History of the Bund deutscher Mädel (BdM) 1930 to 1936

Garry

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The history of the BDM to 1936

The article that I'm translating here was originally published in a 1936 copy of the BDM magazine 'Das deutsche Mädel'. When this was written only 6 years had passed since the rudimentary BDM had begun to form and so the events of the recent past were still fresh in the mind. It contains some information on the history and development of the BDM I have yet to find in a modern reference work or on other websites/forums which deal with this subject. I hope it is of use and interest.





Sections:
How we came to be
The first formations
Progress is made
The BDM at the inaugural Reich-wide leaders' conference
The BDM becomes the party's official girls' organisation
Undercover work
The first BDM guidelines
The experience of Potsdam
The Führer speaks
Consecration ceremony and march-past
The membership numbers increase
Training is expanded
The Weimar Conference
Sport and physical education
Trude Mohr becomes the BDM national leader



Translation follows:



How we came to be - From secret beginnings to the largest girls' organisation in the world

A summary of the history and development of the Bund deutscher Mädel should not restrict itself solely to those groups who carried the name of our organisation from the beginning but should also cover the other national socialist female organisations from that period. This article aims to show how the national socialist girls' movement fought to build the community we know today as the BDM.The Hitler-Jugend began to consolidate its organisation in 1926 but it would be a further 3 to 4 years before similar progress began to be made within the BDM.


The first formations
The first girls' groups were formed during the period 1930/31 by:


The BDM
The National Socialist Association of Female Pupils (NSSi)
Young girls' groups (Jungmädchengruppen) within the Order of national socialist women (NS-Frauenorden).


The first groups established were:


Ortsgruppe Berlin - February 1930
Gruppe Halle - September 1930
BDM Ortsgruppe Magdeburg - February 1931
Ortsgruppe Danzig - July 1931
Ortsgruppe Aachern - December 1930.


Ortgruppe Aachern was a group raised in Baden consisting of members of the NSS organised as a young girls' group within the NS-Frauenorden. And then... the NSS is banned! Pick yourself up, brush yourself down and carry on. This energy and enthusiasm was repeated across the Reich. Raising new national socialist girls' groups was no easy task however and it required idealism to undertake the work and dogged determination to keep the momentum going. The obstacles were many and varied and it was difficult to reach out to Germany's girls as many were already members of one of the many sports associations, clubs and organisations around at the time. There were then the intellectuals and those who were quite simply not interested. Girls in employment were at the mercy of the propaganda coming from our political opponents' youth organisations and school pupils cared neither one way nor the other.


Additional problems were experienced with parents who would not allow their children to join us with a further problem being the NSS which found itself in what felt like an almost continuous state of illegality! Then there was the terror in the factories and on the streets...


Another thing which made matters very difficult was that our opponents had money where we had none. The Red Falcons (Rote Falken), the Red Pioneers (Rote Pioniere) and the others produced high quality propaganda flyers and were able to organise socialist youth camps in Switzerland - the so-called 'child republics'. We weren't even able to obtain reduced-fare train tickets as our organisation was not a member of the Association of Youth Organisations. The socialist newspapers had special sections for the children of Marxists. The Marxists were viewed positively by the authorities and a blind eye would be turned if they stepped out of line.


Progress is made

Despite all of these difficulties the national socialist girls' groups continued to work at increasing the membership. Their efforts were every bit as intensive as those of their male counterparts and gradually this work began to bear fruit. This success was due to a dedicated core of activists who could always be relied upon to be at the forefront.


Official guidelines governing the organisation and work of the 'Schwesternschaft der Hitler-Jugend' (Hitler Youth sisterhood) first appeared on the 1st of July 1929 but these guidelines really only contained instructions on how the individual groups were to function. Outside of the groups a sense of cohesion did not yet exist. The organisation's leader was Martha Aßman and on its formation the Schwesternschaft had a total membership of 67 girls, By 1931 this figure had increased to 1711.


In June 1930 the Schwesternschaft der Hitler-Jugend was renamed to 'Bund Deutscher Mädel' and on the 15th of March 1932 Elisabeth-Greiff Walden was announced as 'Reichsreferentin für Mädelfragen in der Reichsleitung in der Hitler-Jugend'.


