Figure 1.--The 1940s in Germany as with the rest of Europev was dominated by World War II. Almost all German boys had to join the Hitler Youth and wore the uniform. German fashions were no at first adversely affected, in part because of the German exploitation of the occupied countries, Especially important was France. Large shipments of French clothes to the Reich as war reparations meant that fashionable clothing ws readily available. Unfortunately we have no specific details on this boy other than the portrait was taken in tghe early-1940s.

The 1940s in Germany as with the rest of Europev was dominated by World War II. Almost all German boys had to join the Hitler Youth and wore the uniform. German fashions were no at first adversely affected, in part because of the German exploitation of the occupied countries, Especially important was France. Large shipments of French clothes to the Reich as war reparations meant that fashionable clothing ws readily available. As the War went against the NAZIs this situation changed. The Allied naval blockade affected the availbility of cotton. The Allied air campaign devestated German industry and the tranportation network. The country was left ruined with the cities piles of rubble. Factories were destroyed or closed meaning that clothing was not manufactgured. . Germans were impoverished, unable to aford clothing and other consumer goods. Many children for several yeas after the War had to make do with the cllothes they had and what ever hand-me-downs were available. Economic conditions did not begin to improve until 1948 in West Germany with the Marshall Plan and the beginning of the German Economic Miracle. East Germany forbidden by Stalin to participare in the Marshall Plan recovered at alower rate.

Interviews

Wolfgang W.E. Sammuel, the auhor of German Boy has published a collection of 26 adults who were children in World War II. The children come from different areas throughout Germany as well as Prague. Most of the childrn were displaced, many lost their fathers. [Wolfgang W.E. Sammuel, The War of Our Childhhod: Memoirs of World War II (University Press of Mississippi, 2002), 356p.]

Hans-J (1935- )

I was born in March 1935 and grew up in Stuttgart, a city of about 0.5 million in southwest Germany. I have many family photographs showing how I was dressed as I was growing up in Germany. I recall a good bit aboyt my boyhood clothes, but the family photographs help me recall the details. The family photographs begin a age 2 1/2 years. I had all sorts of stuffed animals--a large sable. I began Kindergarten at age 4 in 1939. I began school at 6 1/2 years old in the Fall of 1941. My school picture shows me with the book satchel we all had. Our family liked to go skiing during the Winter.

Teenage Air Warden (1939-45)

A German reader tells us about his mother's experiences during the War. "My mother lived with her familly in Berlin. Like all teenagers was an older BDM girl. She was thus made an air raid warden in 194?. Her duties were to to eveacuate her half of the city block near Hagelberg Strasse. As a result of the first big raid, she estimates that nearly 800 people died that she was unable to get to as a result of direct bomb hits (month, day, year?). There were streets near her home that received direct hits from bombs intended for munitons factories on the outskirt of the city. The bombs fell a mile short of the intended target. The blockbusters dropped by some of the planes could reduce a city block to a a huge crater. If the people were not evacuated, an easy 1,000 civilains could have been killed in the explosion. The worst bombs were the inciendiary ones, clusters of glass viles containing phsophorous. The bombers dropped these in budles. Gravity would separate them and they fell into the shape of a glowing Christmas tree which si how they were referred to--Tannenbaum."

A German Boy in Bolivia (1940s)

A German expatriate has provided HBC some information about his periences in Bolivia during the 1940s. My family emigrated to Bolivia from Germany in the 1940s. I lived in La Paz, Bolivia in the 1940s and early 1950s. I made short visits to Cochabamba, Oruro, Potosi and Santa Cruz, but stayed most of the time in La Paz, especially during my school years. This is what I remember.

Jockel's Lederhosen (1940s)

Here are my boyhood memories from the 1940s, both during and after World War II. Lederhosen then were popular for boys. They were nearly undestroyable, needed no washing, could not be spoiled by dirt, and limited back pain in case of being caned. The more grown out they were, the better! Finally, having been outgron, theycould be handed down ti a younger brother or cousin who could wer them for several more years.

A German Boy in America (1940s)

An American boy remembers a German refuge boy whose family came to America in the 1940s. He wore lederhosen for which the other children teased him. He and the American boy became good friends.

Unidentified Brothers (1945)

Here we see two unidntified brothers, presumably with their grandmother. All we know for sure about the boys is that the photograph was taken in 1945, presumably just after the War. It looks like a home snapshot rather than a studio portrait. It is similar to family photographs we see throughout the inter-War period, except that the boys are barefoot. That was not very common in the 1930s and early-40s except perhaps in East Prussia, an agrarian area of Germany. The boys are well dressed in short pants suits, slthough they do not wear ties. We suspect that their lack of footwear reflects the devestation suffered by Germany in the final year of the War. Consumer goods were almost impossible to obtain and this was especially true of leargher goods like shoes. Presumably the boys has shoes, but were probably in such bad shape that grandmother or mother decided it would be better to appear barefoot in the photograph.

German Boy and Scooter (late-1940s)

Here we have no actual information on a German boy. There are so many interesting aspects to this snapshot that we have added this boy to our personal experiences page. The boy is riding a great wooden scooter. He wears dark Lederhosen with a haltar. We believe that the photograph was taken in the late 40s, in part because wearing plaid shirts with Lederhosen was not common before and during World War II. We note he is wearing hime knitted kneesocks with decirative tassles.

Unidentified German Boy (1948)

This German boy and his mother had their portrait taken in 1948. He is wearing what looks like suspender rompers with a fancy bouse. A reader asks about the boy and his family. "How old would you say the boy is? I suspect 4 or 5. Also, if he is that old does that mean he comes from a wealthy home or is it the convention of 1948?" Of course it is impossible to say for sure, but I would say he is 5 years old, but not quite 6 years old yet. The portrait is unidentified. We do not even know where in Germany they lived. It is hard to say much about the boy's family. He is dressed in a fancier outfit than most German boys wore at the time. If we did not know that the boy was from Germany, we would have guesed that he was French. We are not sure what his outfit suggests about the family. Our reader could well be correct that it suggests he came from a well-to-do family. The post-War years were a very difficult time in Germany. Many fmilies did not have the money for the bare necesities, let alone fancy outfits like this. His mother in contrast it not dressed fashionably. We do not know what she went through in the War. Many fmilies including wealty ones lost everything in the War. Perhaps our German readers will have insights to offer.

Armin's Memories

My memories do not begin earlier than 1944 when I entered school. I was the only child of a professional officer, special crack troops, his rank was comparable with a sergeant. We lived in the small town of Dueren near Cologne. Most of the town including my home and my school burnt down in one single night. My mother decided to take refuge at an old aunt living in Austria (than a part of Germany). Our train was bombed and my mother was killed but I survived.

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Created: 5:55 PM 11/23/2010
Last updated: 5:55 PM 11/23/2010