Figure 1.--This is a Edelknabenkoenig after the shooting match. He, his father and grandfather are very pleased about the success. It`s agreat event. |
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Quite a number of youth groups were organized in Germany in the years before and after World War I. The first group was Wandervogel. The best know groups are the Hitler Youth and Scouts. There were, however, a large number of different groups of varying size in the 1920s. HBU at this time has only limited information on the other groups, but some of them were of considerable importnce. They were all either disbanded or ansorbed into the Hitler Youth in 1933. There are today in German youth groups associated with gun clubs.
HBU has very limited information on the formation of the Scouts in Germany. Baden Powell in the early years regarded Wandervogel as the German Scout organization. I'm not sure just when the Scouts formed in Germany, but it was probably around 1908-10. It never, however, reached the importance in Germany that it did in many other countries. Why Scouting did not capture the imagination of German youth is an important, but difficult question to answer. I have less information on German Scouting during the 1920s. The youth movement in German, however, became highly polticized after World War I with young people following the Socialist example and joining the youth movement of political parties including the NAZI and communist parties. The Hitler Youth program began to enroll substantial numbers of boys by 1930 when it began to poll increasing numbers of votes in national elections. The Scouts were incorporated into the Hitler Youth in 1933 and the Scouts were ablolished until the defeat of NAZI Germany in 1945. After the World War II the Scout movement was revived in Germany.
HBU have noted some groups, but as yet has little information on them. We have since learned that they were shooting clubs. We thought that guns were very restricted in Europe, but there appear to be quite a few gun clubs in Germany where boys receive markmanship training and participate in target shooting contests. As far as we know this was a West German activity, but since reunification in 1990 may have spread to East Grmany as well.
We know of two different groups, Edelknaben and Pagencorps.
The Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth), the NAZI party's youth movement, indoctrinated German youth to perpetuate the "1,000 year Reich." The Hitler Youth movement emphasized activism, physical training, NAZI ideology, especially nationalism and racial concepts, and absolute obedience to Hitler and the NAZI Party. Indoctrinating children in National Socialist idelogy was a key goal of the NAZI Party. Once Hitler assumed control over the German state, he used the Goverment to make the Hitler Youth the country's all encompasing youth movement. Hitler and other NAZIs leaders saw the indoctrination of young Germans as of critical importance. In the same year that they took power, the NAZIs organized German youth organizations into two branches of the Hitler Youth (Hitler Jugen), one branch for boys and one for girls. Membership was eventually made compulsory and all boys had to report to a neigborhood office to have his racial background checked and be registered for membership. There was then a typically elaborate introduction ceremony on the Fehuerer's birthday.
Blau-Weiss (Blue-White) was the first Jewish youth group established in Germany. It was founded in 1912. Jewish boys like other German boys were inspired by the German youth movement culture of outings, hikes, singing, and comradship. Many German youth moveements refused to accept Jews. Wandervogel left it up to the local units to decide. Jews were also not accepted by many Scout groups and formed their own Scout association. All of the nationalist groups formed after World War I refused to accept Jews. We have few details, but assume that Socialist and Communist youth groups did accept Jews. Zionist groups were also founded. Blau-Weiss adopted a Zionist platform at its convention in 1922. Other Zionist groups were formed. Blau-Weiss was disbanded in 1929 evern before the
NAZI seizure of power. After the NAZI takeover the Hitler Youth adsorbption of other youth movement and banning of most other groups meant that Jewish children could only belong to Jewish youth groups. The NAZIs gradually replaced more and more restrictions on their operations. Their facilities were seized, often by the Hitler Youth. The Reich Youth Leadership in 1934 prohibited German Jewish youth groups from wearing uniforms. The Baden Minister of Interior in 1935 prohibited group hikes and similar activities for all non-National Socialist youth groups. Other states adopted similar ordinaces. Finally all Jewish youth groups were
ordered disbanded in 1938.
The Pioneers are best known in Germany as the official youth movement of East German communist party after World War II. The communist party during the 1920s and 30s, before Hitler seized power, also had a youth movement. HBU knows nothing about the pre-NAZI era German communist youth movement, other than there were street encounters between these boys and the Hitler Youth up until Hitler seized power in 1933.
The Wandervogel was formed November 4, 1901, and became Germany's most important youth groups. It many ways they were similar in some ways to the Scouts stressing hiking and camping. There was also a strong participant in sport, much more so than the Scouts. There were, however, important differences. Wandervogel stressed Germany's Teutonic roots, a highly nationalistic approach, rather than the international approach of Scouting that allowed it to spread beyond England. It was because of the stress on the Teutonic folk idea anti-Semetic, for shadowing a sinister streak in the German youth movement wehich would appear in a more virulent form in the Hitler Youth. The Wandervogel was partly a manifestation of the perceptible mood of boredom and restlessness appearance of Wilhelmian Germany was little more than a facade which concealed latent tensions beneath the surface. The movement was strictly apolitical and after World War I splintered into many completing, often highly politicized groups. Today in Germany Wandervogel functions throughout the country. I'm not sure just when it was revived.
Some alternative youth bgroups in the 1920s and early 30s before independent groups were abloished included: Judishe Verbande, Kath. Verbande, Kommunist Verbande, Sozialist Verbande, Staatspolitische, Verb Leibes Ubungen, and the Volksburgerl Verb (VDA).
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