The BDM at the inaugural Reich-wide leaders' conference

The first Hitler-Jugend leaders' conference took place in Braunschweig on the 26th of March 1932. Also present were the BDM Gauführerinnen from all of the 45 Gaue. They met as part of the conference and during discussions it became clear that there were differences in approach. Where some Gaue had developed far beyond the original guidelines of 1929 with departments for education, sport, social matters and cultural work there were other Gaue which had not.


As a direct result of Braunschweig a system of monthly reporting was introduced. These reports enabled an overview of how work was progressing in the individual Gaue. Instructions and suggestions based on these reports could now be promulgated for those Gaue who were falling behind.


The BDM became independent on the 1st of June 1932 and Elisabeth Greiff-Walden was appointed as the first BDM leader with the title 'Bundesführerin des BDM'.

The BDM becomes the party's official girls' organisation

On the 7th of July 1932 an official instruction was issued by the NSDAP organisation office and the Reichsjugendführer which confirmed the BDM as the party's official girls' organisation. All other girls' organisations were to be viewed as invalid or disbanded - their former members now having moved voluntarily into the ranks of the BDM.


The political situation necessitated a consolidation of all national socialist girls' organisations in order to focus on further development and on increasing the membership numbers. Having separate groups all working according to their own guidelines and thereby diluting the overall effort was no longer an option. A united front was required to move the effort forward.


Prior to the Reichsjugendtag in Potsdam (1st of Oct 1932) all of the young girls' groups in the Deutscher Frauenorden, the NS-Frauenschaft and the NSSi had been absorbed by the BDM. The most important of these organisations was the NSSi. This was due firstly to its large size and secondly because it had worked with the NSS on a useful common concept within many schools.


Undercover work

AS already mentioned, there were huge difficulties but these were most evident with the NSS. School directors issued one ban after another and in most cases the punishment for any infringement of these bans was expulsion from school. In the event though there was no ban in the world which could prevent the swastika flag being raised in in at least one school somewhere in the Reich on a daily basis. That this caused a certain level of nervousness within the Office of Education was an understandable reaction.


In order to attract the rebellious students to our movement we adopted a friendly and pleasant approach and I remember the 'sausage' period where we distributed free hot sausages as a way of tempting the students to stay and discuss the constitution with us. The level of success we had hoped for did not materialise though and the students were forced back inside the school buildings by the staff. However, their cries of 'Quiet! Quiet!' were lost among the loud voices of the students singing the banned fourth verse of the national anthem. This was the cue for a subsequent storm of expulsions.


When there were elections the number of bans on meetings increased. Those students who were old enough to vote were given the generous permission of the 'free' republic to attend meetings organised by the parties most 'loyal' to the state. These parties were of course all from the left of the political spectrum. Possession of a copy of the 'Völkischer Beobachter' or the 'Angriff' came under the heading of 'acts against the state' and boys who turned up for lessons wearing brown breeches had to expect the worst. Latin lessons dealing with letters and speeches by Cicero afforded the teachers a wonderful opportunity to taunt the 'brown conspiracy party'.


To cut a long story short every day was filled with a certain tension due in the main to the constant whistle-blowing on the part of non-Aryan students but also due to the ever-present worry that we would be uncovered.


'Table tennis clubs', 'poetry associations' and 'hiking groups' were founded and these attracted many members. This subterfuge was not without risk however and just one investigation by a teacher could have exposed everything but despite this, work continued. Canvassing, propaganda work, fund-raising for every conceivable cause, social support work, the gathering together of training material, archival work and above all the ideological education of the girls left kept us extremely busy.

The first BDM guidelines

As a result of the Führer's decree making the BDM the NSDAP's official girls' organisation it was now able to take on the work of the NSSi. This meant that our work could now be advanced on a much wider front. Local BDM leaders nominated an advisor from within the NSSi who worked in the schools on behalf of the BDM and every BDM Gau leader was to introduce a new office dealing specifically with school matters. The NSSi was never a professional body (despite the constant accusations from our opponents to the contrary) but rather a unification of school students and pupils within the ranks of the BDM. The work could be monotone but it was necessary and the early groundwork now came to fruition within the BDM.


June 1932 marked the introduction of the first Reich-wide 'Directives of the Bund deutscher Mädel' which included details of the new structure:


'The BDM is organised into National Administration (Bundesleitung), Gau, Bezirk, Ortsgruppe and Schar. The Reich BDM leader is directly responsible to the Reich youth leader on BDM matters. BDM leaders will be appointed by the national office. The appointment of BDM Gau leaders is controlled by the Reich BDM Leader in consultation with the Reich Youth Leader'.


