Resist, Revolt, and Risk - The Purpose

Resistance can come in many forms. It may simply be a reaction against the status quo, a small change such as clothing or hairstyle, or dancing to a different tune. However, it could also be violent confrontations, prominent people leading the way, or extreme defiance. Either way, on a small or large scale, these are all examples of resistance. Thus, when discussing the topic of resistance, it is essential that we look at all spectrums and forms. This is why the Edelweiss Pirates, the Swing Youth, and the White Rose are all perfect examples to demonstrate the resistance movement by the German youth against the Nazi regime. We focus on these three groups for the fact that they all opted to defy against the Nazi party in both similar and dissimilar ways. The Edelweiss Pirates used more direct and aggressive methods of resistance, the Swing Youth used cultural transformations, and the White Rose used peaceful and informative demonstrations. Extending from both large and small scale protesting, all of these groups succeeded in resisting from the norm, which is why their place in anti-Nazi resistance history is at the forefront. It can be argued that these three youth groups were necessary for effectively attacking the Nazis grasp on mainstream Germany, since they exposed the limitations of a Nazi-confined society through various types of resistance, such as direct and aggressive, cultural and political.

Therefore, this blog is dedicated to these people and organizations who risked their lives to fight against evil. Our attempt is to show all facets of these organizations and how they resisted, whether it was a song they sang or physical aggression they practiced. In addition, we want to show how effective, on both a small and large scale, their methods of resistance were. Hopefully, by the end of your exploration of our blog we will have accomplished at least one thing -- to educate others about finding a voice and resisting evil. 

Edelweiss Pirates and the Effectiveness of their Resistance

Unlike the other anti-Nazi resistance youth organizations, the Edelweiss Pirates imposed a physical threat against the Nazis. While the Swing Youth focused on combating traditionalist culture and the White Rose voiced their opposition through peaceful and vocal demonstrations, the Edelweiss Pirates made defeating Nazism through any means – including violence – a prerogative. The Edelweiss Pirates were a successful resistance group, since they were effective in preventing – sometimes forcefully – the Nazis from a full reign over the German youth.

The Edelweiss Pirates were determined to defeat Nazism not only through small-scale aggression, but also with direct and organized violence. Despite the fact that the Pirates lacked their own political ideology, they were categorically unified against defeating Nazism. As a result, their hatred for the Nazis escalated to brutal violence. In “The Enemy of Our Enemy,” author Perry Biddiscombe states that, “They also claimed that there was an increasing scale of violence undertaken by the Edelweiss: in some western German cities, teenage Piraten had graduated from beating up HJ leaders to full-scale assassination attempts against Party and SS-police functionaries,” (Biddiscombe, 40). It was the Pirates’ usage of violence that not only distanced them from other organizations like the Swing Youth and the White Rose but moreover poised them as a real threat towards the Nazis.

While the Pirates were more direct, especially aggressively, towards the Nazis, they also stressed defeating Nazism by alternative means. They were successful in not only using aggression, but also distributing Allied force’s anti-Nazi propaganda and spread the word about the necessity and power of resistance. Biddiscombe discusses the Edelweiss Pirate’s views, stating that, “A German resistance movement might be able to aid the advancing Allied forces. Perhaps it could provide intelligence and possibly conduct direct action against the Wehrmacht and Nazi security forces,” (Biddiscombe, 42). The Edelweiss Pirates effectively disseminated non-Nazi education to an impressionable young German populace.

Since the Edelweiss Pirates were such a menace for the Nazis, the punishments inflicted upon them were more severe. Similar to the leaders of the White Rose, the leaders of the Edelweiss Pirates were hung in Cologne in November 1944. Despite the hangings, the Edelweiss Pirates were a unique anti-Nazi organization because of their untenable desire to defeat Nazism, and to promote a free-political Germany society. The Edelweiss Pirates effectively made the Nazis aware of their presence by educating Germans through Allied force’s leaflets as well as inflicting danger upon SS officers, thus standing in the way of a complete consent of the young Germany population.

The Edelweiss Pirate’s Direct and Aggressive Methods of Resistance

Similar to the Swing Youths, the Edelweiss Pirates rebelled against the conformity expected of them by the Nazis. These youth groups sought out a more unconventional lifestyle to escape the control being put upon them by the Nazi Party. In the article, “Youth Activism,” author Lonnie Sherrod explains, “The Edelweiss Pirates were not content to simply slip away from the control of adults and other authorities; instead, many chose to confront National Socialism,” (Sherrod 74). Sherrod goes on to explain that although the Pirates lacked a structural political ideology, they demonstrated a political stance.

Out of the three youth resistance groups examined, the Edelweiss Pirates were by far the most aggressive, direct and out-spoken. Similar to Swing Youths, the Pirates rebelled against the Nazi Party through music; however, instead of listening to American music deemed inappropriate, the Pirates rebelled through their own made up lyrics.

Some lyrics in their songs included, “We’re going to get rid of Hitler, and he can’t do a thing,” and “Hitler’s power may lay us low, and keep us locked in chains, but we will smash the chains one day,” (Burleigh and Wippermann 237). These lyrics directly express resistance to the Nazi party by attacking the control Hitler and the Nazi party tried to place upon youths.

