Free German Youth

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The emblem of the FDJ
FDJ membership badge - pin

The Free German Youth ( FDJ ) is a communist youth association .

It was the only state-recognized and sponsored youth organization in the GDR . As a mass organization, it was part of an educational system parallel to the school. The FDJ is a member of the World Federation of Democratic Youth and the International Student Union . After the end of the GDR, it sank into political insignificance. The "FDJ in West Germany" has been banned as an unconstitutional organization since 1954, while the FDJ can now operate legally.

prehistory

Flag of the FDJ in England, August 1939

The first groups of the FDJ were formed in exile in June 1936 in Paris and on May 8, 1938 in Prague before the Second World War . The work of the FDJ in Czechoslovakia and France came to a standstill with the German occupation because its members had to flee. For this purpose, FDJ groups were formed in Great Britain from April 1939. Only there was it possible to work nationwide among the emigrants. Groups emerged in Scotland and other regions. The main task of the FDJ in Great Britain was to support the mostly very young Jewish emigrants . Around ten percent of the young people between 14 and 18 years of age who were able to travel to Great Britain with Kindertransporte later joined the FDJ there. FDJ groups with a total of around 600 members were founded in 23 cities. From April 1943, the FDJ in Great Britain called on its members to join the British Army. About 150 members responded to this call. Also in 1943, the FDJ joined the " Free German Movement " founded in London on September 25th . The FDJ took part in the founding congress of the World Federation of Democratic Youth in October 1945 with an eight-member delegation and was given an observer post in the World Federation.

In Great Britain, the FDJ ceased its activities in the summer of 1946, as many of its members returned to Germany between the end of the war and 1947.

The chairmen during this period were:

  • Adolf Buchholz (May 8, 1938 – March 1942, in Prague / London)
  • Horst Brasch (April 12, 1942 – late 1945) in London until his return to Germany
  • Alfred Kleeberg (late 1945 – summer 1946)

The FDJ in the Soviet Zone and in the GDR

Founding celebration of the Berlin FDJ in the Friedrichstadtpalast , November 1947
FDJ membership card from 1948
FDJ shirt (" blue shirt ")

Even before their return to Berlin, the KPD leadership in Moscow had developed plans for its post-war youth policy: It did not want to create a communist youth association again, but a “broad anti-imperialist democratic” youth organization under the name “Free German Youth”. In the summer of 1945 the Soviet military administration in Berlin announced the establishment of youth committees in which the leadership was given to anti-fascist youths who were supposed to learn to solve the tasks on their own. On September 1, 1945, KPD and SPD representatives met to set up a committee to create the youth committee for the entire Soviet occupation zone. A “liberal German youth movement” should grow out of the anti-fascist youth committees . Although the SPD was also working on setting up its own youth organization, its representatives at the founding meeting of the Central Anti-Fascist Youth Committee (“Antifa Youth”) agreed with the communists on equal representation. Erich Honecker was supposed to head the committee. Honecker also won a member from Catholic youth for the committee. After the KPD was able to take on the leading role in the formation of the anti-fascist united front in the Soviet occupation zone, in February 1946 it obtained political approval for the establishment of the "Free German Youth" in Moscow and received from the Social Democrats Otto Grotewohl, who were no longer able to act freely , Max Fechner and Fritz Schreiber agree in principle.

The secretariat of the Central Committee of the KPD set the foundation for February 24, 1946, but met with fierce resistance from the churches that were not involved in the preliminary decisions and saw their right to their own church youth work endangered. After this right had been promised, Wilhelm Pieck learned on March 6th that the FDJ had been approved by the SMAD, which was made public the following day. The name and emblem of the exile groups were adopted when it was founded, the latter being slightly changed. However, the newly founded FDJ did not see itself as the legal successor to the exile groups. March 7th was celebrated as the official founding day of the FDJ.

symbolism

Objective for the first few years

The goals of the FDJ in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany up to 1949, formulated in the membership book, were:

