Bund Deutscher Mädel - German Girls' Association

Literally, the Union of German Lasses.  

This was the girls’ equivalent of the Hitler Youth Movement.  The German girls don’t mention it at all in their letters. This is puzzling at first because it was actually compulsory. Girls were expected to pay subs and to attend. However, it is highly likely that it was such a part of their life during the 1930s and the 1940s that they didn’t think to mention it.

It plays an important role in Hani’s thread and becomes paramilitary when the girls are asked to set Haus Lehrs on fire in the last desperate weeks of the war. 

Creative Project: Onwards with Hanni’s Story

I’ve now finished the first attempt at transcribing the letters. I shall have to come back to them at some point, but I’m leaving them to rest a little now. I’ve decided to have a go at the Hanni / Clara thread – an example of someone defying the authorities and getting away with it.   

I’ve now got Hanni going to her BDM meeting. I’ve found myself delving into the copious notes I’ve made about uniform and the activities. The navy-blue and white uniform suits her and makes her look smart and feel grown-up. Even her mother, who knows exactly what is going on, is impressed. So, being in the BDM was a chance to build self-esteem. And Hanni is a teenager. She can’t understand her mother’s mixture of pride and dread.    

I’ve had a look at the bigger picture. It seems to be a matter of writing what is important for each thread and then weaving them together later. I’m very aware that first part and the third part are both going to cover a short space of time and that the second part is going to going to cover a longer period. But I’m also much clearer now about how the three parts will come together.

I’m pleased that both Hanni and her mother are developing well as characters.        

Guido Knopp’s ‘Hitler’s Children'

This book attempts to explain how children were indoctrinated with Nazi ideals.

Knopp is head of history and current affairs at ZDF. He backs up his statements with primary resources-  photos and eye-witness accounts, though the people interviewed have now had  70+ years to think about what happened then.

Knopp identifies five aspects of this indoctrination: seduction, submission, bloodstock, war and sacrifice. Perhaps he makes several valid points here.

Certainly the children were seduced. Participation in the Hitler Youth movement and the Bund Deutscher Mädel must have been welcome. The uniforms were smart. The children got a chance to spend time doing sporting activities with other young people. There was a feeling of belonging. However, it wasn’t quite the boy scouts and there were often some more sinister aspects of the activities – like learning how to fire a rifle or how to throw a grenade.

The girls were indeed brought up to be submissive and BDM also stood for ‘Bald deutsche Mütter’(soon German mothers),  ‘Bubi drük Milch’ (boob presses milk)  and ‘Bedarfsartikel Deutscher Männer’ (German men’s necessities). The boys were submissive too, however. Absolute obedience was taught. Initiative was discouraged.

Bloodstock was important to the Third Reich and its mission to create the Master Race. No matter, then, that Renate in my story had no idea she was Jewish. No matter for her grandmother Clara Lehrs (later Klara Sarah Lehrs) that she was first catholic and then an anthroposophist; the blood was tainted.        

The war was glorified for the young people but not in a soft romantic way as had happened with World War I. They were brought up to be tough and resilient. Faith in the Führer and the Vaterland was encouraged. Hitler was put upon a pedestal rather like rock stars and footballers are today.

As the Nazi regime began to lose the war, a last ditch attempt was to fight back, using Hitler Youth and BDM girls as soldiers. They were beginning to lose faith in their leaders and they were beginning to worry a little about the cattle trucks they saw passing, from which they heard human voices and occasionally saw faces at the ceiling–high windows.  The young people with poor soldiering skills and equipment that was too big and heavy for them still wanted to defend their family and their country from the allied liberators, though they no longer trusted, respected or liked their government.

All according to Knopp.

Yet I see little of this in the letters.

The girls were aged 14-18 in the volume of letters I have, so they would have been obliged to be members of the BDM. So far, they have not mentioned it once. I suggest three reasons.

1. It was so much part of everyday life that they did not think it important. Possibly anyway their membership of the BDM made them healthy and athletic.
2. They lived in the countryside around Nuremberg. The HJ and the BDM were more active and fanatical in the big industrial towns.
3. There was more dissent than Knopp acknowledges.                   

