Figure 1.-- A HBC reader has forwarded us this image. We believe that the boy belongs to a Fascit youth organization--notice the fasces (bundle of rods) in the bnner. This was a symbol of power adopted from the Roman Republic. It was adipted as a symbol of Fascist Italy. Appraently some Germans also used it in the years before the NAZI seizure of power. We are not sure what group to which this boy belonged. The banner seems to have the letters GDA-JB. The D surely is deutcher (German). The JB may be Jugen Bund. perhaps the junior division of an adult group. We have no idea what the G and A mean. We would welcome any inights readrs might have.

German youth during the 1920's were involved in an incredible diverse number of mostly small youth organiztions, perhaps as many as 2,000 such groups--although a much smaller number of groups of any size. The most popular German youth organization after the War was still the Wandervogel, but the idealism of the movement had been sapped by the War. The Wandervogel was non-political, but German boys after the War were strongly politicized. Boys were highly nationalistic and convinced that their country had been wronged by the Versailles Peace Treaty and the oldr more politically conscious boys critical of the Weimar Government. Many youth organizations were a rejection of the Weimar government, which was one of the reasons why they were so easily supportive of the Hitler Youth and NAZI regime in general. They were also disenchanted with the older generation and their new sets of values: work and money. These and other attitudes made it a relatiively easy matter for the NAZIS in 1933 to fold them and most other independent youth groups into the Hitler Youth.

Youth Attitudes

German youth wanted to rejuvenate Germany and were so serious in their convictions that they were approached by a variety of people and organizations. These people included reformers, intellectuals and critics of Weimar Germany. They wanted the youth to become their allies, but they were making a serious mistake. This mistake was that they expected that the youth to be led by adults, but the youth were not willing to give up their independence. Boys were also disenchanted with the older generation and their new sets of values: work and money. These and other attitudes made it a relatiively easy matter for the NAZIS in 1933 to fold them and most other independent youth groups into the Hitler Youth.

Individual Groups

German youth during the 1920's were involved in an incredible diverse number of mostly small youth organiztions, perhaps as many as 2,000 such groups--although a much smaller number of groups of any size. The most popular German youth organization after the War was still the Wandervogel, but the idealism of the movement had been sapped by the War. Scholars estimate further notes that by 1933 there were 400 significant youth associations, plus scores of smaller ones in Germany. [Stachura, NAZI Youth, op. cit.] . The influence of the Wandervoegel was by then minuscule, being at most that of a few splinter groups out of the 400 or more incorporated into the Hitler Youth. A report prepared by the NAZI Party in 1933 indicated that the following youth fedrataions were active in 1932 and that only a small fraction of the boys belonged to the Hitler Youth. Many of the groups had religious or politicalm orientations.

Politicization

The Wandervogel was non-political, but German boys after the War were strongly politicized. Boys were highly nationalistic and convinced that their country had been wronged by the Versailles Peace Treaty and the oldr more politically conscious boys critical of the Weimar Government. Many youth organizations were a rejection of the Weimar government, which was one of the reasons why they were so easily supportive of the Hitler Youth and NAZI regime in general.

Adolf Hitler and the NAZIs

Hitler from an early point in his political career conceived of the imprtance of appealing to children and guiding their moral and political formation. This was a novel approach for a German politician. No other German politican made a similar effort. Hitler coined the NAZI Pary in 1921. NAZI youth groups were formed in 1926. The group was fairly small until the late 1920s when NAZI Party membership began to expand. Membership had reached about 1 million by 1932, the year before the NAZIs seized power. The final organization of the Hitler Youth did not emerge until 1933 when independent youth groups were combined into the Hitler Youth.

Left-wing Groups

Much of the attention to German youth groups is devoted to the Hitler Youth and other right-wing groups. There were, however, left wing groups of some importance. As they were supressed by the NAZIs in 1933, less is known about them. A British reader writes, "I'm writing as I read on the main HBC "German Youth Group page" that you have no information on Communist or Socialist youth groups in Germany before the NAZIs seized power. I also have no information on these groups, but I do recall reading Christopher Isherwood's Goodbye To Berlin. One story “Sally Bowles” being of course the basis for the play “I am a Camera” which in turn spawned the musical “Cabaret”. Many of these stories deal with a group of Berlin boys who run messages for the German Communist Party (KPD). I don't know if they were officially organised by the party or had a uniform. Isherwood does mention that they were fanatical about fitness and used to go hiking in the country in winter wearing shorts and in their shirtsleeves. This seems to mirror the attitude of their opponents the Hitler Youth as regards “toughening up” - but these boys seemed to take in on themselves to keep fit. At the end of the book (when the Nazis come to power and Isherwood is about to leave Berlin) he cannot find these boys to say goodbye – they have disappeared – we assume arrested or in hiding." A thought about uniforms. Right-wing groups because of their orientation to the military gave more attention to youth group uniforms. The Communists (when not in power) and the Socialists tended to opose the military because of the objection to war and the fact that the military stood in the way of their seizing power. Also coming from working-class roots, they would be less able to afford uniforms than the boys in right-wing groups that often were of middle class origins.