  • maintaining the unity of Germany,
  • winning over the German youth to the great ideals of freedom, humanism, a combative democracy, international peace and friendship among peoples,
  • the active participation of all young people in the reconstruction of the fatherland,
  • the creation of a new Germany that grants young people the right of participation through active participation in the administration of public life, and good professional training for all young people regardless of their origin, wealth or belief, access to all educational and cultural institutions, equal remuneration for ensures equal work, sufficient vacation and relaxation,
  • the promotion of youthful togetherness through the development of all areas of interest in life; the formation of working and interest groups of a social, cultural and sporting nature as well as the promotion of youth hiking.

Philosophical orientation

The organization had the task of introducing the youth to Marxism-Leninism and educating them to become “class-conscious socialists” who help to shape the “developed socialist society in the German Democratic Republic”. It officially saw itself as the SED's fighting reserve , since the party had no youth organization of its own, and developed its activities accordingly. The FDJ had set itself international goals as “deepening friendship” with the Soviet Union and supporting “all peoples of the world” in the fight against the “imperialist system ”. The FDJ brigades were involved in the construction of the Druzhba natural gas pipeline ( Druzhba route ) and the Baikal-Amur mainline (BAM) railway in the Soviet Union or worked as development workers, for example. B. in Sandinista Nicaragua or temporarily in Mozambique and Angola . The FDJ played a central role in suppressing church youth organizations. Church representatives complained as early as 1946 that "the Free German Youth in large circles, despite all the stressed voluntariness [...] was a forced youth or state youth in a new make-up". In the 1950s, FDJ members were deliberately mobilized against church youth work.

Pioneering event in the Wilhelm Pieck pioneering house in Zwickau , 1979

Leisure activities

In addition to the ideological objective, the organization of the leisure activities of its members was an essential task of the youth association. He organized the semi-official youth culture in the GDR . This included leisure activities and youth clubs , vacation trips for young people through their travel agency Jugendtourist and numerous youth hotels. Foreign trips to western countries organized by youth tourists were, however, generally not available for "normal members".

The FDJ was responsible for the management of the pioneering organization "Ernst Thälmann" . In every major city there was a pioneer house in which a variety of working groups were offered. In addition, there were pioneer holiday camps, expert camps and stations for young naturalists and technicians . The central pioneer camp was the pioneering republic of Wilhelm Pieck on the Werbellinsee near Berlin; however, only pioneers distinguished by the organization were delegated there.

organization structure

Principle of democratic centralism

The FDJ, like all parties and mass organizations in the GDR and the GDR itself, was organized according to the principle of " democratic centralism ". It had the following organizational units in ascending order: group (school class / seminar group, youth brigade), department FDJ organization (AFO in large companies / units of the NVA), basic organization (school / university / company), district management (district in the administrative sense or large unit , e.g. district leadership of the FDJ in the MfS , in the NVA , in the VEB Bandstahlkombinat "Hermann Matern" and other combines ), district management ( district as the second largest administrative unit of the GDR). The central council of the FDJ formed the highest administrative level with the First Secretary at the top.

membership

The adolescents were admitted to the FDJ from the age of 14 upon request. Membership was voluntary according to the statute, but non-members faced considerable disadvantages when it came to admission to secondary schools as well as in choosing a course of study and career, and were also exposed to strong pressure from loyal teachers to join the organization. Around one million young people had already joined it by the end of 1949, which corresponded to almost a third of the young people. Only in Berlin, where other youth organizations were allowed due to the four-power status , was the share of FDJ members in the youth in 1949 limited to just under 5 percent. In 1985 the organization had around 2.3 million members, corresponding to around 80 percent of all GDR youth between 14 and 25 years of age. Most young people tacitly ended their FDJ membership after completing their apprenticeship or studies when they started working. However, during the time of military service in the NVA, those responsible ( political officer , FDJ secretary) attached great importance to reviving FDJ membership. The degree of organization was much higher in urban areas than in rural areas.

