Did the HJ have Haircut regulations?

[volkund]

did the HJ have any Haircut regulations? judging from photos, it looks like a version of the undercut, but I wasn't able to find more info.
if anyone knows the haircut regulations, let me know!
many thanks.

 

[Jack]

It was a "militarily short haircut" ordered, but not a specific type. What most people wore was common and fashionable at the time, even the older men wore it.

 

[Jack]

In wartime, hairstyle was always an issue, especially as some young people also expressed protest with long, improper haircuts. On the other hand, Streifendienst patrols were easily recognised during patrols because of their particularly regulation hairstyles. Nevertheless, actions like the one in the Eichstätt Bann, where the bann leadership enforced the desired short haircut in March 1944 with a haircut campaign under threat of disciplinary measures, were rather the exception.

 

[volkund]

thanks for the help jack, so did it work or was it not very well enforced? it is late war so im sure there were issues enforcing it but i was wondering if it worked to some extent

 

[Jack]

In general, it worked well, especially before the war, and most of them did it out of conviction - besides, it was fashionable, which is still quite similar today that everyone walks around looking pretty much the same... As is always the case, the more coercion there is and at the same time the less control there is due to a lack of personnel, the more the rebellion against it grows among some (even if one must always emphasise that their number was quite small). But in wartime there were always efforts by the HJ to counteract the "depravity" of the youth. The hairstyle was also supposed to show whether one belonged to the "good" youth or not.
The Eichstätt incident, however, was probably quite exceptional.

 

[bertl59]

I had the chance to chat with a former HJ a long time ago, he came from bavaria and he explained to me that all HJ-Junge had to have a comb in their pocket and that they could be checked for that, but he didn't talked about haircut regulations

 

[WIDUKIND]

In general, it worked well, especially before the war, and most of them did it out of conviction - besides, it was fashionable, which is still quite similar today that everyone walks around looking pretty much the same... As is always the case, the more coercion there is and at the same time the less control there is due to a lack of personnel, the more the rebellion against it grows among some (even if one must always emphasise that their number was quite small). But in wartime there were always efforts by the HJ to counteract the "depravity" of the youth. The hairstyle was also supposed to show whether one belonged to the "good" youth or not.
The Eichstätt incident, however, was probably quite exceptional.

Hello Jack,

My uncles were all in the HJ in the Königsberg area and I never heard such a story. When I look at their photos, their hair was quite long but still very very short on the sides On the other hand, I can very well understand that some were zealous, it has always existed everywhere.

Best Regards
Eric

 

[Jack]

Hello Eric and Bertrand,

It's nice to see that you're also joining in here.
I stumbled across the action in Eichstätt in a book about the order and punitive measures in the HJ, more about this can probably be found in Klönne, Die NS-Zeit in Bayern. But I don't have that book (at least not at the moment).
Otherwise I only know of such haircutting measures against HJ opponents, like the "Schlurfs" in Wien/Vienna, who belonged to the working-class milieu, or the "Swing Boys" in Hamburg. In Wien in 1943, the the head of the Youth Detention Centre (Jugendarrest) even demanded that these delinquents "with jungle-like hair" be shaved completely bald. That would be the greatest conceivable punishment.
Gebietsführer Kowarik also dealt with the issue, which shows how important it was taken at that time.

Finally, a quote from the SRD-Gebietsführer Hamburg on the completely different hairstyles:
"Wie die übrigen jungen Leute alle aussahen, mag schon die Tatsache zeigen, dass ich kurz nach meinem Eintritt hörte, wie jemand eine Gruppe warnte: 'Vorsicht, Gestapo und Gebiets-Streifendienst sind da. Erkennt ihr sofort, sehen typisch aus, kurzer Haarschnitt'."
"How the rest of the young people all looked may already be shown by the fact that shortly after I entered I heard someone warning a group: 'Watch out, Gestapo and Gebiet Streifendienst are here. You'll recognise them immediately, they look typical, short haircuts'." (1940)