Further BDM directives followed including the detailing of responsibilities and authorities of leaders at the Gau, Bezirk and Orts levels and compulsory party membership for BDM leaders at the age of 18.


A further directive introduced a common uniform to replace the many different uniforms which had been in use within the respective BDM Gaue. Previously some Gaue had been wearing a uniform consisting of a black skirt, white blouse and a silk neck-tie onto which the HJ membership badge was pinned. Others wore brown dresses with stitched insignia and lanyards for the leaders. In the early days Gau Berlin was wearing what would become the common uniform we wear today: blue skirt with a white blouse and black scarf with a leather knot. This was the same uniform worn by the NSSi which later went over to the BDM.


The initial directive on the BDM uniform stipulated a brown dress but these were not well-received and it soon became clear that large formations of girls in these brown dresses did not look good. They also proved to be less practical than was first thought and by June 1933 the BDM was wearing the far more becoming uniform we know today.


Another part of the initial directives concerned the aims of the BDM:


'The Bund deutscher Mädel is a partnership and a community of action and work. Within our league the german girl is to learn the real truth behind the political and economic situation in which our people finds itself and is to be engaged in that struggle. The BDM provides a healthy and happy environment where girls can enjoy their spare time within a community of comrades. Our league is one of education. By working earnestly on ourselves and through mutual support we want to become healthy, cheerful and energetic people who are aware of their ultimate responsibility and task: to be the future women and mothers of the Third Reich. We are all bound by ideology and full of fight for Adolf Hitler's national socialist movement!'


The first two issue of the 'Charter' had been produced on a duplicating machine but from the third issue onward it was printed. Along with educational material the contents included reports from the individual BDM-Gaue. These were extremely important because they allowed the Gau leaders to see what was happening outside of their own Gau, see how others were working and perhaps pick up tips. There were reports on hikes and camps, suggestions for furnishing and equipping community rooms and news from the music Schar!


The experience of Potsdam

During this period the focus for the units was Potsdam. Potsdam was to be the first massed BDM event and 'the beginning of a new era of work'. All across the Reich activity reached fever pitch with the aim of enabling as many girls as possible to take part in the Reich Youth Day. Every girl wanted to see and hear the Führer. The selling of day badges was to assist in financing the event and this is exactly what happened.


80,000 boys from the HJ, the NSS and the Jungvolk and 20,000 girls travelled to Potsdam in trains and trucks to hear the Führer and the Reich Youth Leader speak but let's hear what a girl from Danzig wrote about the day in her logbook:


'Our bus was very slow and was constantly held up by marching formations of HJ. We drove past thousands but could see that there were many more brown shirts ahead of us. Is there no end to the column? No, it goes on and on. Cars block the streets and the bus can't take us any further. The huge trucks which brought the majority of the girls are parked here. These were used because it was impossible for the girls to get reduced train fares as they were members of the national socialist youth. We marched into the stadium to join the ranks of girls already there. The stands were filled to bursting point with 40,000 people and the police were preventing any more from joining them. A Jungvolk leader from Berlin made an announcement over the PA system: 'Reich Youth leader Baldur von Schirach is coming!' It seemed as if the shouts of 'Heil!' would never stop. Baldur von Schirach speaks.


It's dark now and the night has come. The light from the spotlights plays over the crowds lighting the youth as it goes. To the right is a forest of flags and behind that the pennants of the BDM and Jungvolk. The tightly packed crowd listens intently. It's impossible to see everyone as those at the rear are in darkness and yet this is only a small part of the Hitler Youth.


The Reich Youth Leader has finished speaking. More thunderous jubilation. The tension and anticipation now reaches a peak as it is now only moments until the Führer makes his speech. Here comes the loudspeaker announcement: 'Hitler has been in Potsdam for the last hour but the cheering crowds of people who were unable to get into the stadium are blocking his way. His car is making very slow progress'.


The Führer speaks

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At last the Führer arrives. Endless jubilation. He signals that he is ready to speak but to no avail. He stands high on a podium strewn with flowers and in bright light he can be seen by all. And now at last our Führer speaks. His words are simple and straightforward and everyone, even the youngest Pimpf, can understand him. The masses stand in quiet ceremony. Hitler is speaking! The majority are seeing him for the first time but there is a feeling of familiarity. These were the Führer's words:


It is never too early to instil a sense of German national identity into Germany's youth. National Socialist youth education is not there to benefit a political party but rather Germany as a whole. The nationalist movement will one day become Germany and the unified commitment demonstrated by the youth to national socialism is clear proof of this.


