Research into the Hitler Youth in Spain

Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
1,286
Thanks Received
127
Location
München
Hi Guys,

Since Lauri open the following thread:

http://www.hj-research.com/forum/f45/spanien-1042/#post8523

I haven’t stopped thinking about investigating the HJ in Spain. Unfortunately I have no clue where to start. And this weekend my girlfriend came from Munich for our last weekend in Düsseldorf. So I had no much time to look deep into this.

Leaving aside my personal life, I have started to check about the offices of the NSDAP in Spain. And hopefully, throw this first step; I will be able to find more about the HJ.

Checking other forums and also a bit in internet, I have found a map of the offices of the NSDAP in Spain, as you can see attached. So we can see the web of offices all around Spain, including Sevilla, where I am from. May has a Sevilla triangle existed?

The office in Madrid was the one operating as HQ for Spain. The next important one was the Barcelona one.

About the HJ, I have found in a newspaper from Barcelona that the HJ was recruited within the local German community or those kids from families German – Spanish (we have to agree that the picture shown in the link above can confirm that).

Unfortunately, I don’t have the number of HJ in the whole Spain, but found a newspaper (thanks to another colleague outside the forum) dated 2nd of April 1943 that there was a ceremony in Barcelona to accept new kids into the HJ and give the ID to each of them. In this ceremony, the HJ leader of Barcelona was present (Vollmer) and also the HJ leader in Spain, Ehlers.

I don’t have more than this at the moment. I will keep searching during the next few weeks. In fact, I hope to get a book or 2 about the NSDAP organization (and HJ) in Spain and Portugal.

Best Regards

Antonio

You don't have permission to view attachments.
 

Attachments

    You don't have permission to view attachments.
Bravo Antonio, great research. The Spanish have a long history of military and para military involvement. Keep us updated camrade of any new facts.
 
Very good Antonio,

I would call that a great start my friend keep us informed on the progress amigo:thumbup:
 
Hi guys,

Thanks for your kind words. I am lucky that I dont have much to do at work.

Still looking for information in the net, I have found thhat a magazine made an history about the organization of the NSDAP in Cataluña, it is called: Sàpiens (number 81, July 2009). I will try to buy it once in Spain. And from it, try to get the source of information.

But I have found a picture of the HJ marching in a Spanish City. It could be Barcelona. As you can see in the circles, the one on the left shows a group of women wearing the typical blue shirt of the Falange Española. And to confirm that it could be Barcelona, on the right hand side, you can clearly see a "guardia urbano", the typical Spanish traffic policeman (back them) with his white helmet and globes.

Also, I have found out that the HJ Leader in Barcelona in 1936 was Karl Supprian and the BDM leader was Lotte Vennewitz.

I will try to put things together. so far, I will be collecting more info, somehow.

Regards

Antonio


So at the moment...

You don't have permission to view attachments.
 

Attachments

    You don't have permission to view attachments.
Antonio,

Great job!
It must be great to be able to do research on the subject where you live.

Bobby
 
Excellent stuff Antonio. Please add more to the thread as you research this further.
 
Hi Guys,

It is a bit frustrating not to find much about the organization, or even just a simple number of kids who joined the HJ in Spain. I am just finding bits and pieces from old newspapers and magazines. Anyway, I am keeping trying.

I have found a bit of information (in Catalan!!) of the HJ Organization in Barcelona. Just summarizing a bit:

In 1936, most of the kids from German parents (if not all by then) were studying in the German college in Barcelona (Molla Street number 2) where they received full time Nationalsocialist doctrine, like in a normal German School. Although the director of the School Rolf Seyfang said that it is not yet like the model of the Typical German Schools, they are making emphasis on German Language, history and culture (it sounds familiar isn’t it), physical exercise (we all know how important that was) and Biology. By the way, the Sports teacher back then (1936) was named Hans Stammberger. He thought that he had to take really good care of the education of the kids, especially in foreign lands, for them to be always focussed in what they will become, NS fighters. So guys, as you can see, not only in Germany the kids were educated as soldiers. Also abroad they were educated like in Germany. Even a stronger effort had to be made to keep the NS doctrine into the kid’s heads, when there are other distracting things.

Just besides the school, there was a German evangelistic church, which helped the kids in their spiritual formation BUT always after their NS formation. In fact, the person in charge from 1934, Georg Gründler, a really tough man from Hamburg, wanted, just before arriving to Barcelona, to help the German people in their spiritual needs but specially to teach and help the German kids in the National Education (I guess Nationalsocialism).

