Der Bund Deutscher Mädel
(League of German Girls)
by Chris Crawford
The Bund Deutscher Mädel, which was also known by its abbreviation of BDM, was
the female branch of the overall German youth movement in the Third Reich, the
Hitler Youth. Membership in the Hitler Youth was open to all German girls and
boys who were at least ten years old or older. Membership requirements were
simple: prospective members had to be Germans who were of no more than
one-eight Jewish heritage, and had to be physically and mentally sound.
Once a girl reached 18 years of age she was expected to join the national labor
service, the Reichsarbeitsdienst, but she was allowed to remain a member in the
BDM until she either got married, had children, or decided to quit the BDM and
go on to other pursuits. The majority of BDM leaders on the regional and
national level, as well as the BDM's medical staff consisted of ladies with
university degrees and job training who were in their late twenties or
thirties.
In 1936, membership in the Hitler Youth officially became compulsory under the
Hitler Youth Law.
 However,
this was often not enforced until after the outbreak of the war because the
voluntary membership already included most eligible girls in Germany. The
Hitler Youth Law mainly served to originally recognize the Hitler Youth as part
of the German regime, which opened up the possibilities of monetary
contributions from the government, without which a lot of the Hitler Youth's
activities and programs might not have been possible.
Besides preparing the young women in the Bund Deutscher Mädel for what were
meant to be their future tasks in the community, the BDM also offered a wide
variety of other activities that were attractive to potential members and that
were very similar to what is offered by youth organizations today. BDM members
were able to get reduced rates at movie theaters, go on field trips, and attend
camps that lasted anywhere from one day to several weeks. They were also able
to compete at local, state-wide, and national sports festivals, and attend
youth festivals with international participants.
Local BDM groups usually held two get-togethers each week, one of which was a
sports afternoon, the other of which was called Heimatabend, or home evening.
During the home evening, girls played music, learned and sang folk songs,
played games, or did arts and crafts. After the outbreak of the war, they also
used this time to write letters to soldiers at the front, or prepare care
packages for them.
The BDM placed big importance on the girls' educations and expected that they
would finish school and learn a trade, which was something that was often
unheard of for women at that time, many of which worked as untrained helpers or
secretaries. Many of the ladies who became regional and national leaders of the
BDM were successful women who held degrees and doctorates, and served as a
positive example to the girls they led. BDM leaders were always supposed to set
a good example, and as such were discouraged from smoking or drinking in
public.
The aspect of learning a trade appealed to many of the young women who joined
the organization, and it made the BDM appear progressive and emancipating. In
the Hitler Youth, girls were almost equal to their male counterparts, which was
very unusual for its time. They were able to partake in many of the same
activities such as traveling, sports, and regional and national vocational
competitions. Only few activities, such as the motorized Hitler Youth, remained
closed to girls, although the national youth leadership allowed groups to get
additional programs started if interest and funds were available.
 It
was only until shortly before the outbreak of the war, that the BDM began
including programs that were geared more toward the "traditional" roles of the
women. The Glaube und Schönheit, or Belief and Beauty Society, was founded in
1939 and many of its courses were geared toward house-holding and child care,
and "feminine" sports such as eurythmic dancing.
The Early Years
After the First World War, while Germany was suffering through a horrible
depression and the strict sanctions imposed on it by the Treaty of Versailles,
the German Youth Movement went through a revival and many new youth groups were
formed. Some of them were scouting groups while others were mainly nature or
hiking clubs.
It comes as no surprise that even in the early days of the
Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, the NSDAP or Nazi Party, which
was originally founded in 1920, youth groups played an integral role was well.
Although none of these groups were centrally organized within the Nazi party at
first and started out with only a few members, they quickly gained popularity
and their numbers grew.
Out of all these groups, the Grossdeutsche Jugendbewegung (Greater German Youth
Movement), which was founded by 20-year-old law student Kurt Gruber, became
active as early as 1923 and was eventually christened the Hitlerjugend at the
1926 party rally at Weimar. Although there was now a male youth organization,
there was not yet an official female organization, but plenty of young women
whose brothers were members of the Hitler Youth had begun forming their own
groups which became known as Hitlerjugend Schwesternschaften, or Hitler Youth
Sisterhoods.
The girls' groups still remained widely overlooked and it wasn't until 1930
that the actual Bund Deutscher Mädel was officially founded. Although the group
was now official, membership was still much lower than in its male counterpart,
and the BDM would never be able to reach quite the same numbers that the Hitler
Youth had. By the end of 1932, directly before Hitler's takeover, the BDM was
only about 25,000 members strong.
From the official inception of the Hitler Youth in 1926 throughout most of the
existence of the Hitler Youth and the Bund Deutscher Mädel, Baldur von Schirach
served as the head of the organization with the title of Reichsjugendführer,
which literally translates to National Youth Leader. Von Schirach reported
directly to Hitler. From the very beginning, the female part of the Nazi party,
the Nationalsozialistische Frauenschaft (NSF), tried to gain control of the
female youth which it thought better taken care of under the heading of the
female section of the party than the male leadership of the overall Hitler
Youth, but Hitler himself decided otherwise.
