Original German WWII HJ National Youth Organization Personal Photo Album - 155 Pictures
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Original Item: One-Of-A-Kind. This is a wonderful personal photo album a large number of pictures. It shows many pictures of members of the HJ National Youth Organization, as well as possibly the DJ German Youngsters organization, in a wide variety of settings in various places in Germany. The album shows images such as an HJ member standing in front of the Völkerschlachtdenkmal (Monument to the Battle of the Nations) in Leipzig, which had an NSDAP flag put onto it, as well as what looks to be a leader of the HJ, possibly Reichsjugendführer Baldur von Schirach, and that's just on the first page! Further pages show many different individuals, so this looks the owner must have been quite the cameraman. Most of the pictures show the HJ and DJ members in uniforms, but some are in casual attire. Definitely a real treasure trove of National Youth Organization photos!
The album is covered with a lovely printed pattern leatherette covering, and measures approximately 10 1/2" x 7 1/2". The front of the album shows an early pattern NSDAP Reichsadler, which looks to have been "sanitized" in the past, but later someone came back with pen or marker and re-added the swas. The cover definitely shows some wear, so this is not an album that spent its life in a closet. There is a maker marking on the inside of the rear cover, so it was a commercially purchased album that was then filled by the owner, or owners.
A total of 155 photographs fill this album, making it a treasure-trove of images taken during youth sporting activities during the war. These are contained on 23 pages, which on the early pages have many typed captions, and most pages are separated by spiderweb pattern "onion skin" separators. All of the photos are held in place with period corner tabs or adhesive, some of which has failed over time.
A great German WWII national youth organization album, full of research potential!
Historical records like this album have become priceless time capsules that provide an incomparable level of insight into the individual experience of the Second
World War, now that almost eighty years have passed.
The older albums such as these usually withstand the ravages of time. The leather or fabric covers may wear, but the pages stay well intact. The black paper albums of the early 20th century are more fragile, while the glue from magnetic albums can damage photographs. And, as with all old photographs, keep albums in a safe, climate controlled environment.
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 German 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.
With the surrender of NSDAP Germany in 1945, the organization de facto ceased to exist. On 10 October 1945, the Youth and its subordinate units were outlawed by the Allied Control Council along with other NSDAP Party organizations. Under Section 86 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany, the H Youth is an "unconstitutional organization" and the distribution or public use of its symbols, except for educational or research purposes, is illegal.
- This product is available for international shipping. Shipping not available to: Australia, France, or Germany
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- Due to legal restrictions this item cannot be shipped to Australia, France or Germany. This is not a comprehensive list and other countries may be added in the future.
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