The FDJ clothing was the blue FDJ shirt ( " blue shirt " ) - for girls the blue FDJ blouse - with the FDJ emblem of the rising sun on the left sleeve. The greeting from the FDJers was "friendship" . The income-related membership fee was between 0.30 and 5.00 marks a month until the end of the GDR.

Central Council of the FDJ

The highest organ of the FDJ was the parliament of the FDJ, the delegates' assembly, which took place every four years. The Central Council of the FDJ was elected by the parliament, which led the work between the sessions of the parliament. The building of the Central Council was in East Berlin Unter den Linden (now the seat of the capital studio of the ZDF ). It consisted of about 120 to 130 members. The actual executive body was the Secretariat, again elected by the Central Council, which consisted of 13 secretaries and was headed by the First Secretary. The chairman of the pioneer organization was also one of the secretaries in the FDJ Central Council.

First secretaries of the Central Council of the FDJ were u. a. Erich Honecker, Günther Jahn and Egon Krenz. The last and acting 1st Secretary at the time of the fall of the Wall was Eberhard Aurich . Numerous later SED functionaries such as B. Paul Verner , Erich Honecker, Egon Krenz , Wolfgang Herger , Joachim Herrmann , Hans Modrow and Wolfgang Berghofer began their careers in the FDJ. About 400 full-time employees were employed in the apparatus of the Central Council.

Opening of the III. Parliament of the FDJ in Leipzig on June 1, 1949 by the chairman of the central council of the FDJ, Erich Honecker

Parliaments of the FDJ

Participants: 633 delegates, 400 guests

  • Second Parliament (June 23-26, 1947) in Meissen

Participants: 841 delegates

  • III. Parliament (June 1 to 5, 1949) in Leipzig

Participants: 1977 delegates

  • IV. Parliament (May 27-30, 1952) in Leipzig

Participants: 2539 delegates

  • V. Parliament (May 25-27, 1955) in Erfurt

Participants: 1388 delegates, 659 guests

  • VI. Parliament (May 12-15, 1959) in Rostock

Participants: 1833 delegates

  • VII Parliament (May 28 to June 1, 1963) in Berlin

Participants: 2004 delegates

Participants: 2436 delegates, 311 guests

  • IX. Parliament (May 25-29, 1971) in Berlin

Participants: 2330 delegates, 401 guests

  • Xth Parliament (June 1 to 5, 1976) in Berlin

Participants: 3056 delegates, 470 guests

  • XI. Parliament (June 6-8, 1981) in Berlin
  • XII. Parliament (May 21 to 24, 1985) in Berlin, last FDJ parliament

Educational work and media

Certificate of the FDJ, 1958

The highest educational institution of the FDJ was the youth college "Wilhelm Pieck" at the Bogensee near Bernau .

The central organ of the FDJ was the Junge Welt , the daily newspaper with the highest circulation in the GDR. The magazine Junge Generation was for functionaries of the FDJ . In addition, the weekly Forum appeared from 1947 to 1983 , aimed at students and young university employees.

The Central Council of the FDJ also published the songbook Leben - Singen - Kampf in a total of 18 editions. The song collection is a mixture of well-known German and international folk songs and socialist / communist-influenced songs of the workers' movement . Interest group letters were published around 1954 for the interest groups in the FDJ.

In addition, the FDJ had an influence on youth television on television in the GDR .

Major political events

Germany meeting

In 1950, 1954 and 1964 the FDJ organized the “ Germany meeting of young people for peace and friendship between nations” at Whitsun in Berlin . These meetings should, among other things, contribute to German unity and be the counterpart at national level to the international World Festival of Youth and Students. 700,000 young people took part in the first meeting, in 1964 only 500,000. There was an extensive cultural program as well as lectures and discussions at the meetings. The youth radio of the GDR DT64 , dominated by the FDJ , was named after the abbreviation of the last German meeting in 1964.

