of paper, the series does not appear to have appeared regularly during World War II .

Propagandist mission and authors

The formal model was evidently the magazine novel series Under the German Flag , which was published before the First World War , but was the only military novel series of the German Empire to be reprinted at short notice in 1933/34 . According to its own account, the war library should serve the self-confident pride of German youth and at the same time intensify the willingness to make sacrifices. Furthermore, it should serve the connection between the men at the front and the youth at home.

The following were named as responsible for the content of the series in issue No. 1: The chief editor of the Hitler Youth leadership organ Wille und Macht and press officer of the Reichsleiter for youth education of the NSDAP Günter Kaufmann for the Reich youth leadership , a lieutenant colonel Voelckers for the army, a corvette captain Nahrath for the Navy and Peter Supf for the Reich Aviation Ministry .

Well-known authors such as Franz Schauwecker , Friedrich Freksa , Fritz Otto Busch , Jakob Kinau and Fred Schmidt were the authors of the volumes, as well as younger authors, some of whom worked as war correspondents such as Otto Mielke and Henri Nannen . Other authors were Josef Müller-Marein ( pseudonym : Jupp Müller-Marein), Walter Henkels and the later film director Alfred Weidenmann (pseudonym: W. Derfla).

subjects

The series dealt exclusively with real events of World War II in Europe and North Africa. The protagonists were the three armed forces of the Wehrmacht: the army , the air force and the navy . A title can be assigned to the use of the Waffen-SS (Alfred Thoss: Waffen-SS im Kampf vor Leningrad , no. 151).

It is noticeable that the Eastern Front as the main European theater of war only played a subordinate role in the presentation. The East Asian theater of war was not discussed. As far as the titles can be inferred, contrary to the reality of the war, the focus of the depictions was clearly on sea warfare or air warfare . This selection may have had dramaturgical reasons, since the theme of the naval war could be linked to the structure of the travel novel, which allows the reader the greatest possible identification with the protagonists of the plot. It is also noticeable that apparently no volume addressed the partisan war.

Aftermath. Successor in the Federal Republic

In the course of the rearmament of the Federal Republic of Germany , four military series in booklet form were created as early as 1954, which were structurally directly linked to the war library: SOS - Fate of German Ships , Anchor Booklets. Seafaring around the world , stories of aviators and stories of soldiers from around the world . All four series were published by Moewig-Verlag ( Pabel-Moewig ), Munich . Fritz Otto Busch, Otto Mielke and Peter Supf were active as authors; Fred Schmidt, who died in 1957 when the Pamir sank, was even the editor of the SOS series for a time.

In 1958 the series Der Landser was founded by Pabel-Verlag, Rastatt . There was no personal continuity in the war library , but there was a thematic continuity .

