The Edelweiss Pirates (Edelweißpiraten) were a loose group of youth culture in Nazi Germany. They emerged in western Germany out of the German Youth Movement of the late 1930s in response to the strict regimentation of the Hitler Youth. Similar in many ways to the Leipzig Meuten, they consisted of young people, mainly between the ages of 14 and 18, who had either evaded the Hitler Youth by leaving school (which was allowed at 14) or avoiding the Reich Labour Service and military service.

Contents 1 Origins 2 Culture 3 Nazi response 4 Cultural References 5 See also 6 External links

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Origins

The origins of the Edelweißpiraten can be traced to the period immediately prior to World War II, as the state-controlled Hitler Youth was mobilized to serve the state, at the expense of the leisure activities it had previously offered young people. This tension was exacerbated once the war began and youth leaders were conscripted. In contrast, the Edelweißpiraten offered young people considerable freedom to express themselves and to mingle with members of the opposite sex, whereas Nazi youth movements were strictly segregated by sex, the Hitler-Jugend (boys) and Bund Deutscher Mädel (girls). Though predominantly male, the casual meetings of the Edelweißpiraten even offered German adolescents an opportunity for sexual experimentation with the girls that tagged along with every group. The Edelweißpiraten used many forms and symbols of the organisations of the German Youth Movement, which were outlawed earlier. They used their tent (the Kohte), their style of clothing (the Jungschaftsjacke), and sang songs, all of which were prohibited symbols of the German Youth Movement. These symbols and also the traditions such as hiking came from members, who were previously in the groups of the German Youth Movement.

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Culture

Apart from gatherings on street corners, the Edelweißpiraten engaged in hiking and camping trips, which kept them away from the prying eyes of the totalitarian Nazi regime. They often engaged in fights with the Hitler Youth and took great pride in attacking them. As one group, the "Navajos", sang:

Des Hitlers Zwang, der macht uns klein,

(Hitler's compulsion, it makes us small)

noch liegen wir in Ketten.

(still, we're bound in chains)

Doch einmal werden wir wieder frei,

(But one day we'll be free again)

wir werden die Ketten schon brechen.

(We'll smash through the chains)

Denn unsere Fäuste, die sind hart,

(For our fists, they are hard)

ja--und die Messer sitzen los,

(Yes, and the knives are attached loosely)

für die Freiheit der Jugend,

(For the freedom of Youth)

kämpfen Navajos.

(Navajos are struggling)

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Nazi response

The Nazi response to the Edelweißpiraten was typically harsh. Individuals identified by the Gestapo as belonging to the various gangs were often rounded up and released with their heads shaved to shame them. In some cases, young people were sent to concentration camps or prison. On October 25, 1944 Heinrich Himmler ordered a crackdown on the group and in November of that year a group of thirteen people, the heads of the Ehrenfelder Gruppe, were publicly hanged in Cologne. Some of those hanged were former Edelweiß Pirates. The Edelweiß Pirates hanged were six teenagers, amongst them Bartholomäus Schink, called Barthel, former member of the local "Navajos." Fritz Theilen survived.

Nevertheless, government repression never managed to break the spirit of most groups, which constituted a subculture that rejected the norms of Nazi society. While the Edelweiss Pirates assisted army deserters and others hiding from the Third Reich, they have yet to receive recognition as a resistance movement (partly because they were viewed with contempt because of their 'proletarian' background and 'criminal' activities by many of their former Youth Movement comrades, who survived the war) and the families of victims killed by the Nazis have as yet received no reparations.

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Cultural References

Several bands have used the Edelweiss Pirates name, most notably the London based multi-instrumental indie group fronted by Jimmy Loew or the Edinburgh based funk rockers the Edelweißpiraten. Cambridge based punk band The Edelweiss Pirates, who have been together the longest, have also adopted the name as a protest against fascism on the punk and skinhead scene.

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See also

• White Rose
• Swing Kids
• German Youth Movement
• Edelweiss Pirates (film)

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External links

• The Edelweiss Pirates, 1939-1945 on libcom.org history
• The official website of a film on the Edelweiss Pirates .
• Edelweißpiraten at the Internet Movie Database
• An increasingly complex portrayal of German anti-fascism, an article discussing the films Edelweißpiraten and Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
• Short interview with Walter Mayer, an Edelweiss Pirate
• Edelweiss Pirates described in ShoahProject.org. The article titled Kids im Nazi-Regime. Widerstand Jugendlicher gegen den Nationalsozialismus. Written by Michael Lichte (in German)
• museenkoeln.de: valuable resources on Edelweiss Pirates' history, actions, customs, songs (incl. lyrics), and so on (in German)

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