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The Free German Youth (german: Freie Deutsche Jugend; FDJ) is a
youth movement The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted otherwise. ...
in Germany. Formerly, it was the official youth movement of the
German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...
(GDR) and the
Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...
. The organization was meant for young adults, both male and female, between the ages of 14 and 25 and comprised about 75% of the young adult population of former East Germany. In 1981–1982, this meant 2.3 million members. After joining the Thälmann Pioneers, which was for school children between ages 6 to 13, East German youths would usually join the FDJ. The FDJ was intended to be the "reliable assistant and fighting
reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US ...
of the Worker's Party", while Socialist Unity Party of Germany was a member of the National Front and had representatives in the
People's Chamber __NOTOC__ The Volkskammer (, ''People's Chamber'') was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic (colloquially known as East Germany). The Volkskammer was initially the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The upper house w ...
. The political and ideological goal of the FDJ was to influence every aspect of life of young people in the GDR, distribute Marxist–Leninist teachings and promote communist behavior. Membership in the FDJ was nominally voluntary. However, those who did not join lost access to organized holidays, and found it difficult (if not impossible) to be admitted to universities, pursue chosen careers, etc. The majority of youths, who refused to join did so for religious reasons. While the movement was intended to indoctrinate East Germany's young adults with the Marxist–Leninist ideology, it did not concentrate on this to the exclusion of other activities. It arranged thousands of holidays for young adults through its ''Jugendtourist'' agency and ran discos and open-air rock concerts. The
Festival of Political Songs , image = , caption =1989 , location =East Berlin, East Germany , years_active =1970-1990 , founders =Oktoberklub, Free German Youth , dates =February , genre = Rock, folk, political music , attendance = ...
was an officially sponsored event from 1970 to 1990.


History


Establishment in 1946 in the Soviet Occupation Zone

The FDJ had its origins in the months following the end of the Second World War and it was formally founded on 7 March 1946 under the leadership of a youthful
Erich Honecker Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the posts ...
.Fulbrook, Mary. Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR 1949–1989. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, 60. The FDJ was initially developed by the communists as ostensibly a non-political, 'national' youth organisation, which would function in all four zones of
occupied Germany Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Franc ...
.McDougall, Alan. Youth Politics in East Germany : The Free German Youth Movement, 1946–1968. Oxford Historical Monographs. Oxford: Clarendon, 2004, 20. The FDJ was conceived to be a 'free' and 'democratic' united youth organisation, where young
antifascists Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...
would cooperate in order to rebuild their homeland under the name of the 'Free German Youth' (''Freie Deutsche Jugend'').McDougall, Alan. Youth Politics in East Germany : The Free German Youth Movement, 1946–1968. Oxford Historical Monographs. Oxford: Clarendon, 2004, 2. The name of the organisation was inspired by the 'Free German Youth' movements formed by young German antifascists in Prague, Paris and London, before the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. Talk of socialism or that the FDJ was to be disproportionately composed of German communists were absent from the FDJ's initial conception. Open to those between the ages of 14 and 25, the FDJ was crucial to preparing young East Germans for mature adult life along an officially approved route of school, vocational training, and entry into the party and officeholding. The FDJ was responsible for the socialist indoctrination of the rising generation of young East Germans. FDJ members were expected to participate in the 'school year', an ideological programme, which aimed to develop a significant group of well-trained cadres suitable for future employment in the SED apparatus. The FDJ were willing to overlook previous allegiance to
Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...
and offer opportunities for career and social advancement to young adults in exchange for genuine commitment to the FDJ and its ideals on political, working, educational and leisure rights. Additionally, the FDJ aimed to increase the productivity of young East German workers through sponsored 'youth brigades', during the 1940s.McDougall, Alan. Youth Politics in East Germany : The Free German Youth Movement, 1946–1968. Oxford Historical Monographs. Oxford: Clarendon, 2004, 21. As the sole official representative of East German youth, the FDJ's main objective was to win over the hearts and minds of young East Germans to socialism, through the Marxist–Leninist ideals of the
Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...
(SED).McDougall, Alan. Youth Politics in East Germany : The Free German Youth Movement, 1946–1968. Oxford Historical Monographs. Oxford: Clarendon, 2004, 19. During the 1940s, an emphasis on providing a 'happy youth life' for young East Germans increasingly made the FDJ attractive to the youths. Organised activities, including sports and dance events, 'social evenings' (''Heimabende''), concerts, hikes and trips to the cinema, among other activities, aimed to provide leisure for young East Germans without the means to otherwise engage in pastimes.McDougall, Alan. Youth Politics in East Germany : The Free German Youth Movement, 1946–1968. Oxford Historical Monographs. Oxford: Clarendon, 2004, 5–6. In 1946 and 1947, the responsibility of organising leisure activities predominantly rested with local FDJ groups, existing in towns and villages. The FDJ also possessed its own publishing house (''Verlag Neues Leben'') and ran a number of newspapers; a daily newspaper (''Junge Welt''), a journal for FDJ functionaries (''Junge Generation'') and a student newspaper (''FORUM''). Starting in 1952, the FDJ also began publishing two
Sorbian language The Sorbian languages ( hsb, serbska rěč, dsb, serbska rěc) are the Upper Sorbian language and Lower Sorbian language, two closely related and partially mutually intelligible languages spoken by the Sorbs, a West Slavic ethno-cultural min ...
magazines, ''Chorhoj Měra'' and ''Plomjo'', for Sorbian members.


