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“The Meutens were a gang of children and teens who were Anti-Nazi”. The group was also communist and politically based. “They would try to overrule the Nazi government and bring in childern of who are in the working class”. The childern were vocal and couragoues for expressing themselves againist the Nazi Rule. “They would also find many unique ways to resist against the Nazi Rule.  They were mainly involved during the 1930s, ending in 1939. They were located in Leipzig, Germany, but some of the group was in Saxon towns and Dresden”.

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"The Edelweiss Pirates was a rebel group of young working class that fought against the Nazis". They were known for being very rebellious and brave kids. The Pirates' tagline was “Eternal War on the Hitler Youth.” They stood up for what they believed in and expressed themself through music and acts of resistance like raiding Army camps to get weapons and explosives. They spent a lot of time outside in nature to get away. "They fought against the Nazis between 1939-1945 They were located in western Germany In cities like Cologne, Oberhausen, Düsseldorf, and Essen".

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“A 1938 photo of a group of Edelweiss Pirates, an unofficial youth group that emerged in response to the strict regimentation of the Hitler Youth.”

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The Pirates would resist and oppose the Nazi goverment in many ways. They would sabotage events, steal weapons and explosives, and hijack military vehicles. Another thing the group did was make anti- Nazi propganda and wear diffrent clothes like bright colors, checkered shirts, white socks and more. They wore these clothes to defy the standards and stand out to show what they believed in. The pirates especially show defiance through music. Muisic was a big part of the Edweiss Pirates group, they would come together for camping trips and write their own anti Nazi lyrics and listen to banned songs like American Jass music and perform concerts to defi. They did these things as a community and to express where they stand in the war.

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Memorial in Cologne for the hanged youth

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The Pirates bravery and dedication helped many people escape from the Nazi rule. They would shelter escaped prisoners and help them find ways to escape. While the Pirates helped save many lives, they did lose a lot of members on the way, specifically 13 group leaders were caught for resisting and publicly hanged; none of these members received trials.

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the edelweiss pirates: teenage rebels in nazi germany dirk reinhardt

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There are now multiple books written about the Eselweiss pirates. "A popular one published in 2023 called The Edelweiss Pirates: Teenage Rebels in Nazi Germany". These books show the impact and bravery of kids during this time and help bring awareness towards their Legacy.

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The Leipzig Meutens did many things to resist Nazi rule. One of the things they did was graffiti on public buildings and walls. They would graffiti things like " Down with Hitler" and " Freedom" as a way of showing their emotion towards the Nazi government. The Meutens would also disrupt Nazi events and meetings as a way of protesting against the Nazis. Lastly, they would make their appearance and lifestyles different from the normal German way of living. The Meutens would wear uniform clothing, like checked skirts for girls and boys would wear trousers. They would wear this type of clothing so they could identify who was in their group and be defiant towards the Nazis.

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"Hitler’s power may lay us low,

And keep us locked in chains,

But we will smash the chains one day,

We’ll be free again

We’ve got fists and we can fight,

We’ve got knives and we’ll get them out

We want freedom, don’t we boys?

We’re the fighting Navajos!"

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The edelweiss flower is a flower that can be found in the mountains. It represents loyalty, freedom, and dedication.

“This flower was a way for them to identify with each other and show solidarity against the Hitler Youth and the broader Nazi ideology.”

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The song I chose is called Es war in Shanghai, in English means I was in Shanghai. This song is written by Jean Jülich, a member of the Edweiss Pirates. Jean wrote muliable songs about Anti Nazism and his songs were sung by members of the group during the war to keep their spirits up and resist the Nazi’s. Jean Jülich is a great example of a brave kid who opposed Nazism, at the age of 10 Jean joined Hitler youth but shortly became hesistant to particpate. At 14, he and some friends interacted with some older Edeiwess pirates and were interested in what they did and would join them in music. Once the older Pirates got drafted, Jean and his friends took over their spots. From there, they continued to resist Hitler and be defiant. Doing this was very dangerous, and Jean eventually got arrested. Luckily, in February of 1945, American soldiers saved him, and Jean got freed, going on to live out his life writing music.

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The Leigpzig Meutens did many fearless and couragous things to resist and fight back against the Nazis. They were very vocal and disrupted events but they would also show their emotions through street art and going against Nazi propaganda. The impacted young people who were scared to resist and use their voice at the time because they didn't think they had one. The Meutens would also break up other groups they didn't believe were doing the right thing, which inspired other Germans to do the same. So the Meutens explained their feelings using many different forms of are and they made other scared Germans feel like there were ways to express themselves without publicly speaking to Nazis and they could just shared how they felt with other Germans.

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The Leipzig Meutens expressed their beliefs and thoughts through many things. They would be involved in street art, such as graffiti, and spread messages and quotes that told how they felt about the government. They would also make songs and play instruments similar to the Edleweiss Pirates, so they sang how they felt and expressed themselves vocally.

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The swing kids showed up in 1935 in Hamburg, Berlin, and Frankfurt. They would resist by “ cultural resistance” meaning that they went against what the Nazis did and believed. They would act out in ways such as growing their hair and dressing in ways that were “culturally unacceptable”  to the Nazis. They were primarily personal cultured meaning they did what they believed to be true vs what the Nazis believed to be true. The Swing Kids also used the slogan “Swing Heil” which mocked the Nazi slogan “Heil Hitler” This publicly showed their defiance and disagreement with the holocaust.

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The swing kids were a group of resisting young people who didn't have a political opinion. They refused to support or join the Nazi youth and they would express themselves through their favorite type of music. They would dance but had a unique style. Often times 2 boys would dance with 1 girl, link arms and jump, long hair flopping in the face, they go all out to say the least. Besides dancing and using music, they would wear clothes that were not Nazi approved and grow their hair in ways that would not have been acceptable. While the Swing Kids were a nonviolent group, they were still persecuted and some even killed for their actions.

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After a while of rejecting the Hitler Youth and expressing their love for music, the Swing Kids faced some adversity. Some were arrested, questioned, and forced to cut their hair, others were deported to concentration camp where they would face intense labor and some even death. While they did not have a direct impact on the holocaust itself, they did encourage some disbelief and doubt to form in different groups, about what the Nazis were doing and who they were doing it to. This lead other groups to turn on the Nazis, so while it may have been slight, the Swing kids did have a small impact on the outcome of the holocaust.

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The Swing Kids were located and active in Frankfurt, Berlin, and Hamburg.

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The media I chose is the Swing Kids movie. This movie is directly about the group of anti-Nazi children during the holocaust. It portrays the love the group had for music and the adversity they later faced. The film follows two kids attempting to be Hitler Youth by day and Swing kids by night. The producers of this film, Mark Gordon and John Bard Manulis, did an excellent job showing us how the two kids have to try and balance being two identities at once without being caught, for they know the consequences that would come with it.

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This image shows two people dancing and having fun even though this would have been illegal and very disrespectful to the Nazis.