Apart from this, few notes on a meeting day that in the summer of 1935 was carried out just outside Barcelona by the BDM groups in Spain. Did they make also tinnies? I get nervous only thinking about it.

So that is it my friends. Next week I will be back in Spain for good and long holidays. I will try to go to a couple of Libraries to try to find a bit more info.

Best Regards

Antonio
 
Last edited:
Happy days, thisis getting close to home.

I have found a nice article (in Spanish) about a visit of HJ leaders to Jerez de la Frontera, (close to my home) in November 1937.

ABC SEVILLA (Sevilla) - 06/11/1937, p. 24 - ABC.es Hemeroteca

In Jerez you have horses and fantastic wine (I will tell you about it next week when I go back home!!!).

The pictures look not so good, but there you go.

Funny enough, ABC doesnt mention their names (visitors) and only put emphasys in what the Spanish people said. The Spanish speakers finished their speech with a "Viva Alemania, Viva Hitler, Viva Franco y Viva España".

I am sure that I will get together all the information that I find to rpesent you with a whole overview of this Organization.

Best Regards

Antonio
 
The Hitler Youth in Sevilla, Spain

THE HJ IN SEVILLA.

Hi Guys,

This is like a domino effect, the sooner that I read the newspapers back 1936 to 1943, names comes, and those names brings also more places to look for information.

Tomorrow I will be adding llinks and fotos for your information.

So far, I am using possibly the best newspaper archive in Spain, ABC. Found a couple of things and then, bingo.

The exchanges between the HJ and the Frente Juventudes (Youth Group belonging to La Falange) were constant and in a yearly basis (sometimes, more than twice a year). I have seen material which probes that there were visits in 1936, 1937, 33 and so on.

All those kids came in groups of 70 – 100 kids including many BDM members. Kids who found accommodation in the German Schools in Madrid, Barcelona o Sevilla.

At the moment I have the organization and number of kids in Sevilla. Just checking if the German School is still open and bingo, history found in their web page.

The school starts running from 1921 in Sevilla (the main one was in Madrid) with just 14 Kids.

In 1933, the education is supervised in Sevilla by members of the NSDAP and the first HJ group in Sevilla is created.

During the Spanish Civil war (1936-1939), many German people, residents in the South of Spain, arrived to Sevilla trying to fly from areas at war. Let’s remember that Sevilla was taken by Franco troops in peace.

So meaning that during these years, the expansion of the school is a reality, as you can see with the numbers below:

1937: 113
1938: 211
1939: 217
1940: 140.

There is no explanation why the number dropped in 1940; I guess that many families moved back to Germany during WWII.

Normally, there was a mix of Spanish and German kids there. Possibly Spanish kids with German background, so we can easily assume that all those kids were part, somehow, of the HJ.

The influence had to be really big and also they had to be really influenced by the constant visit of the HJ and BDM National leaders. For example, Juta Ruetiger, the BDM National leader visited Sevilla on the 19th of October 1938. It is funny to see that for Spanish people, this was a big event. Reading at the newspapers, you have the sense that the HJ was seeing like something else, like a great reason to make a “fiesta” of it.

Also the influence came from those tens and tens of HJ kids, who visited Spain in a very regular basis. Like the visit that the paid to Sevilla on the 18 of October 1941, were they gave to the Spanish kids of the Frente Juventudes 12 rifles Mauser calibre 22 and 12.000 rounds.

Sevilla is a beautiful city, so it was obvious that it was (and IS) a MUST stop for visitors. I would love to show you the city some day.

So, dear camaradas, with the numbers above, with the visits and the importance of Sevilla as a City, do you think that there was a District Triangle for Sevilla?

Regards

Antonio

PS: I forgot to mention that in a week I will show you my new Tinnies. I dont have them yet in hand and also my camara is travelling now to Munich, Pech!!
 
Last edited:
Photos of Hitler Youth in Toledo and Madrid

Hi there,

Just a few lines more and a couple of pictures. I will be trying to add new things before Thursday, when I am officially on holidays for 20 days :))

At the moment, due to the lack of nformation (apart from old newspapers), my next step is to check the history of all the German Schools and cities like Madrid or Barcelona. So if I can not get a global view of the Organization in Spain, I will have it locally.

so, I will leave you with the visit of more HJ and BDM to Spain, the pictures are not good at all, sorry. The first picture is from 1941 in Toledo, the second one in 1943 in Madrid.

Regards

Antonio

You don't have permission to view attachments.
You don't have permission to view attachments.
 

Attachments

    You don't have permission to view attachments.
Back
Top