After the first meeting in 1950, 10,000 West German participants from the Federal Republic of Germany, mostly illegally, who had entered the GDR with the help of the KPD / SED, were refused to return to the Federal Republic near Herrnburg (near Lübeck ). They were required to undergo a medical examination and their name registration because of the alleged risk of epidemics. The returnees were not prepared to do this and justified this with the fear of professional disadvantages. They then camped on the GDR side of the border crossing. After two days, the federal and state authorities allowed them to enter the country without the required measures.

Pentecost meetings and other large meetings

Peace demonstration at the Whitsun meeting of the youth in Schwerin in May 1982
National youth festival
postage stamps of the German Post of the GDR, ( 1979 )

In the tradition of the Pentecost meetings of the young workers and the Germany meetings of the youth , regional Pentecost meetings were organized.

Tens of thousands of delegated members came to the national youth festivals Whitsun 1979 and 1984 and the Whitsun meeting of the FDJ in 1989 in Berlin.

There were also torchlight procession, friendship meetings, sports festivals and the like. Ä.

The last major action by the FDJ was the torchlight procession in Berlin on the 40th anniversary of the GDR on Friday, October 6, 1989. For this purpose, a member of the FDJ was sent to Berlin from every school in the GDR. What was striking during the move was the much larger public applause and “Gorbi, Gorbi!” Shouts that Mikhail Gorbachev received from leading members of the FDJ towards the Central Committee of the SED himself.

Combat mission 1961

Badge of the applicant collective (long-term servants of the NVA) of the FDJ

On August 18, 1961, the Central Council of the FDJ issued a combat mission in the GDR , citing the alleged averting of war by building the wall . It contained the list “The Fatherland is calling. Protect the Socialist Republic! ”, Which had the main aim of increasing the number of volunteers for the National People's Army .

requirements

The points that the combat mission required were:

  1. “Willingness to defend” of men between 18 and 23 years of age;
  2. Assure harvest aid, plan fulfillment in production;
  3. Do not listen to any "western stations";
  4. The " Störfreimachung " support;
  5. In the popular election on September 17, 1961, elect the candidates for the National Front

consequences

After the combat mission was published in the Junge Welt , some young people who had followed the contingent were drafted into the NVA very quickly. Special FDJ regiments were formed for this purpose. The combat mission prepared the Defense Act, which resulted in general conscription on January 24, 1962 .

Awards

FDJ badge for good knowledge in gold

Awards of the FDJ were, for example, the " badge for good knowledge ", which was awarded in the framework of the (school-accompanying) FDJ academic year after an examination for Marxist-Leninist knowledge in the levels of gold, silver and bronze, and the highest award, Artur-Becker -Medal. The FDJ's art award was called the Erich Weinert Medal .

Further awards can be found in the list of government and non-government awards of the GDR .

Other activities in the political and economic life of the GDR

FDJ students as harvest workers in the Leipzig district in August 1978
Large construction site of the youth, Berlin-Marzahn
postage stamp of the Deutsche Post of the GDR, ( 1979 )
XII. Parliament of the FDJ in the Palace of the Republic 1985
GDR postage stamp 1986
Torchlight procession of the FDJ between the Brandenburg Gate and Marx-Engels-Platz on the 40th anniversary of the German Democratic Republic

The order groups of the FDJ were founded in 1961 and served u. a. at youth events as steward service and auxiliary police. They should be intimidating and educating towards "hooligans, disruptors and hostile elements" especially in youth culture. At the end of the 1980s there were 40,000 order group members in the GDR.

In the 1970s there was the poet movement with the poetry seminars in Schwerin Castle . In addition, the singing movement existed with singing groups in many schools and companies; the October Club was the best known group. They met at the annual political song festival . However, their actual popularity among young people in the GDR was rather low.