The FDJ in the GDR

The FDJ increasingly developed into an instrument of communist rule and became a member of the 'democratic bloc' in 1950. However, the FDJ's focus of 'happy youth life', which had characterised the 1940s, was increasingly marginalised following
Walter Ulbricht Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later (after spending the years of Nazi rule in ...
's emphasis of the 'accelerated construction of socialism' at the 4th Parliament and a radicalisation of SED policy in July 1952. In turn, a more severe anti-religious agenda, whose aim was to obstruct the Church youths' work, grew within the FDJ, ultimately reaching a high point in mid-April 1953 when the FDJ newspaper ''Junge Welt'' reported on details of the 'criminal' activities of the 'illegal' ''Junge Gemeinden''. FDJ gangs were sent to church meetings to heckle those inside and school tribunals interrogated or expelled students who refused to join the FDJ for religious reasons. As an affiliated organisation of the SED party and government, the FDJ became targets of demonstrators in the lead up to the 1953 Uprising. Growing popular unrest caused members of the FDJ to flee to the West. By 1953, the FDJ was in a state of turmoil with many members and officials joining in with the strikes and demonstrations. On 25 April 1957, at the 16th session of the FDJ, the central council declared the FDJ as an official 'socialist' youth organisation. The FDJ was the GDR's second most important mass organisation, after the
FDGB The Free German Trade Union Federation (german: Freier Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund or ''FDGB'') was the sole national trade union centre of the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) which existed from 1946 and 1990. As a mass organis ...
. The FDJ established a political directive that, in theory, made it an omnipresent force in all aspects of 'youth life' in the GDR. FDJ organisations were found in all areas of East German society, albeit in widely varying numbers, from schools and universities, collective farms, shops and residential areas to the army and the secret police. As the only officially approved youth organisation, the FDJ quickly developed a huge bureaucratic apparatus and acquired generous financial support from state resources. The FDJ served as a general training ground for functionaries of the SED, the economy and the government. As the sole official representative of GDR youth, the FDJ was vital to the upbringing of young people as socialist personalities.Dennis, Mike. The Rise and Fall of the German Democratic Republic, 1945–1990. Harlow: Longman/Pearson, 2000, 205. Measures were employed in an attempt to encourage a sense of community spirit of working for a large whole and a better future. According to official prescription, this involved raising them to accept socialist ideals, to acquire a high level of knowledge and vocational skills, to participate actively in official economic and social programmes, to commit themselves to the cause of peace, and to participate in the military training programmes. In 1952, there was an attempt to militarise the FDJ through the creation of a paramilitary service. On 17 August 1961 the FDJ issued a 'Call to Arms' in a further attempt to encourage young men to join the armed forces. In schools, the Hans-Beimler contests provided a form of military sports education for pupils in the eighth grade. Military education and training received an added impetus by the FDJ in the late 1970s and early 1980s as a result of the breakdown of détente between the superpowers. The FDJ exercised significant influence over the selection process of universities. Membership and participation within the FDJ were definitive criteria during the allocation of university places. Alongside the Thälmann Pioneers, the FDJ was involved in controlling and disciplining rebellious students through denunciation and spying. After the construction of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the gover ...
