Posted by BDM Historian

One thing that I commonly see among living historians is that they set up their uniforms and equipment exactly how it is shown in the manuals of the time period they portray, rather than by reference to a large variety of pictures.

What people often don't realize is that manuals, especially military manuals, are often a rough outline of how things should be done, which is quite frequently completely ignored by individual units (units may also have their own way of doing things) and by individual soldiers.

Let's take a recent example: setting up your Army LBE (load bearing equipment). There is a manual which tells us how to do this: what goes where, how to put it together, what should be on the LBE. However, the LBE is hardly ever set up by the manual. Soldiers move the items around where they're most comfortable. Things are taped down with 100mph tape or tied down with parachute cord. No manual tells you how to do these things - soldiers tell each other how it's done or how their unit does them.

Things are no different when we talk about the League of German Girls. Just because some activity or requirement is on paper in one of the League's manuals or publications, does not necessarily mean that they were actually done. The recollections below, which were submitted to this site by Ken Cashion of Luddite Publishers, are an example of this. My sincere thanks go to him for letting me use his text on my site.

A Berlin Girl and The BDM

In the production of my book, "Berlin Girl - Her Story 1929 - 1952", I interviewed a woman name Helga who had lived in Germany then. Most of her story is in the book, but there is some information that is not significant enough to be in the book, yet should be recorded to help fill in details of her life.

In particular, is her relationship with and experiences in the "Bund Deutscher Mädel," League of German Girls, (BDM).

I had a copy of the BDM membership requirements and code of conduct and Helga and I sat with these and we discussed each requirement. She has a good memory and remembers many dates. I am confident that she was telling me all she knew of the situation.

I was surprised with how little she was involved in BDM requirements. After talking with her more, I learned that the BDM was a very individualistic organization. There were not only regional differences, but even differences in the individual leader's interest and the leader's group activities.

As I said, the following questions and answers are not in the book, but are relevant to her experiences just the same.

For the full information on her life during this period, one would need to read "Berlin Girl." The book is available from Luddite Publishers at www.windmillpro.com.

Ken: "Helga, the Jungmaedel League in the Hitler Youth (JM) was for girls ages 10 to 14. Is this when you joined?"

Helga: "Yes, I was 10...it was 1939."

Ken: "The League of German Girls in the Hitler Youth (BDM) was for girls ages 14 to 17. Were you a member then?"

Helga: "Yes. This was a natural occurrence at that age."

Ken: "Was there any ceremony when you passed from JM to BDM?"

Helga: "No."

When she was 14, in November 1943, she was living in Caputh, southwest of Berlin and Potsdam. The war had progressed to the point that many of the requirements were being ignored, as were ceremonies.

Ken: "What about the requirements of the Jungmaedel Challenge?"

I went through each requirement - 60 meter run in 14 seconds; long jump of 2 meters; ball throw of 12 meters; 2 forward rolls and getting up without use of the hands; 2 backward rolls; jumping through swinging rope; participation in a one-day trip, etc.

Ken: "Did you do any of these things?"

Helga: "None. I do not remember any of the girls I knew doing these. Though, I remember some girls had some trips. But I cannot say for sure that they were BDM-related or perhaps school or church related."

Ken: "What about membership fees, financial aid, or insurance?"

Helga: "I assume that I paid my dues or I wouldn't have been a member. I don't remember how much they were, and I remember nothing about financial aid or any kind of insurance."

Ken: "Jungmaedel service includes: once weekly a 2 hour social evening and a 2 hour sports afternoon, participation in one trip each month, participation in camping trips, and that sort ... Did you do any of these?"

Helga: "We had no routine weekly meetings. We met only when there was some special purpose or activity to be planned. In these cases, the attendance was considered mandatory. As I said before, I was involved in no trips or routine sports activities."

Ken: "Did you participate in Jungmaedel role call?"

Helga: "No."

Ken: "Did you participate in parent conferences and membership drives?"

Helga: "No."

Ken: "What about participation in festivals and their preparations?"

Helga: "Yes. These activities were formal and we were prepared for these. It depended on what the overall BDM was doing. We were just told what our part was to be."

Ken: "And participation in rallies?"

Helga: "Yes. If there was any formal gathering in our area, we were expected to be there looking our best... and we did... and we were."

Ken: "What about collecting for the Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt (NSV), [national welfare program]?"

Helga: "Yes. This was an active part of BDM and I participated in these collections.

Ken: "The conditions and methods for greeting and saluting are spelled out in the BDM procedures. The correct greeting is always, "Heil Hitler" with the stretched-out arm at eye level. How often do you remember doing this?"

Helga: "Only at a proper function with some dignitary. It was a formal show. We never saluted each other and not even our BDM group leader. Our meetings occurred when there was something to discuss. We were busy with school and school work and didn't have the time others might have, or think we should have had. We were simply too busy to make the BDM some sort of club.

Her group leader had a lot of responsibility at home.

Ken: "You were also to greet your acquaintances, relatives, teachers, and recipients of the Mother's Cross with the German Greeting. Did you do this?"

Helga: "Never."

Ken: "Additionally, you were to meet leaders of the various party leaders with the German Greeting. Also, every BDM girl and Jungmaedel. Do you remember doing any of this?"

Helga: "Yes, but again, only in the case of formal gatherings. We never did that in the streets or even at BDM meetings."

Ken: "And what about the German Greeting at the presentation of flags, singing or playing of the National Anthem or the Horst-Wessel-Song. Do you remember doing any of this?"

Helga: "Yes. We did those things then but again, only at formal gatherings. We didn't do it at our meetings."

Ken: "There were many behavioral policies about what you should and should not do. One such was that you were not to hang around restaurants and bars after 8 p.m. and you were not to be out after 9 unless on official business. Do you recall this?"

Helga: "These were enforced by male Hitler Youth but didn't apply to me because I had a strict mom who kept a careful eye on me."

Ken: "And you were not to go to amusement parks in uniform. Do you recall this?"

Helga: "Yes, but we only wore the uniform for formal or BDM business so this was not an issue. I was generally doing my school work and most of the other girls were, as well."

Ken: "And you are not to hitch rides on a trip?"

Helga: "I remember that, but it was a non-issue because we didn't take trips."

She volunteered one restriction that was left off the list.

Helga: "We were forbidden from watching movies rated 18 or older."

She remembers this because she was in such a movie when a male Hitler Youth member put a flashlight in her face. She was known in Caputh and she was only 14. She was escorted from the theater.

Of historical interest: she did not have BDM-issued shoes and had never seen a BDM Berchetesgarden jacket until I showed her a photograph of one. Her blouses did not have buttons along the waist, nor did her skirts have button holes.

She remembers the diamond-shaped, red/white Hitler Youth pins and patches, but the only patch she wore was the triangular shoulder patch on which was her province (Brandenburg).

She never had a backpack or any other "required" uniform issues. She had no hats, pins, or flags, and no cuff titles.