The FDJ was also the sponsor of the fair for the masters of tomorrow , in which young hobbyists and inventors could present their exhibits. In October 1958, the Central Fair of the Masters of Tomorrow took place in Leipzig for the first time .

itemized list

Statistical data

Source: Statistical Yearbook of the GDR 1989, age group 14–25

  • age structure
    • 13-17 year olds: 40%
    • 18-21 year olds: 32%
    • 22-25 year olds: 21%
    • 26 and older: 7%
  • Membership figures as a percentage of the youth population (rounded)
    • 1947: 16% (400,000 members)
    • 1949: 33% (1 million members)
    • 1951: 44%
    • 1961: 49%
    • 1971: 58%
    • 1981: 69%
    • 1986: 74%
    • 1987: 70%
    • 1988: 85%
    • 1989: 88% (2.3 million members)

37 deputies in the People's Chamber of the GDR were members of the FDJ, among them several well-known competitive athletes.

"FDJ in West Germany", ban as an anti-constitutional association

Uschi and Max Rubinstein initiated one of the first FDJ associations in Germany on December 9, 1945 in Düsseldorf - three months before it was founded in what was then the Soviet occupation zone .

A year later, the FDJ was also established in the other western zones. In the early years the central office was headed by the Hamburg communist and resistance fighter Helmut Heins , later Kurt Julius Goldstein and Josef Angenfort . All of the full-time functionaries belonged to the KPD , about half of the members. The FDJ described its most important goals in East and West as follows: To build a new democratic Germany, without fascism , without militarism and without monopolies , with guaranteed social rights for children and young people.

In 1950 the FDJ had around 30,000 members in the Federal Republic of Germany, mainly among the youth of the trade union.

In the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany , the FDJ fought rearmament under Adenauer . The first state reaction came on September 19, 1950: the federal government banned FDJ, KPD and VVN members from working in the public service .

The FDJ prepared a referendum against rearmament. She hoped for such an initiative to gain widespread approval due to the widespread anti-militarism among West German youth in the first post-war years.

On April 24, 1951, the federal government banned the referendum as unconstitutional :

"1. The referendum “against remilitarization and for the conclusion of peace in 1951” operated by the SED, the ruler of the Soviet zone, is intended to undermine the free democratic basic order of the Federal Republic while concealing the anti-constitutional goals. The implementation of the action represents an attack on the constitutional order of the federal government.
2. The associations that carry out this action, in particular the committees set up for this purpose as well as the association of those persecuted by the Nazi regime (VVN), the Free German Youth (FDJ), the All-German working groups for agriculture and forestry and the German Workers' Committee are directed against the constitutional order and are therefore prohibited by Art. 9 (2) GG by law.
3. Pursuant to Section 5 of the Act on Cooperation between the Federation and the States in matters relating to the protection of the Constitution of September 27, 1950 ( Federal Law Gazette , p. 682), the state governments are requested to prevent any activity of such associations for the referendum. "

The ban on the referendum was followed on the same day by the ban on the FDJ in North Rhine-Westphalia . On June 26, 1951, the FDJ in West Germany was then banned throughout the Federal Republic in accordance with Article 9 (2) of the Basic Law .

In 1952, FDJ member Philipp Müller was shot dead by a police officer during the violent dissolution - the police chief had issued an order to shoot - a prohibited demonstration in Essen against the remilitarization of West Germany; the officer was acquitted in the later criminal proceedings. The chairman of the (at that time not yet final) banned FDJ in West Germany Josef Angenfort (KPD) in 1953 for high treason accused and a five-year prison sentence convicted.

In a judgment of July 16, 1954, the Federal Administrative Court ruled that the FDJ is banned in West Germany . The prohibition pronounced because of the unconstitutionality of the objectives of the FDJ in West Germany in accordance with Article 9 (2) of the Basic Law in conjunction with Section 129a of the Criminal Code became legally binding. Since then, the public use of FDJ badges in West Germany as the use of marks of unconstitutional organizations has been subject to the prohibition of Section 86a (1) no. V. m. Section 86 (1) No. 2 StGB and can be punished with imprisonment or a fine.