Title of the issue

  1. Franz Schauwecker : Before the attack.
  2. Fritz Otto Busch : That was the "Courageous"! The sinking of the first British aircraft carrier.
  3. Peter Supf , Kurt Krispien: Winner lost.
  4. Joachim Matthias: Landed behind enemy lines.
  5. Wilhelm Hoeppener-Flatow: Three hundred in one fell swoop. The bold act of Corporal Hupf.
  6. W. Derfla (di: Alfred Weidenmann ): I stormed Fort III. The attack on Modlin. Retold the experiences of a private.
  7. Georg Böse: Teichert crew struggles. The adventures of German pilots who landed in a crash.
  8. W. Derfla (di: Alfred Weidenmann): Jaguar company. Deeds of the armored weapon in Poland.
  9. Wilhelm Hoeppener-Flatow: The fight with the mine. The war trip of two boys on the Baltic Sea.
  10. Joachim Matthias: Twice against Engelland! Bold deeds of our coastal scouts.
  11. Joachim Matthias: Group Loeff thwarted the breakthrough. Airmen and infantry on a common front.
  12. Kurt Jentkiewicz: Three airmen and a whole regiment. Story from the campaign against Poland.
  13. Joachim Matthias: The surprised Poilus. Scout company on the Siegfried Line.
  14. Friedrich Eisenlohr : Bomber over Warsaw. Comradeship between two German aviators.
  15. Georg Böse: The night of Ilica.
  16. Fritz Otto Busch: England's first setback. The English air raid on Wilhelmshaven.
  17. Wilhelm Hoeppener-Flatow: Jürgen saves his village. Adventure of a ethnic German boy in Poland.
  18. Franz Schauwecker: One of many.
  19. Jakob Kinau : Outpost boat "Seehund". War voyages in the North and South Seas.
  20. Wolfgang Falck : Messerschmitt destroyers attack! Battle experiences in Poland and the victory at Heligoland.
  21. Herbert Sprang: sinking of the Rawalpindi. Deeds of German naval forces in the North Atlantic.
  22. Joachim Matthias: Captive balloon in the fire. War experiences of a captive balloon team.
  23. Paul Reymann: That's how Hela fell! Fights and experiences for Poland's last base.
  24. Ulrich Sander : The bridge with the red towers. Pioneers on the Watch.
  25. Jakob Kinau: With Käppen Jonas on a submarine hunt. Outpost boat on a pirate voyage.
  26. Karl Spoerer: Three times over London. War experiences of a radio operator.
  27. Wilhelm Hoeppener-Flatow: Corporal Jesen and his son. A German boy's home experience during the war.
  28. Ulrich Sander: The regimental adjutant. The fighting life of a German officer.
  29. Arthur Kuhn: On watch in the North Sea. Chase against the enemy.
  30. Joachim Fischer: Escaped the enemy! Half an hour in French captivity.
  31. Hermann Bruckschen: fish steamer on military service. On outposts in the Baltic Sea.
  32. Diedrich Helm (di: Helmut Holscher): Tomorrow you will be shot! German aviator arrested as a spy.
  33. Eduard C. Christophé: Hands up, gentlemen! Bold act of a fifteen year old.
  34. Robert Buck: That's how we stormed Liège!
  35. Axel Ulf: Convoy in sight! Experiences of a German abroad cabin boy in the North Sea.
  36. Adolf Ahrens : Bremen is struggling. The homecoming of the largest German merchant ship. Recorded by Christian Hilker.
  37. Eduard C. Christophé, Kurt Krispien: We're sinking a battleship!
  38. HP Harms (di: Hanns Gensecke-Harms): Keep tight. An aviator story of friendship and loyalty.
  39. Jan Pieter Grove (di: Eduard C. Christophé): Speedboats in front of Dover.
  40. Ernst Corester: Pioneer Hartmann is making a breach.
  41. Eduard C. Christophé: Stukas against tanks.
  42. Jakob Kinau: Breakthrough to Oslo. From a brave's war diary.
  43. Wilhelm Hoeppener-Flatow: Missing in no man's land. Schütze Echberg, the company's problem child.
  44. Eduard C. Christophé: The great wolf.
  45. Kurt Kränzlein: raiding party on Behlingen. Forced reconnaissance in front of the Siegfried Line.
  46. Hans E. Dettmann: Comrades of the HE 114. Against English aircraft and submarines off Norway.
  47. Wulf Bley : Long-range reconnaissance over England.
  48. Joachim Tidick: At the last minute. The dramatic rescue of the four men in the rubber dinghy.
  49. Eduard de la Croix: Calais ready for storm. German divisions on the canal.
  50. Hermann AK Jung: German submarines attack. With a false passport in the British convoy.
  51. Hans-Jürgen Hauptmann (di: Eduard C. Christophé): Heinkel bomber over Paris.
  52. Jupp Müller-Marein : Tanks hit the sea. The tank battle in front of Namur and the advance through France.
  53. Otto Mielke : Alarm on the coast. Navy flak destroys English bombers.
  54. Friedrich Freksa : We break through the Maginot Line! An infantry company defeats important tank factories.
  55. Hans-Hermann Lund (di: Eduard C. Christophé): Verdun! In France's fortress belt.
  56. Jakob Kinau: The Tiger of the Fjords. Pirate trips off Norway.
  57. Alfred Hein: General Rössel intervenes. In the fiesel stork over the battlefield.
  58. Wilhelm Schremmer: Shots in the Devil's Forest. A company in Belgium.
  59. Fritz List: Direct hit on the "Glorious". With German battleships in the North Sea.
  60. Konrad Prack (di: Eduard C. Christophé): Enemy hunters over the Meuse. Young flak soldiers baptized by fire in Belgium.
  61. Jan Pieter Grove (di: Eduard C. Christophé): Three cheers for "Blücher". The death-defying operation of the Kriegsmarine in southern Norway.
  62. Joachim Matthias: And still a winner!
  63. Ulrich Maletzki: Hand grenades against Blockhaus B. Group Plock on a patrol in France.
  64. Ernst Burgunder (di: Günter E. Brandenburger): Poison dwarf, the mine mixer. German mine-layer on war voyage.
  65. Joachim Matthias: Paratroopers over Holland.
  66. Curt Strohmeyer: The Abbéville tank destroyer. With straightening machine and crosshairs on enemy tanks.
  67. Hans Giese: Submarine hunt off Norway. The commandant received the knight's cross.
  68. Kurt Krispien: Hein Brodersen, the aviator. A report of the camaraderie and readiness of our Air Force.
  69. Hans-Hermann Lund (di: Eduard C. Christophé): Seventeen men advance. Fight for railway facilities in Norway.
  70. Herbert Nolte: The horror of the canal. Speed ​​carriers attack.
  71. Herbert Dörr: Armored car ahead! A radio operator witnessed the battle of Amiens.
  72. Hermann Rink: “Seal” sets the white flag. How the largest English submarine was captured.
  73. Karl GP Henze: Hussar coup on English soil. Commander MacAllen's involuntary air trip to Germany.
  74. Kurt Parbel: Destroyer Course Narvik! The Bonte group's bold foray into the Norwegian ore port.
  75. Kurt Parbel: Group Dietl defends Narvik. The hero struggle of the mountain troops from the East Markets on the edge of the Arctic Circle.
  76. Joachim Fischer: Dunkirk. French sacrifice themselves for England.
  77. Fred Schmidt : "Ludolf Oldendorff" is returning home. A merchant steamer outwits the English.
  78. Joachim Fischer: Pioneers are fighting Eben-Emael. The fall of the strongest forts of Liege.
