German Youth Reject Nazism...

5fish

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There was a German youth movement that reject the Hitler youth movement. They were called Edelweiss Pirates... As I read about them they seem like early hippies...


Not all young people willingly participated in Nazi youth groups. Some, like Hans Scholl (see reading, Disillusionment in the Hitler Youth), became disillusioned and dropped out. In the late 1930s, as Hitler Youth activities began to focus less on leisure activities and more on military drills and preparation for war, other young people formed their own groups in which they could more freely express their own interests and ideas. One of these groups was the Edelweiss Pirates. Members of the group, both boys and girls, would gather from time to time for weekend camping trips. They would pitch tents in the forest, sing, talk, and fight Hitler Youth patrols. The group’s slogan was “Eternal War on the Hitler Youth.” One Edelweiss Pirate explained his choice to join the group by saying, “It’s the Hitler Youth’s own fault . . . every order I was given contained a threat.” The group’s resistance to the Nazis continued throughout World War II.

The swing youth were not anti-fascist in a political sense—their behavior was indeed emphatically anti-political—both Nazi slogans and traditional nationalism were of profound indifference to them. They sought their counter-identity in what they saw as the “slovenly” culture of . . . England and America. They accepted Jews and “half-Jews” into their groups . . . and gave ovations to visiting bands from Belgium and Holland


Here is another look at them...


The movement grew in response to Nazi totalitarianism, which included the indoctrination of children and teenagers into the Hitler Youth and the suppression of any perceived nonconformity. The social mores and behavior of the Edelweiss Pirates stood in direct contrast to the culture of the Hitler Youth, with the former advocating freedom of expression through music, dance, art, dress, and the intermingling of the genders. A popular line from a song of this period sung by the pirates sums up the ethos of this subculture: “Our song is freedom, love and life / We’re the Pirates of the Edelweiss.”

Here is last take... The movement became resistant movement to the Nazi in WW2...


In July 1944, Barthel and several other Pirates were arrested for planning to blow up a Gestapo headquarters in Cologne. They were imprisoned and tortured for four months. On November 10, 1944, a gallows was set up on a public thoroughfare in Cologne. Barthel Schink and four other teen Edelweiss Pirates, along with seven adult members of the anti-Nazi resistance, were hanged in front of hundreds of Nazis. Barthel was 16 years old.
 
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