Bund Deutscher Mädel in der Hitler-Jugend

The League of German Girls (Bund Deutscher Mädel - or BDM - in German) or League of German Maidens, was the girl's wing of the overall Nazi party youth movement, the Hitler Youth. It was the only female youth organization in Nazi Germany. The activities described in The World This Century: Working with Evidence by Neil DeMarco (from which most of this post was taken) portrays a number of rather trite and typical programs instigated by many strong and centralized Western powers. The chilling aspect of such cultural programs that involve a nation's youth is the level of collective brainwashing and lack of critical dissent that these programs can lead to. One of the reasons that the atrocities of Nazi Germany were able to build to such a horrifying level without being checked was because of the seemingly innocent and positive programs sponsored by Nazi leadership that were meant for children.

At first, the League of German Girls  consisted of two sections: the Jungmädel, or Young Girls League, for girls ages 10 to 14, and the League proper for girls ages 14 to 18. In 1938, a third section was introduced, the Faith and Beauty Society, which was voluntary and open to girls between the ages of 17 and 21.


The outbreak of World War II altered the role of the BDM, though not as radically as it did the role of the boys in the Hitler Youth, who were to be fed into the German Wehrmacht (armed forces) or the National Labor Service as soon as they turned 18. The BDM helped the war effort in many ways. Younger girls collected donations of money, as well as goods such as clothing or old newspapers for the Winter Relief and other Nazi charitable organizations. Many groups, particularly BDM choirs and musical groups, visited wounded soldiers at hospitals or sent care packages to the front. Girls knitted socks, grew gardens, and engaged in similar tasks. 

The older girls volunteered as nurses' aides at hospitals, or to help at train stations where wounded soldiers or refugees needed a hand. After 1943, as Allied air attacks on German cities increased, many BDM girls went into paramilitary and military services ("Wehrmachtshelferin"), where they served as Flak Helpers, signals auxiliaries, searchlight operators, and office staff. Unlike male Hitler Youths, BDM girls took little part in the actual fighting or operation of weaponry, although some Flak Helferinnen operated anti-aircraft guns.

Many older girls, with Hitler Youth were sent to Poland as part of the Germanisation efforts. These girls, along with Hitler Youth, were first to oversee the eviction of Poles to make room for new settlers and ensure they did not take much from their homes, as furniture and the like were to be left there for the settlers. Their task were then to educate ethnic Germans, either living in Poland or resettled there from the Baltic states, according to German ways. This included instruction in the German language, as many spoke only Polish or Russian. They also had to organize the younger ones into the League. 

Because many Hitler Youth leaders were drafted into the military, the task of organizing the boys into Hitler Youth also fell heavily on the League. They were also to provide help on the farm and in the household. As the only contact with German authorities, they were often requested to help with the occupation authorities, and they put on various entertainments such as songfests to encourage the down-spirited new settlers. Some members were sent to the colony of Hegewald for such efforts even when they had to receive gas masks and soldier escorts. Conversely, the young Polish girls who were selected for "racially valuable traits" and sent to Germany for Germanization were made to join the League as part of the Germanization.

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

To be released in March 2013! 

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Available at Amazon.com!