The ban continues to exist after German reunification, but in the opinion of the Interior Ministry relates exclusively to the independent organization FDJ in West Germany . The badges of the FDJ in West Germany and the FDJ look "the same", there is no difference. The public use of the FDJ emblem is therefore suitable to justify the initial suspicion of a crime and thus the right to prosecute and the prosecution authorities' duty to prosecute. Whether the use of the badge, regardless of the scope of the prohibition, is individually punishable under Section 86a (2) sentence 2 of the Criminal Code, is assessed differently among lawyers . “However, in the case of satirical or alienating use ('Ostalgiepartys'), a broad interpretation of [Section 86a] Paragraph 3 in conjunction with Section 86 Paragraph 3 is indicated; In addition, the assumption of a deliberate factual error is obvious. "

In West Berlin , the SEW youth organization was called the Free German Youth West Berlin (FDJW) until 1980 .

The development of insignificance after the fall of the Wall

Demonstration for the renewal of the FDJ with the slogan "Together we are stronger" in the Berlin Lustgarten on November 16, 1989
fdj logo around 1990

At the end of November 1989, at the 13th meeting of the Central Council of the FDJ, the previous FDJ leadership, headed by Eberhard Aurich , was removed. At the end of January 1990 held in the steel hall in Brandenburg an der Havel congress ("XIII. Parliament"), which was accompanied by rallies by the youth group of the New Forum , the FDJ adopted a new statute in which it was a "left association "Who advocated an independent GDR as a" socialist alternative on German soil "and was no longer" the party's helper and fighting reserve ". In place of Frank Türkowsky was Birgit Schroeder elected chair. The Junge Welt then spoke of a “failure of the event”, since “the concentrated presence of former full-time functionaries” prevented a “radical break with the old FDJ”. In the Volkskammer elections on March 18, 1990 , the FDJ unsuccessfully took the form of a list union with other youth associations as an alternative youth list .

After the reunification and peaceful revolution in the GDR , the number of members fell from November 1989 to November 1990 from 2.3 million to 22,000, in mid-1991 to 7,000 and in 1994 to a maximum of 300, in 2003 to approx. 150. The approximately 7500 full-time employees (1989) were dismantled by the end of 1991 and employees processed their facilities and structures. The still existing FDJ became politically insignificant.

After reunification , the assets of the FDJ were placed under the administration of the Treuhandanstalt . Youth clubs and holiday resorts were handed over to other providers, closed or sold. In addition, the FDJ was supposed to pay taxes on the interest income of the assets managed by the trust (approx. 300,000 DM) according to the legal requirements. Finally a settlement was reached.

Attempts to re-establish the FDJ at an early stage of development failed due to the lack of unity of those responsible. A new logo with FDJ in lower case has been abandoned in favor of the original logo.

In 1990 the PDS no longer recognized the FDJ as its youth association. The FDJ has its headquarters in the office part of the Karl-Liebknecht-Haus , where Die Linke is also based.

Chairperson

SBZ / GDR
Federal Republic of Germany after reunification
  • Jens Rücker (around 1991)
  • Andrea Grimm (around 2000)
  • Ringo Ehlert (since 2002)
  • Kattrin Kammrad

medal

The FDJ was the holder of the following orders and decorations of the GDR :

