Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very interesting example of a rare HJ National Youth Organization Ärmeldreieck (sleeve triangle) from the Adolf H Schule (School) "AHS Chiemsee". It definitely looks to have been attached to a uniform at some point, and comes with a torn RZM tag, but also with a photo showing two USGIs in the post ware period, presumably in Germany. The rear of the photo is dated SEP 18 1945, and the front is signed Mel & Tom. We assume that one of these is the person who brought back the AHS Sleeve triangle. The photo measures 2 1/2"W x 3 1/2"H.

The Adolf H Schools (AHS) were 12 day schools run by the Schutzstaffel in NSDAP Germany from 1937 to 1945. Their aim was to indoctrinate young people into the ideologies of the National Socialist Party. They were for young people aged 14 to 18 years old and were single sex, with three schools for girls and the rest for boys. Selection for admission to the schools was rigorous; pupils were chosen for their political dedication and physical fitness, as opposed to their academic prowess. Activities focused on political indoctrination rather than academic studies. The SS often selected future officers from the schools.

The triangle itself is in very good condition, and has the edges folded over and stitched through, so it was definitely installed on a uniform at some point. It is a BeVo style embroidered version, and these were originally distributed as rectangular cutouts from a long roll. There is a bit missing at the bottom from wear or a stray cut with a knife or scissors. The front is marked with a stylized black letter style AHS Chiemſee, using the classic "long s" symbol. Chiemsee is a famous large lake in Bavaria, sometimes called "The Bavarian Sea", and would definitely make a picturesque location for one of the schools.

The rear has some of the original RZM tag present, while the rest of it has fallen off, possibly after attack by silverfish or some other insects. All that can still be seen on the remnants are the RZM logo and the HJ logo.

These are quite rare, and this is the first example that we have had. Ready to reserach and display.

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.