Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice hard to find German WWII Leistungsabzeichen dee HJ (Proficiency Badge of the HJ), one of the few that we have been able to offer over the years! The award was instituted as the first HJ award by Reichsjugendführer Baldur von Schirach on May 1st 1934 as an incentive for HJ members to increase their proficiency in military oriented athletics, academics, field exercises, and shooting. The badge was established in three grades, Silver, Bronze and Iron, with the age of the recipient being the determining factor of which grade the individual was eligible for. Seventeen year old's were eligible for the Silver badge, sixteen year old's for the Bronze badge and fifteen year old's for the Iron badge.

Each HJ member was issued a Leistungsbuch (Qualification book) to record their achievements and verify their right to wear the badge when awarded. Originally the badges were worn on the left breast pocket of the HJ service uniform but later regulations altered wear to the right breast pocket. As with most awards a cloth version was also authorized for wear by qualifying personnel.

The design of the badge features a single ᛏ Tyr rune as a background, which signified "leadership in battle" per the NSDAP pseudo-runic alphabet. In the center is a "mobile" NSDAP swas (hook cross), surrounded by runic style text reading FÜR LEISTUNGEN IN H.J. (for performance in the HJ). The badge measures just over 2 inches by 1 1/8 inch, and is completely non-magnetic. The reverse of the badge features a large steel safety pin type attachment, which is fully functional.

It is also (RZM) Marked with M1/63 indicating manufacture by Steinhauer & Lück, Lüdenscheid, a German city known for it's clothing accessories industry. There is also serial number 151627 stamped on the arrowhead, but it was struck through at some point.

Overall condition is very good, with the plating mostly worn away or oxidized, showing the base metal, which looks to be white metal alloy. A very nice example of a hard to find badge!

Of Note: In late 1934 items manufactured for the NSDAP and other organizations, including membership pins, came under the quality control of the RZM, Reichzeugmeisterei, (National Equipment Quartermaster) and as a result were marked with the RZM logo when appropriate. The registry was based at the Brown house in Munich and NSDAP party headquarters in Berlin. The RZM ensured that the manufacturers of military items were consistent in design, quality of materials and other characteristics of the items. It also defined standards of design, manufacturing and quality and published an authoritative color chart for textiles. The M1 in the code stands for Metal Badges, with Steinhauer & Lück of Lüdenscheid being contractor number 63.

AH believed German youth to be the future of his 3rd Reich. The HJ AH Jugend or HJ) was formed officially in 1935, and with the exception of NSDAP ideology indoctrination was very similar to the Boy Scouts. Beginning at about the age of ten years, both boys (AH Jugend) and girls (Bund Deutscher Mädel) were enlisted in the Party-run organization. The The Deutsches Jungvolk (DJ) was the junior branch of the HJ, for boys aged 10 to 14.

History of the HJ National Youth Organization:
In 1922, the Munich-based NSDAP established its official youth organization called Jugendbund der NSDAP. It was announced on 8 March 1922 in the Völkischer Beobachter, and its inaugural meeting took place on 13 May the same year. Another youth group was established in 1922 as the Jungsturm Adolf “AH”. Based in Munich, Bavaria, it served to train and recruit future members of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the main paramilitary wing of the NSDAP Party at that time.

One reason the HJ so easily developed was that regimented organizations, often focused on politics, for young people and particularly adolescent boys were a familiar concept to German society in the Weimar Republic. Numerous youth movements existed across Germany prior to and especially after World War I. They were created for various purposes. Some were religious and others were ideological, but the more prominent ones were formed for political reasons, like the Young Conservatives and the Young Protestants. Once AH came onto the revolutionary scene, the transition from seemingly innocuous youth movements to political entities focused on AH was swift.

Following the abortive Beer Hall Putsch (in November 1923), NSDAP youth groups ostensibly disbanded, but many elements simply went underground, operating clandestinely in small units under assumed names. In April 1924, the Jugendbund der NSDAP was renamed Grossdeutsche Jugendbewegung (Greater German Youth Movement). On 4 July 1926, the Grossdeutsche Jugendbewegung was officially renamed HJ Bund der deutschen Arbeiterjugend (HJ League of German Worker Youth). This event took place a year after the NSDAP Party was reorganised. The architect of the re-organization was Kurt Gruber, a law student from Plauen in Saxony.

After a short power struggle with a rival organization—Gerhard Roßbach's Schilljugend—Gruber prevailed and his "Greater German Youth Movement" became the NSDAP Party's official youth organisation. In July 1926, it was renamed H -Jugend, Bund deutscher Arbeiterjugend ("H” Youth, League of German Worker Youth") and, for the first time, it officially became an integral part of the SA. The name H -Jugend was taken up on the suggestion of Hans Severus Ziegler. By 1930, the Hjugend (HJ) had enlisted over 25,000 boys aged 14 and upward. They also set up a junior branch, the Deutsches Jungvolk (DJ), for boys aged 10 to 14. Girls from 10 to 18 were given their own parallel organization, the League of German Girls (BDM).

In April 1932, Chancellor Heinrich Brüning banned the H Youth movement in an attempt to stop widespread political violence. However, in June, Brüning's successor as Chancellor, Franz von Papen, lifted the ban as a way of appeasing “AH”, the rapidly ascending political star. A further significant expansion drive started in 1933, after Baldur von Schirach was appointed by H as the first Reichsjugendführer (Reich Youth Leader). All youth organizations were brought under Schirach's control.