, the FDJ were involved in obstructing the flow of western media into the GDR. FDJ units were dispatched among local communities, who chanted the names of known listeners to western programmes or stuck posters on their doors.Major, Patrick. Behind the Berlin Wall: East Germany and the Frontiers of Power. Oxford Scholarship Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, 191. FDJ members also demanded that license holders dismantled TV aerials that pointed westwards, which even led to FDJ members climbing onto the roofs and sawing off offending antennae. During the SED's reforms on youth policy in the 1960s, Ulbricht attacked the FDJ's unimaginative approach to young people, instead advocating a measure of relaxation of the rigid controls imposed on young people in the FDJ. The focus on providing leisure activities for East German youth returned and the organisation of major cultural events by the FDJ, such as the 'German meeting' (''Deutschlandtreffen'') increased, ultimately reaching a highpoint at the 1964 festival on the public holiday of Whitsuntide.Dennis, Mike. The Rise and Fall of the German Democratic Republic, 1945–1990. Harlow: Longman/Pearson, 2000, 113. Thousands of young East and West Germans gathered in East Berlin in a relaxed atmosphere where they danced, listened to jazz and rock music and exchanged views on political and personal matters. In 1965, the FDJ held a musicians' talent competition across the GDR with the final to occur in Berlin although the event ultimately degenerated into a scene of chaos. By the 1970s, well-organised mass parades and mass demonstrations on the occasion of public holidays such as May Day in which members of the FDJ would actively participate, marching in uniform and carrying official banners became a common occurrence. The FDJ possessed additional measures to mobilise young East German people. The FDJ aimed to make physical culture and sport a form of popular mass activity. The 'Joint Sports Programme' organised by the FDJ, the DTSB, and the FDGB, encouraged not only physical relaxation but also the competitive spirit of participation. The children's "Spartakiads", also organised by the FDJ, alongside the Thälman Pioneers and other mass organisations, were staged in the schools, localities and districts biannually at regional and national level in order to stimulate a high level of performance and help sports functionaries to identify talented youths who could benefit from further development in East German sports schools and training centres. Another objective of the FDJ was to ensure that individual students experienced holiday camp or carried out some activity during their holidays in a pupils' brigade. Holiday trips for hundreds of thousands of young adults were arranged annually by the FDJ's tourist agency, ''Jugendtourist''. Free-time activities were organised as part of the 'Young Talents' movement and in the tens of thousands of youth clubs and discos. By 1983 about one million of the GDR's 2.2 million pupils attended a holiday camp and 110,000 pupils over the age of fourteen engaged in 'voluntary productive work' in a FDJ's pupils' brigade in their home area.


The FDJ in West Germany

In October 1947 the 'Berlin-FDJ' was legalised by the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
. However, the 'West-FDJ' enjoyed little success in a hostile political environment. The FDJ's existence alongside three other youth organisations in the Allied Occupation Zone weakened the presence of the FDJ in Berlin in comparison to the five ''Länder'' (states) of the Soviet Occupation Zone, where the FDJ had been established more than eighteen months earlier. In November 1948, only 3 per cent of the city's youth population were FDJ members in comparison to an average of 17 per cent of 14- to 25-year-olds in the East German ''Länder''. The weakened presence of the 'West-FDJ' dashed the SED's hopes for a monopoly control over youth politics in Germany. On 26 June 1951 the 'West-FDJ' was banned, although this ban did not extend to West Berlin on account of its quadripartite division. After a protracted legal battle, the ban came into effect in 1954 when the FDJ's appeal was rejected by the West Germany's constitutional court. In 1952, Phillip Müller, a member of the FDJ, was shot by the
North Rhine-Westphalia Police The North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) State Police Force is the largest of the sixteen German state police forces with 50,000 personnel. Organisation Constabularies NRW has 47 police constabularies. The 18 urban constabularies are headed by a Pres ...
during a demonstration in Essen against West German re-armament. Afterwards, large numbers of the FDJ's membership were imprisoned.


