Hi Guys,
This Tinnie was my very first one, so allow me to say a few words about it. Also, it is like a good bye to this fantastic city crossed by the Rhein.
What always caught my attention is that there are 2 crosses in this Tinnie. Why this? And what or who was Schlageter? You can see 3 pictures of this badge attached. Picture 3 belongs to my collection and Picture 4 belongs to Stuart’s collection (page 8 of
Hitler Youth tinnies/ Day Badges Database )
In such a small thing, there is a big history behind.
I will be starting for the end, the crosses. The Christian and the Swastika together make a weird match. Well, we know that the Protestant youth groups joined the HJ with no much difficulty. But with the Catholic Church, that was a different history. But no. the Christian church doesn’t symbolize any church, the explanation is far simpler, that cross was the memorial site of Albert Leo Schlageter (see picture attached).
And now, we go to our second question. Who was Schlageter? And why his name is in a HJ Tinnie? And what has to do with Düsseldorf?
To understand who was Schlageter, we have to go back to 1922. When he was part of the Freikorps in Upper Silessia (East from Germany and now part of Poland). Since that year, it is believed that he got in contact with the NSDAP.
But it was during 1923 where he became famous (or for the French, infamous). This year was famous in Germany because the Hyperinflation, which helped to “not” meet the repayments that Germany had to make to France, in concepts of reparations for the WWI. France, claiming what it was believed to be theirs, took a strong action against the German, occupying the Ruhr area, West of Germany and industrial heart of it, apart from all the mines located there.
Schlageter was part of the “passive resistance” against the French Forces with act of sabotage. Until he was arrested and condemned to death. He was executed near Düsseldorf on the 26th of May 1923.
Obviously, his death was always “revived” by the Nazis as apart of their philosophy of remembering the Martyrs for Germany. So you can imagine, put yourself as a HJ kid in 1933, in the middle of the forest around the fire with more kids like you, and one of them telling the histories of his fights, his heroic acts against the invading French troops, those black soldiers who humiliated Germany and German women. I can imagine how “encouraging” for those kids this type of history sounds.
So all the pieces of the Tinnie have been already found. We know the reason for the cross (Memorial), for the date (10 Years of his death) and for Düsseldorf.
I told you guys, didn’t I? There was a big history behind this Tinnie.
Best Regards
Antonio
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