Freie Deutsche Jugend

Blog #2


Freie Deutsche Jugend- Seid bereit!(Be Ready!)


In her story, Place of Birth: Berlin, Monika Maron mentions the FDJ "As my parents' child, I was not allowed in the West and was even excluded from leafletting with the FDJ." (page 74). My mother was an active member in the FDJ. Like mentioned before, when people think of East Germany they always think of the negative first. The FDJ, was a Youth Movement with it's pros and cons as well. After talking to my mother I learned that she liked being in the FDJ. She felt a sense of belonging, she was with her friends, and learned many things helping her out in life later and after the Wende.    


 The Freie Deutsche Jugend, FDJ (Free German Youth) was the official socialist youth movement in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and it was meant for boys and girls between the ages of 14 to 25. Nearly 75% of the German population belonged to the FDJ, which was founded in March 7th, 1946. 

     

The political and ideological goal was to influence every aspect of the youth's life in the GDR, distribution of Marxism-Leninism and the indoctrination with socialist behavior. The purpose was to instill Socialist ideology in the children.The East German youth movement was controlled by the Communist Party and promoted the Socialist ideology of the Party. This included some of the universal values like honesty,family and morality. Morality in the Communist world was redefined as whatever promoted the ckass struggle and the defeat of Communism. This meant police state rule and concentration camps. Children were incouraged to report on their parents. The German youth program was highly politicized and involved telling the children how to think about political issues. The FDJ became an instrument for influencing the coming generations. An important part of its influence was that membership in the FDJ soon determined access to institutions of higher learning, recreation and sports facilities, and ultimately career opportunities. The membership was theoretically voluntary, but in practice, however a membership was compulsory. The FDJ was a school- based program so it was very difficult for children to avoid the program. Children had the choice to refuse membership, but most likely their teachers were leaders of the FDJ and could have reported such refusal to the Stasi. By the 1960's an estimate of 98% of all school children were involved in the FDJ.

    The FDJ had regular meeting, mostly after school and always on school campus. Meetings never took place in private homes or churches.

Members of the FDJ wore uniforms, which consist of garison cap, white shirt, and red scarfe worn with dark shirts and pants/skirts.

The FDJ was an effective instrument for influencing the coming generations. An important part of its influence was that membership in the FDJ determined access to institutions of higher learning, recreation and sports facilities, and ultimately career opportunities.

Work Cited-


Maron, Monica. Place of Birth: Berlin. Berlin Tales. Oxford UP. Print.
Marven, Lyn, and Helen Constantine. Berlin Tales: Stories. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.