League of German Girls

The League of German Girls or the Band of German Maidens (Bund Deutscher Mädel, abbreviated as BDM) was the girls' wing of the Nazi Party youth movement, the Hitler Youth. It was the only legal female youth organization in Nazi Germany. At first, the League consisted of two sections: the Jungmädelbund ("Young Girls' League") for girls aged 10 to 14, and the League proper for girls aged 14 to 18. In 1938, a third section was introduced, the BDM-Werk Glaube und Schönheit ("Faith and Beauty Society"), which was voluntary and open to girls between the ages of 17 and 21. Due to the compulsory membership of all young women, except for those excluded for racial reasons, the League became the largest female youth organization at the time with over 4.5 million members. With the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945, the organization de facto ceased to exist. On 10 October 1945, it was outlawed by the Allied Control Council along with other Nazi Party organizations. Under Section 86 of the German Criminal Code, the Hitler Youth is an "unconstitutional organization" and the distribution or public use of its symbols, except for educational or research purposes, is not permitted. TOC The Bund Deutscher Mädel had its roots in the early 1920s, in the first Mädchenschaften or Mädchengruppen, also known as Schwesternschaften der Hitler-Jugend (Sisterhood of the Hitler Youth). In 1930, the BDM was founded, and in 1931 it became the female branch of the Hitler Youth. The league of German Maidens was derogatorily nicknamed by the counter-cultural Swingjugend "The League of German Mattresses", suggesting sexual promiscuity between the sex-separated groups who claimed to be traditional and conservative. Its full title was Bund Deutscher Mädel in der Hitler-Jugend (League of German Girls in the Hitler Youth). In the final electioneering campaigns of 1932, Hitler inaugurated it with a mass meeting featuring the League; on election eve, the League and Hitler Youth staged "evening of entertainment.