Let the others mock and laugh! You will become Germany's future. You are the emerging German people and you will be the fulfilment of what we are fighting for today. Even greater and more wonderful days will follow and you, my dear boys and girls, will one day be Germany. One of the proudest memories of your youth will be to know that even as young boys and girls and in very difficult times you dedicated your hearts to Germany. You will be proud and happy in the knowledge that your loyalty and hard work built the new Germany. As young boys and girls you have shown your allegiance. You have been loyal to your Germany and when you are older these memories will be your reward.

Germany awaken!


Consecration ceremony and march-past
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Early the next morning the BDM girls gathered in the stadium where the Reichsjugendführer made a speech - this time just for us. After this the Hitler Youth marched past the Führer. During the night many thousands had arrived in trucks from the outskirts of Berlin, from Saxony, Hannover, Silesia and elsewhere and had to wait for hours in the nearby streets before it was their turn to join the endless column,


Reichsminister Dr Goebbels said the following about the day in his diary: 'From the Kaiserhof to the Reich Chancellory! Potsdam! The old prussian city enjoys a sunny autumn day. The German youth marched past the Führer for six hours. They made us happy and proud. Always the same boys and the same faces. The movement has succeeded in creating a standard type here too - not only in thought and deed but also in appearance and it is a pleasure to watch them. The sight of this wonderful generation fills us all with tremendous joy. The march-past goes on and on as if it might never end'.


The girls also wanted to be close to the Führer but as they were not permitted to march they instead shouted in unison 'we want to see our Führer!' The Führer laughed and granted their request. He said to the BDM National Leader: 'men and boys can march before me but girls? No!' He later walked past the rows of girls making eye contact with each of them. Meanwhile, the march-past continued...'


The membership numbers increase

The Reich Youth Day in Potsdam gave the movement a massive lift. Membership numbers increased on a daily basis. The Hitler Youth was accepted as a member of the Reich Committee of Youth Movements although not as 'Hitler-Jugend' but rather 'Deutsches Jugendwerk'. Nevertheless, this inclusion eased our situation somewhat. The 'Deutsches Jugendwerk' was the umbrella organisation for all of the national socialist youth movements and now it was finally possible for its members to avail themselves of the reduced-fare train tickets and cheaper stays in youth hostels provided for by law. This made training much easier as trips and camps could be organised more often and with greater ease as had been the case in the past. Where the work of the BDM had previously been of a more practical nature with training taking a back seat it had become possible by the end of 1932 for regular leader training courses to begin to play a more important role.


A report from Gau Greater Berlin shows that work in the following areas was being carried out: service in the 'Arbeitsdienst', training college matters, race and genetics education, freemasonry, Jesuits, communism, Marxism, socialism, historical developments since 1815 as a basis for the national socialist movement etc. First aid courses and a course in air defence were also held. 30 female leaders passed the latter course to become for air defence assistants. Evenings of musical and literary entertainment were held and a compulsory trip was also undertaken at least twice per month.


Social work was also extended. Accommodation and work was organised for the girls, clothing collections took place, uniforms for HJ comrades were organised, food was collected for training camps and meetings were organised and held. Groups from the rural areas outside Berlin helped those in the city with repairs to uniforms. An important role for the BDM even back then was the evacuation of children from the cities and in 1932 150 children were looked after by BDM Gau Schleswig-Holstein.


Training is expanded

During the course of 1932 the staff within the respective Gaue began to work in a more coordinated manner. Each of the Gau head offices now consisted of the following departments: training, cultural work, sport, hiking and folk dancing, social work, press and propaganda, advertising, schools (NSSJ) and Jungmädel matters.


A 'Department of Training' was created within the office of the national leadership which was tasked with the training and provision of new female leaders. The head of this new department was Lydia Gottschewski. Detailed instructions were then promulgated to the Gaue regarding the conduct of community meetings, the establishment of working groups for sport, folk dancing, choral singing, arts and crafts, sewing and the creation of music groups. Suggestions for the preparation and conduct of social events and regulations concerning trips were also passed to the respective Gaue.


Following the resignation of Elisabeth Greiff-Walden in December 1932 the Reich Youth Leader appointed Lydia Gottschewski as the provisional national leader.


