Free German Youth (Let's Kill Hitler)

The Free German Youth (German: Freie Deutsche Jugend, abbriev. FDJ) is the youth organisation of the Socialist Republic of Germany. It was first established in 1936 as an underground movement and then reformed in 1941 in order to compete with the Hitler Youth organisation in South Germany.

History
The FDJ was established in January 1936 as a merger of the Young Communist League of Germany, Socialist Youth League of Germany and the Socialist Workers Youth as an underground movement to oppose Hitler and the Nazi Party's rule. However, the Gestapo of the Third Reich effectively prevented pro-communist groups such as the FDJ from operating within the country and the group was subsequently pushed out of Nazi Germany. During the same year, the organization moved its headquarters to Paris, to Prague in 1938 and later to London. After the Berlin Revolution of 1939, the FDJ returned to North Germany, where it began to rebuild itself as the North German youth organisation.



The FDJ's reformation was complete in March 1941, and a foundation ceremony was organised on 14th March. The FDJ was now a branch of the North German Armed Forces, designed as a cadet organisation to prepare youths aged 9 to 17 for national service once they turned 17.

Structure
The FDJ is composed of many chapters (Gruppen) which are present in most cities of the SRD. Each Gruppen is led by a Chapter Leader (Gruppenleiter), most often a young member of the military. The Gruppen themselves were split into several components. The three main parts of each Gruppe are the Army Squad (Armeekader), the Marine Squad (Marinekader) and the Air Squad (Luftkader). These subdivisions are for members aged 13 and above. The Army, Marine and Air Squads trained FRD members to serve in the military area of their choice - the Red Army, Navy or Air Corps respectively.

Other components of the Gruppe include the Kinderkader, which are for people aged 9 to 12. There is one Kinderkader for each age group. Each squad or Kader, while part of the Gruppe, is also part of a national federation of Kader. The Armeekader, for example, are all part of the Armeekader Bund.

A Kader is led by an Kaderleiter and a Kadermentor. The Kaderleiter is elected by the members of the Kader from their own ranks as their leader, while the Kadermentor is an adult from the armed forces appointed by the FDJ's Central Council.

When new members join Kinderkader, they remain in the same group as they age until they become 13, whereupon they choose the branch they wish to serve once they leave the FDJ and enter the armed forces. After they've made their choice, the child is transferred to a newly formed Kader, in which they remain until they leave the FDJ.