Edelweiss Pirates

The Edelweiss Pirates (German: Edelweißpiraten [ˈeːdl̩vaɪs.piˌʁaːtn̩] ) were a loosely organized group of youths opposed to the status quo of 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 17, who had evaded the Hitler Youth by leaving school (which was allowed at 14) and were also young enough to avoid military conscription, which was only compulsory from the age of 17. The roots and background of the Edelweiss Pirates movement were detailed in the 2004 film Edelweiss Pirates, directed by Niko von Glasow.

Name

The Edelweiss Pirates were named after the edelweiss flower, which grows wild in the Alps mountain range. An early adopter of the name was a small social group which included Gertrud Koch, and ultimately grew to become one of the Pirate groups.

History

Early years

The origins of the Edelweißpiraten were before the Second World War, as the state-controlled Hitler Youth (German: Hitlerjugend) was mobilized to indoctrinate young people, at the expense of the leisure activities previously offered to them. This tension was exacerbated once the war began and youth leaders were conscripted. The Edelweißpiraten offered young people considerable freedom to express themselves and to mingle with members of the opposite sex. This was unlike Nazi youth movements, which were strictly segregated by sex, the Hitler Youth being for boys and the League of German Girls (German: Bund Deutscher Mädel) for girls.