Structure


Democratic Centralism

The FDJ's basic organizational structures were established at the 3rd Parliament in Leipzig in June 1949. Just like the SED and mass organizations in the GDR, the FDJ was grounded on the principle of
democratic centralism Democratic centralism is a practice in which political decisions reached by voting processes are binding upon all members of the political party. It is mainly associated with Leninism, wherein the party's political vanguard of professional revo ...
, a principle first introduced by
Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
to bring order and discipline to the
Bolshevik Party " Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...
during the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
. Accordingly, the FDJ was run on a strictly hierarchical and centralized basis. Each organizational unit was directly subordinate to the next-highest organizational body and instructions issued by the central FDJ leadership were binding for all lower-level organizations.


Central Council

The highest organ of the FDJ was its Parliament, which convened once every three or four years during the 1950s and 1960s. It was only during these conventions that major alterations to the FDJ's statute could be made. In the interim period, the Central Council (ZR) guided the FDJ affairs, assuming a similar role to that of the SED's Central Committee (ZK). ZR members were elected by the Parliament and met in sessions (''Tagungen'') held three or four times a year. The ZR's tasks included issuing resolutions on all aspects of the FDJ's work, confirming the candidates selected to take up the FDJ's seats in the East German parliament (the Volkskammer or 'People's Chamber'), and overseeing the youth organization's finances.


ZR Secretariat

The real executive power, however, lay in the hands of the ZR Secretariat, perhaps the FDJ's nearest equivalent to the SED Politburo. Elected by the Central Council, the ZR Secretariat shaped most of the political and organisational direction of the FDJ. It was responsible for cadre selection within the organization and directly instructed the Bezirk (regional) leaderships. Weekly meetings of the secretariat, generally chaired by the FDJ first secretary, were attended by the various ZR secretaries, each of whom responsible for a certain area of FDJ work (such as higher education or international affairs). The ZR Büro was, in theory, the fourth central leadership organ of the FDJ. It was created at the 3rd Parliament in 1949. It incorporated a wider range of youth representatives, including the leader of the government department for 'youth questions' and representatives of the bloc parties such as the CDU and the LDPD (23). However, it had no real power and was little more than an adjunct to the far more important ZR secretariat.


Bezirk and Kreis

The sub-structure below the FDJ's highest echelons, consisted of three main bodies organised in strictly hierarchical level: ''Bezirk'' (regional) leadership organizations, ''Kreis'' (district) leadership organizations, and 'basic units' (''Grundeinheiten''). At both ''Bezirk'' and ''Kreis'' level, the leadership structures essentially replicated those in place at the highest level. The 'delegates' conference' (''Delegiertenkonferenz'') was the lower-level equivalent to the FDJ Parliament, meeting twice every five years at ''Bezirk'' level and once every two years in the districts. The ''Bezirk'' and ''Kreis'' secretariats constituted the real seats of decision-making power at regional and district level respectively. The ''Kreis'' secretariat was the key organization linking the last of the full-time functionaries to the 'grass roots' of the youth organization, as represented by the basic unit, which constituted the FDJ's 'nerve centre' in schools, universities, factories, farms, and residential areas. It was responsible for organizing the monthly 'membership meetings' of local FDJ members, where organizational and (less frequently) political issues were discussed.McDougall, 24.


Basic Units

In most cases, the basic units were subdivided into the smallest organizational division of all, the 'group' (which might consist, for example, of the FDJ members in a certain class at a school or in a particular work brigade in a factory). In the case of the larger basic units (those with more than 100 members), specialized intermediary bodies—''Abteilungsorganisationen'' ('branch organizations')—were inserted into the organizational hierarchy, serving as a bridge to the FDJ groups below them. At these lower levels of the youth organization, only a small minority of functionaries—such as the first secretaries of some of the larger basic units—were full-time. The vast majority were volunteers drawn, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, from the ranks of 'ordinary' FDJ members. By the early fifties, the FDJ's transition to a 'party youth organization' was—on paper at least—almost complete.


