Original Item: Only One Available. The organization of the HJ organization had numerous districts, and within these individual regiment style units called Bann were formed, which would often be named after army regiments raised from the area. Within these were smaller company sized units, and the Bann and company would be indicated on the shoulder straps, which also indicated the rank within the organization.

This very nice German WWII HJ National Youth organization uniform shirt from a member of the Reich Youth Leadership (Reichsjugendführung or RJF) Staff, an HJ pin & armband. There were several styles of uniforms utilized by the HJ, and this example is in a very nice dark navy blue color. The shoulder strap insignia no "Pips", indicating the lowest rank of Hi**erjunge (Private), which is about the same as a Soldat. The strap is also marked with Bann number 642 and no company number. The uniform also has a small HJ pin attached to the left breast pocket, and the correct RJF-Gefolgſchaft (RJF-Staff/Follower) triangle on the left shoulder. Below this is the standard HJ National Youth Organization Armband Insignia. The shirt has a few small field repairs which is to be expected for a uniform belonging to an adolescent. 

This is a very nice example of an HJ uniform shirt in great condition. This would be perfect for any WWII display!

Approximate Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 9.5"
Shoulder to sleeve: 20”
Shoulder to shoulder: 15”
Chest width: 16”
Waist width: 15"
Hip width: 15”
Front length: 23.5"

In 1922, the Munich-based NSDAP established its official youth organization called Jugendbund der NSDAP. It was announced on 8 March 1922 in the Völkischer Beobachter, and its inaugural meeting took place on 13 May the same year. Another youth group was established in 1922 as the Jungsturm Adolf “AH”. Based in Munich, Bavaria, it served to train and recruit future members of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the main paramilitary wing of the NSDAP Party at that time.

One reason the HJ so easily developed was that regimented organizations, often focused on politics, for young people and particularly adolescent boys were a familiar concept to German society in the Weimar Republic. Numerous youth movements existed across Germany prior to and especially after World War I. They were created for various purposes. Some were religious and others were ideological, but the more prominent ones were formed for political reasons, like the Young Conservatives and the Young Protestants. Once AH came onto the revolutionary scene, the transition from seemingly innocuous youth movements to political entities focused on AH was swift.

Following the abortive Beer Hall Putsch (in November 1923), NSDAP youth groups ostensibly disbanded, but many elements simply went underground, operating clandestinely in small units under assumed names. In April 1924, the Jugendbund der NSDAP was renamed Grossdeutsche Jugendbewegung (Greater German Youth Movement). On 4 July 1926, the Grossdeutsche Jugendbewegung was officially renamed HJ Bund der deutschen Arbeiterjugend (HJ League of German Worker Youth). This event took place a year after the NSDAP Party was reorganised. The architect of the re-organization was Kurt Gruber, a law student from Plauen in Saxony.

After a short power struggle with a rival organization—Gerhard Roßbach's Schilljugend—Gruber prevailed and his "Greater German Youth Movement" became the NSDAP Party's official youth organisation. In July 1926, it was renamed H -Jugend, Bund deutscher Arbeiterjugend ("H” Youth, League of German Worker Youth") and, for the first time, it officially became an integral part of the SA. The name H -Jugend was taken up on the suggestion of Hans Severus Ziegler. By 1930, the Hjugend (HJ) had enlisted over 25,000 boys aged 14 and upward. They also set up a junior branch, the Deutsches Jungvolk (DJ), for boys aged 10 to 14. Girls from 10 to 18 were given their own parallel organization, the League of German Girls (BDM).

In April 1932, Chancellor Heinrich Brüning banned the H Youth movement in an attempt to stop widespread political violence. However, in June, Brüning's successor as Chancellor, Franz von Papen, lifted the ban as a way of appeasing “AH”, the rapidly ascending political star. A further significant expansion drive started in 1933, after Baldur von Schirach was appointed by H as the first Reichsjugendführer (Reich Youth Leader). All youth organizations were brought under Schirach's control.