  79. Walter H. Köhler: Torpedo go! U-boat in combat with an English cruiser.
  80. Kurt Günther: Hunt for enemy tanks. With an advance department across the Marne.
  81. Karl GP Henze: "Empreß of Britain" leads to death. The sinking of the fourth largest British merchant ship by a German fighter plane and a German submarine.
  82. Christoph von Imhoff: escaped from hell. Two German pioneers escape English captivity in Dunkirk.
  83. Theodor Hülper: We get ore from Narvik. Commercial steamer "Neuenfels" breaks through the mine barrier.
  84. Karl GP Henze: Bombs on Coventry. Experiences of the crew of a "Ju 88" in action against England.
  85. Karl GP Henze: Prien sinks eight ships from a convoy. The successful submarine commander in the fight against England.
  86. Ulrich Maletzki: The secret of the ruined city. Experiences of a radio group in the west.
  87. Otto Mielke: Destroyer in the trade war.
  88. Karl GP Henze: Long-range bomber over the Atlantic. Experiences of a “condor” crew in the fight against England.
  89. Hermann Bruckschen: We hunt submarines. From the heroic struggle of our submarine fighter flotilla in the Skagerrak.
  90. Bert Naegele: A lieutenant and two men. How a couple of tank destroyers took four heavy bunkers.
  91. Karl GP Henze: Combat Squadron over Serbia. In action against enemy fortresses, bunkers and columns.
  92. Herbert Sprang: On the way to Drontheim. The British were beaten by ten hours.
  93. Bert Naegele: Hagen advance department keeps Crepy. Tank destroyers and flak men smash an enemy division.
  94. Horst Kanitz: "Caesar" headlights - light up! Enemy bombers in the spotlight.
  95. Arthur Kuhn: Warning - mines! Mine clearance boats in the canal.
  96. Walter Menningen: tank pioneers in urban warfare. How Hazebrouck fell into German hands.
  97. Karl GP Henze: Stukas attack Malta. The use of the German Air Force in the Mediterranean.
  98. Hans-Joachim Biebrach: Flamethrower ahead!
  99. Fritz Niederlein: mb, ready to radio! Combat experiences of intelligence soldiers. From their own war experiences and descriptions of the troops' experiences.
  100. Albert Klapprott: Emergency landing in the port of Narvik. Experience of a German seaplane crew in the Norway campaign.
  101. Walter Enz: Whole battery ... fire! Heavy artillery in action against France.
  102. Otto Mielke: Battleships in the Atlantic. How a German battleship sank 86,000 gross tons from a convoy.
  103. Karl GP Henze: Night fighter on the enemy. Use and fight of German night fighters against British bombers. Based on the personal experiences of a successful German night hunter.
  104. Erwin Kiekoben-Schmidt: Company "Armored Train".
  105. Markus Joachim Tidick: Hussar pranks German Stukas. Experiences of a German Stuka crew during the fighting in the west.
  106. Werner Lahne: Reinhold shock troop . A German raiding party takes its first prisoners.
  107. Otto Mielke: Outpost boats in battle. About the use of our outpost boats on the Scandinavian coast.
  108. Karl GP Henze: We are chasing the Soviets. Experiences of German fighter pilots in the fight against the world enemy.
  109. Hinrich Hemmelskamp (di: Helmut Holscher): We from the Hase scout team. Three scouts against France.
  110. Hans E. Dettmann: Air rescue by submarine. Told from reports by a Do flying boat crew.
  111. Walter Menningen: The sewer is on fire! About the commitment of our pioneers in the west.
  112. Hans Eduard Dettmann: Reconnaissance flights over the Arctic Ocean.
  113. Ernst Diekmann: Base Z is taken. A dashing shock troop company from the apron battles in the west.
  114. Karlheinz Holzhausen: A rubber dinghy in the Mediterranean.
  115. Willy Fischer: Pak against Transporter. Report on the use of the tank destroyers.
  116. Josef Vidua: coup d' état on Milos.
  117. Walter Estermann: Convoys in Africa.
  118. Hermann Marten: Stopover in England. Hussar piece by a German aircraft crew.
  119. Fritz Böltz: On patrol in northern waters.
  120. Ludwig von Danwitz: The bunker crackers from the bow. Report from the first days of fighting in the east.
  121. Hanns Gert Freiherr von Esebeck: Adventure in the Cyrenaica / by Hanns Gert Freiherr von Esebeck.
  122. Jürgen Eick : Tank scouting troops overdue.
  123. Horst Bree: A reunion in the Ukraine. Autumn days in Brittany.
  124. Walter Menningen: Pioneers destroy Soviet runway. An engineer battalion is carrying out an important assignment.
  125. Ludwig von Danwitz: Long-range combat aircraft in action.
  126. Ernst Erich Strassl: Breakthrough through the Metaxas line.
  127. Rudolf Brüning: Against airplanes and combat vehicles. Use of German anti-aircraft artillery in the west and east.
  128. Walter Menningen: tank against tank. From the use of German tanks against d. Soviets.
  129. Karlheinz Holzhausen: "Fritz Paula" dive fighter plane. Experiences of an aircraft crew in different theaters of war.
  130. Willi Gleichfeld: We're going around the North Cape. With minesweepers over 30 degrees of latitude.
  131. Walter Menningen: Through sand and swamp. On the trail of our fast formations in the east.
  132. Gerhard Ising: Anti-aircraft artillery is fighting for Thermopylae.
  133. Heinrich Rodemer : Mountain Hunters in Greece.
  134. Erhardt Eckert: Chief Medical Officer Winnetou. From the life of an Air Force doctor.
  135. Walter Menningen: Forward, always forward! From the triumph of our infantry in the east.
  136. Herbert Sprang: Dust Cloud and Neptune. On a convoy hunt in the mid-Atlantic.
  137. Anton Müller-Engstfeld: Back from swamp and jungle. German airmen fight their way through Bolshevik positions.
  138. Bernd Richter: From Saloniki to Africa.
  139. Ernst Erich Strassl: Fight on Crete.
  140. Walter Henkels : 38 men storm Vichy.
  141. Fritz Böltz: In Bocca al lupol.
  142. Georg Schmidt: The general's motorcycle reporter.
  143. Fritz Böltz: Speedboats fight off Sevastopol.
  144. Henri Nannen : Nuisance fire from "M 17". A flak soldier passes his trial by fire.
  145. Valentin Schuster-Hugo: head chef, company cobbler and column dog. Men fighting in the shadows.
  146. Willi Gleichfeld: We're heading west.
  147. Otto Köhnke: The Iron Three. Shot down once in every campaign and now there again.
  148. Albert Wolff: Paramedic! Paramedic!
  149. Wolfgang Kaden: With the shark flotilla into the polar night.
  150. Horst Kanitz: 7 men in Crete. From the use of our planes u. Airborne troops.
  151. Alfred Thoss: Waffen-SS in the fight off Leningrad.
  152. Hermann Bruckschen: We went on all ships. Sailors at the helmsman school.
  153. Hans Ulrich Freiherr von Wangenheim: We hunt Soviet tanks.
  154. Otmar Haas: Courier plane on the way.
  155. Karl Haag: Hunting in Lapland.
  156. Heinz Ockhardt: A Stuka squadron in the east.