literature

Movies

Web links

Commons : Free German Youth  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Arno Gräf: The Free German Youth in Scotland 1942 to 1946, in: Yearbook for Research on the History of the Labor Movement , Issue I / 2009.
  2. ↑ Alfred Fleischhacker (ed.): That was our life. Memories and documents on the history of the FDJ in Great Britain 1939–1946. ISBN 3-355-01475-3 , p. 8
  3. ↑ Martin Broszat , Hermann Weber (ed.): SBZ manual - State administrations, parties, social organizations and their executives in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany 1945–1949 . Oldenbourg-Verlag, Munich. 2nd edition 1993. ISBN 978-3-486-55262-1 . In an interview from 2008 Alfred Fleischhacker speaks of about 750 members that the FDJ had in Great Britain between 1941 and 1945. About 100 of them returned to Germany after the end of the war. ( Interview with Alfred Fleischhacker )
  4. ^ Declaration by the church representatives on the negotiations on the Free German Youth of February 26, 1946. In: Ulrich Mählert ; Gerd-Rüdiger Stefan: Blue shirts - red flags. The history of the Free German Youth. Opladen 1996, p. 33.
  5. ↑ Cf. Ellen Ueberschär: Young community in conflict. Protestant youth work in the Soviet occupation zone and GDR 1945–1961. Stuttgart 2003.
  6. ↑ Cf. Marc-Dietrich Ohse: "We had a great time" - The GDR, a "state of youth"? In: Thomas Großbölting (ed.): Friedensstaat, Leseland, Sportnation? GDR legends put to the test. Berlin 2009, p. 76.
  7. ↑ ZDB: Interest group letter , ed. from the Central Council of Free German Youth, Department of Culture, 1954-.
  8. ↑ see e.g. B. History of the Whitsun Youth Meeting @ 2011.pfingstjugendtreffen.de
  9. ↑ see e.g. B. Youth political events @ bundesarchiv.de (FDJ photo collection)
  10. ↑ see e.g. B. https://www.nd-archiv.de/ausgabe/1989-05-13
  11. ↑ Junge Welt, August 18, 1961, p. 1.
  12. ↑ Anita Krätzner: Between “Störfreimachung” and “Combat mission”. On the situation at the universities of the GDR in 1961 In: Benjamin Schröder, Jochen Staadt (Hrsg.): Unter Hammer und Zirkel. Repression, opposition and resistance at the universities of the SBZ / GDR . Studies of the SED State Research Association at the Free University of Berlin 16. Peter Lang Verlag, Frankfurt am Main a. a. 2011, p. 193.
  13. ↑ quoted from BVerfGE 1, 184 .
  14. ↑ Federal Gazette No. 124 of June 30, 1951.
  15. ↑ BVerwG, judgment of July 16, 1954 IA 23/53 , BVerwGE 1, 184, NJW 1954, 1947
  16. ↑ a b Thomas Fischer (Ed.): Criminal Code and ancillary laws. 50th edition. Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-47121-8 , § 86a, Rn. 3. (StGB commentary by Tröndle / Fischer)
  17. ↑ Wearing FDJ shirts remains unpunished. In: Märkische Allgemeine . April 15, 2014, accessed November 14, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Acquittal in the process of FDJ symbol. In: Saxon newspaper . April 15, 2014, accessed April 16, 2014 .
  19. ↑ Debate about GDR symbols: wearing an FDJ shirt formally punishable. In: Ostthüringer Zeitung . January 25, 2014, accessed April 16, 2014 .
  20. ^ School in the GDR - Part 1 on the website of the Federal Agency for Civic Education from October 30, 2014, accessed on March 8, 2015.
  21. ^ Ralf-Stephan Rabe: The youth group Neues Forum during the fall of 1989/90 in the city of Brandenburg (Havel) . Historischer Verein Brandenburg (Havel) eV, 2013 (lecture from April 19, 2012, manuscript online (PDF) as PDF, p. 8).
  22. ↑ Michael Richter : The Peaceful Revolution. Departure for democracy in Saxony 1989/90 (= writings of the Hannah Arendt Institute. Vol. 38). Volume 1, pp. 1385f. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2009, ISBN 978-3-525-36914-2 ( online in the Google book preview).
  23. ↑ Too much red light makes you brown , Der Spiegel 48/1990 of November 26, 1990.
  24. ↑ a b BT-Drs. 13/5377
  25. ↑ http://www.ddr-geschichte.de/Bildung/Schule/FDJ/fdj.html
  26. ↑ https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/blauhemden-als-kampfreserve-fuer-die-sed.871.de.html?dram:article_id=125442
  27. ↑ http://www.die-tagespost.de/aus-aller-welt/aus-aller-welt/Erichs-unartig-Kinder;art309,170214
  28. ^ DEFA Foundation: Biography of Rolf Schnabel