The Weimar Conference

The BDM Gau leaders were called to a conference in Weimar in February 1932 where Lydia Gottschewski was confirmed as the new national leader of the BDM. After a very lively and fruitful meeting the Reich Youth Leader spoke to the Gau leaders on the role of women in society: 'as the national-socialist young girls' movement the BDM has the task of working against the outdated thoughts and reasoning of society and of the feminist movement. The womens' movement of the future should be infused with the spirit of the BDM'.


The Reich Youth Leader spoke about the close bond between the boys' and girls' organisations which together formed the movement's new guard. He said that this new guard now had the greatest of tasks: to revolutionise every aspect of public life and in particular cultural life. 'Since Potsdam the national socialist youth movement can no longer simply be written off as some meaningless diversion. Potsdam was more than a rally - it was proof that the momentum of the nationalist movement is at its strongest within the movement's youth organisations. We young national socialists have an unswerving belief in the validity of our idea and for that reason our commitment is unreserved and total. We have seized power within the state. The revolution within every aspect of public life begins and within the movement the focus of the BDM will be cultural'.


This was a huge task which required a 100% effort from every last person. The whole organisation had to be tightly consolidated.


In May 1933 the BDM national leader Lydia Gottschewski was tasked with the leadership of the National Socialist Womens' Order (NS-Frauenschaft). At this time the NS female groups (NS-Mädchenschaften) were disbanded and the upper age limit for BDM members was set at 21. The order stated: 'the BDM and the NS-Frauenschaft are to remain as completely separate organisations. The BDM will continue to be directly subordinate to the office of the Reich Youth Leader. The NS-Frauenschaft is subordinate to the party's higher leadership. Signed, Dr. Ley and von Schirach'.

Shortly after this Lydia Gottschewski stood down as BDM national leader and the BDM leaders of Gauverband East, West, North, South and Centre assumed responsibility for their respective sectors.

Sport and physical education

Wide-ranging training programmes were now introduced within the respective Gauverbände. Based on the premise that physical training was a pre-condition for an effective continuation of the work of the BDM the office of the Reich Youth Leader published the first regulations governing the physical training of the BDM membership. The first leader courses took place In June 1933 within Obergau Berlin in the Deutsches Stadium and Berlin Sports Forum. By August of the same year the programme encompassed the whole of the Reich and a total of 180 leaders from all of the BDM Gaue had been trained.


The experience gained during these courses were now translated into a Reich-wide training programme for all girls and leaders. The precondition necessary to achieve the aims of this programme was the institution of a regulated sports afternoon (or evening) to take place once per week. The required numbers of trained personnel were made available and sports facilities such as swimming pools and gymnasiums were also organised where this was possible. The Obergaue were tasked with ensuring that sufficient physical training instructors were made available for all sub-units by the 1st of January 1934.


In May 1934 the BDM achievement badge was introduced by the Reich Youth Leader and the qualification requirements which covered athletics, swimming (life-saving), hiking, first aid etc were designed in such a manner that they were achievable by all and not simply by a select few. This reflected the general aim of physical training and sport within the BDM which was to reach a common, achievable standard.


Sporting activities were the main element on the training schedules of the Obergau/Gau leadership schools and also in the Reich female leadership school which was opened in Potsdam in 1934. The Reich Youth Leader issued an order which stated that two thirds of the time spent on all training was to be of a sporting and physical nature. This meant that the conditions for the award of the achievement badge could be met during leadership training courses.


Trude Mohr becomes the BDM national leader

The division of overall control of the BDM to the five leaders of Gauverband East, West, North, South and Centre was not a satisfactory long-term solution and on the 15th of June 1934 Trude Mohr, until that point the leader of Gauverband East, was appointed by the Reich Youth Leader as Reichsreferentin of the BDM. Trude Mohr is one of the longest-serving members of the BDM. She joined the Hitler Youth movement in 1930 and in October of that year was placed in charge of BDM Gau Brandenburg which at that time was at a rudimentary stage in its development. In April 1932 control of BDM Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt consisting of just two groups was also passed to Trude Mohr. When she assumed control of BDM Gau Berlin on the 1st of January 1932 she was able to hand over Brandenburg and Magdeburg-Anhalt as functioning organisations. In January 1933 the Reich Youth Leader tasked Trude Mohr with the leadership of Gauverband East which encompassed the Obergaue Ostland, Kurmark, Berlin and Schlesien. When the Gauverbände were dissolved on the 1st of June 1934 Trude Mohr was named BDM Reichsreferentin.