Reprints without numbering

  • Ulrich Maletzki: coup against Kovno
  • Horst Meyer-Haenel: The men from Swadnika
  • Hein Thiel: In the assault gun against Novgorod
  • Joachim Fischer: Kamjenka
  • Hans-Gotthard Pestke: Viking trip to Dagö
  • Georg Schmidt: Seventh - march!
  • Herbert Sprang: Submarines facing the enemy
  • Franz Ganswind: Motorcyclists break through
  • Josef Vidua: tanks to Crete
  • Hans Jürgen Krüger: Assault guns chase tanks
  • Hans Thyssen: Speedboats off the coast of Africa
  • Hans Thyssen: The Dora X device
  • Fritz Weidt: The red ruins
  • Otto-Henning Kempfe: 13 days behind the Soviet lines

See also

literature

  • Heinz J. Galle: The mobilization of the media. Propaganda companies and their actors in World War II and in the post-war period. With a foreword by Dieter von Reeken, Verlag Dieter von Reeken, Lüneburg 2016. ISBN 978-3-945807-07-1 .
  • Peter Wanjek: Bibliography of the German book novels 1900–1945 , Wilfersdorf 1993, pp. 293–296.
  • Heinz J. Galle: Folk books and booklet novels, Volume 2: From the Empire to the "Third Reich" - 40 years of popular reading material , Lüneburg 2006. ISBN 3-8334-4314-6
  • Jörg Weigand : Front reading. Reading for and by soldiers of the German Wehrmacht in World War II , Hameln 2010. ISBN 978-3-8271-8833-5

Web links