Leipzig Meuten

The Leipzig Meuten ([ˈlaɪ̯pt͡sɪç ˈmɔɪ̯tn̩], from Meuten meaning "packs, gangs") were anti-Nazi gangs of children, teenagers and young adults based in Leipzig during the Nazi period of Germany. During the National Socialist era, these groups sought to recruit young individuals from working class backgrounds with the aim destroying Nazi control.[1] They were similar to the Edelweiss Pirates, but more politically driven. The organisation however, was dissolved by the Gestapo in 1939 with numerous youths sent to penitentiaries, youth prisons or reformatories.

Background

The Meuten became active in Leipzig around 1937, and such as members of Blasen they were blue collar workers, apprentices and shop clerks. When they were not congregating in cinemas, public swimming pools, or formerly Communist neighborhood pubs, they liked to hike and discuss politics. There are reports of the Meuten in Dresden and other Saxon towns, but the records of the activity is incredibly scarce.[2]

Members

Members came from working-class families and borrowed from socialist and communist traditions. Between 1937 and 1939, the Meuten had, according to the Gestapo, an estimated 1500 members.[2]

Clothing

Members of the group established their own unique dress code, taking inspiration from the attire worn by leftist socialist youth groups. This was done in order to set themselves apart from the German Youth Movement and BDM. Typically, boys donned short leather trousers paired with suspenders, while the girls sported dark skirts paired with checked shirts or blouses. White knee socks and hiking boots completed the ensemble. Occasionally, red neckerchiefs and skull badges were also included as part of the attire, as well as badges featuring the initials 'BJ' representing 'Bündische Jugend'.[2]

Communist leanings

The group had Communist roots and listened to Radio Moscow and stretched the customary bündisch bias for everything Russian, while romanticizing the conditions in the Soviet Union. The group also used a vulgarized Russian greeting of "bud cadoff" instead of "Heil Hitler."[2]

The group held strong SPD and KPD roots.[3]

Nazi reaction

They were dealt with ruthlessly by the Nazis.

A group of members were convicted in October 1938 and sentenced to between one and five years of incarceration, due to the Meuten being connected to Communism and at the time Germany held legislation that forbade the resurrection of any of the Weimar political parties.[2]

Memorials

There is a permanent exhibition commemorating them at the Leipzig School Museum.[4] The group is also included in the Memorial to the German Resistance in Berlin, Germany.[5]

References
  1. Geerling, Wayne; Magee, Gary B.; Brooks, Robert (October 2013). "Faces of Opposition: Juvenile Resistance, High Treason, and the People's Court in Nazi Germany". Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 44 (2): 209–234. doi:10.1162/JINH_a_00537.
  2. Kater, Michael H. (2006). Hitler Youth. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674019911.
  3. Brodsky, Patricia P. (April 1998). "The Hidden War: Working-Class Resistance during the Third Reich and the Postwar Suppression of Its History" (PDF). Nature, Society and Thought. University of Minnesota. 11: 171–185.
  4. "Die Leipziger Meuten - Jugendopposition 1933 - 1945". Förderverein Schulmuseum - Werkstatt für Schulgeschichte Leipzig e.V. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  5. Geerling, Wayne (2013-08-05). "Face of Opposition: Juvenile Resistance, High Treason and the People's Court in Nazi Germany". Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 44 (2): 209–234. doi:10.1162/JINH_a_00537. S2CID 145233583.
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