          

More on the Hitler Youth

I’ve been watching some old films about the Hitler Youth, much of it on You Tube. The rousing marching music caused my husband to shut the door of his study. Apparently, it could be heard in Detroit and India, as Martin was on a conference call. Two things struck me immediately:
- The rallies looked like mass hysteria
- The boys – and the girls of the BDM - were incredibly fit and healthy-looking and also very disciplined.
It was disturbing, though, to see some of the comments on You Tube. Not only are the fascist sentiments vicious in content but also in the language used.
There was no doubt massive indoctrination. By the time the boys were recruited for the army they had listened to four years, at least, of Nazi propaganda. The BDM girls were given some more homely, spiritual perspectives. They were still encouraged to take part in sports. However, actual combat was discouraged. Yet some of their sewing was to do with making helmets for soldiers.
Often, the children in both organisations were encouraged to spy on their parents and correct any anti-Nazi behaviour.
The physical discipline, especially for some of the boys, was gruelling and often included 50 mile marches without food or drink.

The girls, boys and the Hitler Youth

I’m rapidly getting towards the real letters. I’m now up to March 1941 and the real letters begin in December 1941. This is the last round before I get on to the real ones.
The girls are now 14-15 and are beginning to get interested in boys. In fact, a couple of the older ones have quite serious boyfriends. There may well be questions to do with conscription coming up later.
I’ve put in some instances of the Hitler Youth that I learnt from yesterday’s research – including some incidents with Charlotte’s quite troublesome younger brother, Thomas. I will have to find out some more about the BDM. (Bund Deutscher Mädel) There isn’t much mention of it in the letters, though I’m sure the girls would have been involved when they were younger.
I’m getting a sense of this “duty” year that young unmarried women used to have to do. It seems form the letters that it’s quite easy to find an opportunity within the family. Hence, Charlotte manages to look after her own blind grandmother. Gerda’s work on the family farm will probably also count.
The more I write, the more questions I ask myself.
Well, I’ve managed over 2000 words since breakfast again today.

The German girls’ personalities

I’m cracking on now with the early, fictionalised letters. The girls are really getting their personalities and stories formed now. I’m really also getting a very strong feeling for Hanna Braun, their former teacher. I guess I’ll be on to the real letters by the time I go back to work on 8 August.
When I get into the 1941-1944 period, I’ll use actual facts from the real letters but assign them to the most appropriate character. Hanna Braun is, however, herself, so I have to be quite careful about how I use her. At the moment, she is almost being a commentary on what is happening. She doesn’t give too much about herself away.
As a separate project, the letters ought to be translated. And wouldn’t it be great if we could find volumes I and III?
Today’s work has posed some more questions: I need to find out more information about the Hitler Youth movement, the Bund Deutscher Mädcehn, military service – including what it was called – and conscription. When I do find out more about these, I may have to weave some extra material into the text so far. Such is creative writing research.
I’m very pleased that the Wiener Library has got in touch with me via Twitter, offering help. I’m certainly going to visit once they’re open again.

The Girls' Letters

I’ve been working on these quite a bit today and have actually written 1287 new words. I’ve decided to keep the content pretty much as is for the 1942-1944 years, though may have to make them more interesting. I’ve changed the names of the girls and given them fictional personas but retain the same innocence.
I’ve been working on the 1939-1940 letters and am creating the personalities of the girls. This is of course throwing up even more questions about what it was like then and I think I may have to write a little more about the development of the Hitler Youth and the Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM).
I was pleased that I had found a shape to the novel, though now I realise there are several gaps. However, at least I’ve now been able to start writing again.
I’m shaping the fictional letters in Parts I and III around the significant events in the Renate and the Hanni and Clara stories. Part II will largely be based on the actual letters and will show what is happening to Renate, Hanni and Clara though additional significant events will be told and fictional letters invented if need be.
I’m going to allow Clara’s gruesome end to remain a mystery –as it does to all concerned, though if I do include the epilogue, where the girls meet up as middle-aged women, I may discuss it then. Certainly it will be told in an appendix.
I’m fairly certain I’ll allow Renate to know about her imprisoned teacher by the end of Part III.