The Gauverbände East, West, North, South and Centre had fulfilled their task and were dissolved. At the same time the staff of the respective BDM Gaue were also disbanded with the BDM Gau leaders moving into the Obergau as district leaders.


All departments within the office of the Reich Youth Leader now had representatives from the BDM which meant that coordinated work on a national level was now possible.


Today, the BDM is able to influence and control the work of the organisation right down to the smallest unit in the smallest village. Millions of young people stand in our ranks, grow and develop within our ideology and believe unswervingly in our aim. Through our work the young generation - the adults of tomorrow - are as one.


Mercedes Higenfeldt
 

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Cheers Steve :) I've added another section and will work on the next section tomorrow which deals with Potsdam 1932.
 
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let's hear what a girl from Danzig wrote about the day in her logbook:

'Our bus was very slow and was constantly held up by marching formations of HJ. We drove past thousands but could see that there were many more brown shirts ahead of us. Is there no end to the column? No, it goes on and on. Cars block the streets and the bus can't take us any further. The huge trucks which brought the majority of the girls are parked here. These were used because it was impossible for the girls to get reduced train fares as they were members of the national socialist youth. We marched into the stadium to join the ranks of girls already there. The stands were filled to bursting point with 40,000 people and the police were preventing any more from joining them. A Jungvolk leader from Berlin made an announcement over the PA system: 'Reich Youth leader Baldur von Schirach is coming!' It seemed as if the shouts of 'Heil!' would never stop. Baldur von Schirach speaks.

It's dark now and the night has come. The light from the spotlights plays over the crowds lighting the youth as it goes. To the right is a forest of flags and behind that the pennants of the BDM and Jungvolk. The tightly packed crowd listens intently. It's impossible to see everyone as those at the rear are in darkness and yet this is only a small part of the Hitler Youth ,



Great evocative writing from a young girl:thumb:
 
Great isn't it. You can really feel what that event meant to them when you read these accounts.

I've been meaning to add more to this so I'll get working on the next section this evening.
 
yes garry fantastic,

through a young girl/boys eyes these events must have been
awesome and really inspiring,

looking forward to further chapters:thumb:

steve
 
Finally got around to finishing the translation but hey, better late than never. Anyway, hope it's of interest and use chaps.
 
Thank you for posting that fascinating slice of history. I have always felt that the BDM has been under-researched and underwritten in histories of this period.

Once again it shows how a one-dimensional view of history distorts the more complex truth about an era.
 
Hi,

Glad you found it useful :yo: Yes, I agree. There hasn't been any attempt to cover the subject in any depth in the English language. Certainly not to the depth which can be found in books like Müller-Kipp's 'Auch Du gehörst dem Führer' anyway. That is one book which should definitely be translated into English and I'm happy to volunteer :)
 
Fantastic Translation and fascinating reading Garry. Definitely an area that needs a lot more research, cheers mate. By the way I was looking at buying some pieces of HJ/BDM related paperwork and came across this piece from 1932. It's from Baldur von Shirach to Ernst Rohm about the BDM.

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) German Reichsjugendfuhrer, head of the Hitler-Jugend (Hitler Youth) Munich, 9th March 1932, to [Ernst Rohm]. Schirach, in his capacity as Reichsjugendfuhrer, writes to his superior and states, in full, 'I ask that note be taken of the following memorandum of the Reich Leader of the H[itler] J[ugend], with which I agree completely. I think it is intolerable that the 'Federation of German Girls in the Hitler Youth' be removed from the structure of the youth organisations and be subordinated to the Organisational Department of the NSDAP, which has no experience in the field of youth organisations'. To the verso Ernst Rohm has written his reply, Munich, 20th March 1932, to Schirach, stating 'As I have no experience in the Youth movement, I have to go for the most part by the statements of the experienced youth leaders on my staff. I think the argumentation of the leader of Hitler Youth is so well founded that I see no reason to oppose it. On the contrary, I think the suggestions on the last page (6) of the memorandum of von Rentelns are close to the intentions of the Reich Organisational Leader

Interesting to note that it seems that at one time that the NSDAP was considering removing the BDM from the HJ and incorporating them into another area of the NSDAP,

Edd
 

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Excellent. Many thanks for showing this Edd. No idea why I didn't comment first time around.
 
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