 The
head of the BDM was the BDM Reichsreferentin, who reported to Baldur von
Schirach, but who was in charge of the BDM without having to wait for "male"
approval for their decisions. According to Jutta Rudiger, who held the rank of
Reichsreferentin from November 1937 through the end of the war in 1945, both
Baldur von Schirach and his late-war successor Artur Axmann, let the BDM
leaders run their own organization and only offered advice and an open door if
there ever were any concerns or problems.
The BDM's Work
While the male Hitler Youth's work consisted of mainly paramilitary training,
the work of the Bund Deutscher Mädel consisted mostly of the very same things
girl scouts enjoy today – sports, camping, orienteering, first aid, and arts
and crafts. Some of the BDM's activities included the following:
Sports – Physical training didn't play as important a role as it did in the
male Hitler Youth, but it was still an important part of their work. Each BDM
group held one weekly sports afternoon that was instructed by older BDM girls,
and sometimes Hitler Youth leaders. Sports generally included track and field
events as well as gymnastics. Some regions also offered fencing, ice skating,
or rowing clubs.
Organized trips– At a time where few people traveled on their vacation,
organized trips and summer camps were an exciting opportunity for the girls of
the BDM. Trips were organized to local events and sights, as well as to
national, and even some international events. Other times, foreign youth groups
visited BDM girls at home in Germany, which was a great opportunity for youth
from many different countries to get to know each other.
 Charity
work – Similar to girl scouts today, BDM girls back then also helped with
charitable work, such as collecting work for the Winterhilfswerk which
supported poorer families by providing them with heating coal and warm clothing
during the colder winter months, or collecting old clothing or old newspapers
for new uses.
With the outbreak of World War II in fall of 1939, the Bund Deutscher Mädel
found itself in a delicate position. On one hand, the Nazi party now wanted the
girls to be educated more toward the traditional roles of women – to be mothers
and homemakers -, but at the same time the war ironically placed women in the
position of having to fill jobs formerly taken by men in both civilian life as
well as in the armed forces. Women now became air raid wardens, military
signals auxiliaries and stenographers, but they also served in more
traditionally female wartime roles as nurses, troop supporters, or stayed home
with the children.
For the BDM, the war also necessitated some changes to their schedule. When
local groups met now they often spent time sending letters and postcards to
soldiers at the front; knitting scarves, wool socks, or ear warmers for the
troops; or making care packages.
Group choirs now often practiced songs that they would later perform for
wounded soldiers at hospitals throughout Germany, and girls would wait for
trains with soldiers to arrive to welcome them with flowers, sandwiches, or
coffee.
"Train station services", in particular, became an important part of the work
with the BDM Gesundheitsdienst, or health service, where girls – many of whom
had little more than basic first aid training – would welcome injured soldiers
and refugees at the train station and make sure they were taken care of. Most
of the time, they provided hot drinks, hot soup, or sandwiches; helped people
find their way around the station, and helped with some nursing care if it was
needed. The girls of the Gesundheitsdienst wore white nurses' aprons with the
Hitler Youth diamond insignia and a kerchief-style head covering with the
insignia of the Gesundheitsdienst, a runic insignia shaped similar to the
letter "Y".
Many of the older BDM girls also took job positions and placements that would
be considered full-time jobs in addition to school, to help as nurse aides,
substitute teachers, or factory workers. The BDM's own publication, Das
Deutsche Mädel (The German Girl) magazine, featured ads for stenographers, and
nurses once the war had started, and had articles about girls working as ticket
agents on trains, or as nurses, that were meant to get them excited about
"doing their part" as well.
Unlike the male Hitler Youth which took a very active part in the last-ditch
defenses at the end of the war, the girls in the BDM generally did not take
part in the fighting, although many helped to fortify towns or dig trenches to
stall the advancing Allied troops. Although Martin Bormann had sent a letter to
the regional leaders suggesting that women and girls should also be trained in
the use of weapons for self-defense, many girls took up arms against the
Allies, and those who did mainly did so against the Russian army in the East
which, they were told, was raping and killing any women they came across.
The Hitler Youth and the Bund Deutscher Mädel, together once the largest youth
organization in Europe – maybe the world – found itself in ruins and disbanded
at the end of the war, just like the political party they'd originated from.
Glossary of German Terms
- BDM Reichsreferentin – literally, National Speaker of the BDM
- Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM) - League of German Girls
- Gesundheitsdienst – Health Service
- Glaube und Schönheit – Belief and Beauty Society
- Grossdeutsche Jugendbewegung – Greater German Youth Movement
- Heimatabend – home or folk evening
- Hitlerjugend – Hitler Youth
- Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP) – National Socialist
German Workers' Party
- Nationalsozialistische Frauenschaft – National Socialist Women's Society
- Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD) - National Labor Service
- Reichsjugendführer – National Youth Leader
- Winterhilfswerk – Winter Relief Society
Sources
Littlejohn, David. The Hitler Youth. Johnson Reference Books,
1989.
Rüdiger, Jutta. Ein Leben für die Jugend Der BDM – eine Richtigstellung.
Wartime publications, including "Das Deutsche Mädel" magazine.
- - -
Copyright © 2005 Chris Crawford
Written by Chris Crawford. If you have questions or comments on this
article, please contact Chris Crawford at:
ccrawford@bdmhistory.com.
Visit Chris Crawford's page at:
www.bdmhistory.com.
Pictures are courtesy of Stephan Hansen.
Published online: 10/09/2005.
* Views expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent
those of MHO.
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