In addition, the Edelweiss Pirates were well known for their constant attacks and juxtaposition to the Hitler Youth. The Hitler Youths served as their counterparts, as they conformed to the Nazi party by following their traditional culture and lifestyle. A Hitler Youth describes how the Pirates, “publicly provoke the Hitler Youth, and undermine the work of its until leaders. ‘Leaders of the Hitler Youth have been ambushed, pestered, and even shot at,’” (Burleigh and Wipperman 224). These confrontations were often violent and in some cases members of both parties were wounded and sometimes killed.  

As the war progressed, the Pirates means of resistance became bolder and further went against the Nazi party. The Pirates directly aided foreigners, as well as victims of the Nazi Party. In the article “Inside Hitler’s Germany,” authors Matthew Hughes and Chris Mann explain how, in 1942 in Dusseldorf, “some pirates offered shelter to German deserters, POWs, forced laborers and concentration camp escapees,” (Hughes and Mann 64).

In addition, similar to the White Rose’s method of circulating anti-Nazi literature, some members of the Pirates posted Allied propaganda leaflets through letterboxes or even joined organized resistance groups. This resistance turned more violent, as they later attacked the Cologne Gestapo in 1944 (Hughes and Mann 64). Thus, the Edelweiss Pirates engaged in more direct and aggressive resistance than the Swing Youth and the White Rose. 

Heroic Picture of the Day - Barton Schink

Barton Schink - Edelweiss Pirate. Executed aged 16 by the Nazis

Heroic Picture of the Day - Israeli Commemoration

Israel commemorates the Edelweiss Pirates at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, honoring them as “Righteous Among the Nations”.  The photograph below was taken from the "Hall of Names" at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum.

Edelweiss Pirates (Navajos) Song

Des Hitlers Zwang, der macht uns klein,

(Hitler's compulsion, it makes us small)

noch liegen wir in Ketten.

(still, we're bound in chains)

Doch einmal werden wir wieder frei,

(But one day we'll be free again)

wir werden die Ketten schon brechen.

(We'll smash through the chains)

Denn unsere Fäuste, die sind hart,

(For our fists, they are hard)

ja--und die Messer sitzen los,

(Yes, and the knives are attached loosely)

für die Freiheit der Jugend,

(For the freedom of Youth)

kämpfen Navajos.

(Navajos are struggling)

Founding of the Edelweiss Pirates

The Edelweiss Pirates formed at the end of the 1930s in western Germany. In the article “Inside Hitler’s Germany,” authors Matthew Hughes and Chris Mann explain, “Their uniform was a badge of edelweiss flowers with a checked shirt, dark short trousers and white socks, and soon a variety of groups called themselves “Edelweiss Pirates” (Hughes and Mann 61).

There were many subgroups of the Edelweiss Pirates including the Navajos, centered in Cologne, the Kittelbach Pirates of Oberhausen and Dusseldorf, and the Roving Dudes of Essen. The different groups were associated with their individual regions; however, the edelweiss badge identified and unified them as Edelweiss Pirates.

In addition, the Edelweiss Pirates were typically younger than the Swing Youths, as they were aged 14 to 18. They were mostly a non-political group primarily from the working class, unlike the aristocratic Swing Youths. Similar to the Swings, the Pirates were looking to defy Hitler’s order and the regulations imposed by the Nazi regime. The Pirates maintained an oppositional attitude “towards what they saw as the increasingly paramilitary obligations of the Hitler Youth” (Welch 63).

Many of these members had left school at a young age and were too young for the army but too mature for the Hitler youth. They wanted to spend the salaries they earned on whatever they pleased, and not participate in the sham collectivism of the Hitler Youth (Burleigh and Wippermann 222). In addition, the Pirates used many symbols to express themselves and their views. Their style of clothing, appearance, and type of songs all were symbols that were banned by the Nazi party.

According to one Nazi official in 1941, “Every child knows who the Kittelbach Pirates are. ‘They are everywhere; there are more of them than there are Hitler Youth…They beat up the patrols…They never take no for an answer,’” (Hughes and Mann 61). Thus, unlike the Swing Youth and the White Rose, the Pirates were often hostile to the Hitler Youth and used more direct and aggressive resistance methods to combat the limitations placed upon them by the Nazi party. 

Founding of the Swing Youth

The Swing Youth formed around 1938, in the wealthy northern region of Hamburg. The founding members included wealthy boys and girls who typically knew each other from Gymnasium, the German name for High School. Members of this group usually met in local skating rinks and particular cafes. In the book “Hitler’s Children,” author Gerhard Rempel describes how they were originally called “Loafer Clubs” and “Gangster Cliques (Rempel 92).” The term “Swing Youth” came later and reflected their connection to American music and English apparel.

Similar to the White Rose and the Edelweiss Pirates, the “Swings” were formed as a counter movement to the Nazi Youth group. However, unlike the White Rose and Edelweiss Pirates, the Swings served more as a countercultural group than a counter political group to the traditional Nazi party.  They rejected the traditional music of the Nazi party and instead embraced American and English influenced music, such as Jazz and swing.

Unlike the Edelweiss Pirates who represented a more serious challenge to Hitler, the Swing Youth was politically indifferent to National Socialism. In the book “The Third Reich,” author David Welch, describes how, “The swing youth were definitely not anti-fascist (Welch 62).” Nonetheless, the existence of these youth and “non conformists” groups illustrates how not all Germans supported the Nazi Party. The Swings also show that there was a rift between the traditional older German generation and the more laid-back younger generation.

In addition, smaller dissensions of the Hamburg Swings formed in cities such as Breslau, Kiel and Berlin. It wasn’t until 1941, that the German authorities became aware of the Swing group.