Thanks for posting joe
not an easy thing to talk about, it must have been a very grim time for your loved ones,
steve
Not an easy thing to talk about but true .
My Omi "Grandmother" had 5 children 4 girls and 1 boy . the 2 oldest girls were in the BDM and the boy "Wolfgang" was in the HJ .
My Mother then 5 years old along with my other aunt Charlotte 9 years old witnessed the Russian soldier Rape my Grandmother , My Aunt Charlotte remembers yelling at this Russian Pig , he picked her up , threw her against a wall and shot a few rounds above her head from his machine gun . After he was finished he took a bull whip and whipped my Grandmother calling her in perfect German a "Nazi whore" . At about the time of the whipping a Russian Officer saw what had happened , yelled at the soldier then shot him in the head with his pistol . The Russian officer then gave my grandmother a blanket and some food , picked up the dead Russian soldiers weapon and left .
This is a true story that was related to me from my mother and my Aunt Charlotte , My Grandmother never talked about this .
My Uncle wolfgang (16 years old) was one of the many listed as "missing" presumed dead after the Battle of Berlin .
When it comes to the topic of this thread "BDM in Combat" My Aunt Laura once told me that she had been issued a knife too her and other war volunteers in her section during the last few weeks of the war for "self protection" . She did , however ; state that "out of curosity" she and a few other BDM girls attended an Hitlerjugend demonstration class on the Use, Function and Effectiveness of the "Panzerfaust" antitank weapon . She never fired one but had held one in her hands after the class.
My Aunt Laura ( the former mid level BDM Leader ) now 80 years , old saw my collection once , 4 years ago while visiting us here in the United States .
She was very empressed and could hardly stop talking about how great the parades and rallies that she attended were , she said that she had the honor of carring the flag during parades .... at one point when she was standing in my Bunker room she did something that I will never forget ...she saulted My HJ Flag that I have hanging on the wall , She said that she just wanted to do it one last time .
My Aunt Laura is now in in an old folks home , weak and bed ridden near Munich .