Original Items: Only One Set Available. This is a very nice set of German WWII Era National Socialist Youth Organization items, consisting of a shirt patch insignia with a lovely copy of the HJ Training Guide Book, H.J. im Dienst (H.J. in Service). The BeVo embroidered insignia is the type that would have been installed on an HJ athletic training shirt, and measures 2 1/8" x 3 5/8". It is in very good condition, and definitely was sewn to a shirt at one time, indicated by the folded over edges and stitch holes. These were cut off of long strips, and usually it was faster to just fold under the excess rather than to cut it off before it was sewn on.
The Training guide book is a lovely cloth cover example, bearing the HJ emblem across the front, and it has been wrapped in protective plastic to prevent further damage to the cover. The title page reads:
HJ. im Dienst
Ausbildungsvorſchrift für die Ertüchtigung der Deutſchen Jugend
This translates directly to:
HJ. in service
Training regulations for the training of German youth
The book measures 5" x 7 1/2" and is 346 pages long, filled with training information for the National Socialist Youth organization. It was intended to help both indoctrinate the youth into the NSDAP ideology, as well as to help train them to be future soldiers. Condition is very good, showing the expected wear and staining due to age.
A lovely set, ready to research and display!
The German National Youth Organization, often abbreviated as HJ, was the youth organization of the NSDAP Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name H-Jugend, Bund deutscher Arbeiterjugend ("H Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was the sole official boys' youth organization in Germany and it was partially a paramilitary organization. It was composed of the HJ Youth proper for male youths aged 14 to 18, and the German Youngsters in the HJ Youth (Deutsches Jungvolk in der HJugend or "DJ", also "DJV") for younger boys aged 10 to 14.
With the surrender of NSDAP Germany in 1945, the organization de facto ceased to exist. On 10 October 1945, the Youth and its subordinate units were outlawed by the Allied Control Council along with other NSDAP Party organizations. Under Section 86 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany, the H Youth is an "unconstitutional organization" and the distribution or public use of its symbols, except for educational or research purposes, is illegal.
