Figure 1.--Here we see a German youth group in the 1930s. It is clearly a youth group anf not just a group of boys. Note the neckerchiefs some of the boys are wearing areally nd the banner. The photograph was probably taken before 1933 or shortly afterwards before it became dangerous to defy the NAZIs, especially for the youth leaders involved.

The topic of German youth groups is difficult because there were in Germany during the early 20th century a large number of small youth groups, often with informal uniforms. We have some limited information on these groups, but rarely information on their uniforms. In the aftermath of Germany's defeat in World War I the appolutical Wandervogel movement splintered and large numbers of small youth groups formed with sectarian and political agendas--bith left and rigt wing. The Hitler Youth was but one of those groups. It is impossible to list all of these groups. Some of the most important were: Adler unf Falken, Bismark Jugend, Bund der Artamenen, Deutsche Falkenschaft, Deutsche Freishar, Deutsche Kolberg, Deutsche Pfadfinderbund, Freischar Junger nation, Freischar Schill, Geusen, Hidenberg Jugend, Jugenbund Graf von Wartenburg, Jugendverbande, Jungend-Internationalem Jungwolf, Jungdeutscher Orden, Jungstrom Kolberg, Scharnhorst Jugend, Schilljugend, Tannenbergbund, and many more. We have found images of some of these groups, but do not know enough about the uniforms to identify them. We note one unidentified group in the early 1930s. These different organizations were closed or asbsorbed into the Hitler Youth by the NAZIs beginning in 1933. Thus the histortu of German youth groups has since been less complicated.