List of chairmen of the Free German Youth


Demise


''Die Wende''

At the end of November 1989, the FDJ leadership led by Eberhard Aurich was dismissed by the 13th session of the Central Council. At the end of January 1990, during the XIII Parliament the FDJ gave itself a new statute, defining itself as a "left federation" which stood for an independent GDR as a "socialist alternative on German soil", and no longer as a "helper and combat reserve of the
party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featu ...
". The ''
Junge Welt ''Junge Welt'' (English: ''Young World'', stylized in its logo as ''junge Welt'') is a German daily newspaper, published in Berlin. The jW describes itself as a left-wing and Marxist newspaper. German authorities categorize it as a far-left medi ...
'' later spoke of a "failure of the organisation" because "the concentrated presence of former full-time officials" prevented a "radical break with the old FDJ". After the
Peaceful Revolution The Peaceful Revolution (german: Friedliche Revolution), as a part of the Revolutions of 1989, was the process of sociopolitical change that led to the opening of East Germany's borders with the West, the end of the ruling of the Socialist Unity ...
in the GDR, from November 1989 to November 1990, the number of members dropped from 2.3 million to 22,000. The FDJ contested the only multiparty election in
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...
in March 1990, as part of the ''Alternative Jugendliste'' (Alternative Youth List), an
electoral list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...
consisting of four leftwing youth organizations. However the list only gained 14,615 votes (0.12%) and no seats.


After unification

After
German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
in October 1990, the FDJ quickly lost nearly all of its remaining membership, shrinking in mid-1991 to 7,000 members and in 1994 to a maximum of 300 members, dwindling further in 2003 to about 150. The 7,500 full-time employees of the FDJ were all released by the end of 1991 and the remaining staff handled the FDJ facilities and structures. The assets of the FDJ were placed under the administration of the ''
Treuhandanstalt The (" Trust agency"), colloquially referred to as , was an agency established by the government of the German Democratic Republic to reprivatise/privatise East German enterprises, Volkseigene Betriebe (VEBs), prior to German reunification. C ...
''. Its youth clubs and vacation resorts were redistributed, closed, or sold. The reformed SED, the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), founded its own new youth organization, the ''Arbeitsgemeinschaft Junge GenossInnen'', and no longer recognized the FDJ. However, the FDJ continues to maintain a titular existence to this day. It has reverted to a strict Marxist–Leninist political line, which is exemplified by a positive reading of East German history and the rejection of the
federal republic A federal republic is a federation of states with a republican form of government. At its core, the literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means: "a country that is governed by elected representatives ...
and its annexation of the GDR. The FDJ remains independent, but cooperates with political groups such as the KPD (Ost) and the ''Arbeiterbund für den Wiederaufbau der KPD'' (Workers' Union for the Reconstruction of the KPD). Currently, the FDJ has its headquarters in the office section of the
Karl-Liebknecht-Haus The Karl-Liebknecht-Haus or ''Karl Liebknecht House'' is the headquarters of the party '' The Left'' in Germany. It is located between the Alexanderplatz and Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin-Mitte. Constructed in 1912 as a factory, the building w ...
. The former newspaper of the FDJ, the ''
Junge Welt ''Junge Welt'' (English: ''Young World'', stylized in its logo as ''junge Welt'') is a German daily newspaper, published in Berlin. The jW describes itself as a left-wing and Marxist newspaper. German authorities categorize it as a far-left medi ...
'', still exists as a small
Marxist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...
newspaper, but is now independent from the FDJ. The present newspaper of the FDJ is named the ''Fanfare'', and it is published irregularly.


See also

*
History of East Germany The German Democratic Republic (GDR), german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik (''DDR''), often known in English as East Germany, existed from 1949 to 1990. It covered the area of the present-day German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenbur ...


References


External links

* {{- Organisations based in East Germany Mass organisations of East Germany Historical youth organisations based in Germany Historical youth wings of political parties in Germany Youth wings of communist parties 1946 establishments in Germany Youth organizations established in 1946 Socialist Unity Party of Germany