Books About the League of German Girls

The following is a reading list of books about the League of German Girls and also about the Hitler Youth in general. They are sorted in two sections: English and German language. Both sections are sorted alphabetically by author.

The books below are included in this list because they are available on the subject, not because I necessarily think they are good books.

Researchers should note that the vast majority of these books are written in German and are not available translated into English. Many will also need to be special ordered, for exaple through Alibris or the German book site ZVAB.

I recommend that you also try to get your hands on contemporary (1930s and 1940s) German sources about the League of German Girls. Period sources give us a better insight in what the League did and what their views about doing it were at the time.

I find period sources to be valuable because most modern authors and historians like to retroactively add additional meaning to quotes and texts they examine in their research, and this does not give us an objective view, even if it wasn’t done on purpose. In order to really learn about and from history, we need to look at period sources without putting them into modern context. In other words, we should ask ourselves, “If I read this in 1933 without knowing the things I know today, how would I have viewed and understood this text?

English Language Books

R.J. Angolia – “The Hitler Youth”
Philip Baker – “Youth Led by Youth”, three book series
Alan Dearn – “The Hitler Youth 1933-45”, new from Osprey
Brenda Ralph Lewis – “Hitler Youth, the Hitlerjugend at War and Peace 1933-1945”
Cynthia A. Sandor – “Through Innocent Eyes – The Chosen Girls of the Hitler Youth”
David Littlejohn – “The Hitler Youth”
Eleanor Ramrath Garner – “Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany”
Lothrop Stoddard – “Into the Darkness”

German Language Books

Margret Aull-Fuerstenberg – “Lebensluege Hitlerjugend”
Artur Axmann – “Hitlerjugend”
Hildegard Fritsch – “Land, mein Land”
Johanna Gehmacher – “Jugend ohne Zukunft
Frank Grube and Gerhard Richter – “Alltag im 3. Reich”
Sabine Hering – “Das BDM-Werk Glaube und Schoenheit”
Birgit Juergens – “Zur Geschichte des BDM von 1923 bis 1939”
Gabriele Kinz – “Der Bund Deutscher Maedel”
Martin Klaus – “Maedchen im Dritten Reich”
Arno Kloenne – “Jugend im Dritten Reich”
Hertha Linde – “So waren wir, Bildband zur Geschichte des BDM”
Melita Maschmann – “Fazit”
Friederike Niederdalhoff – “Im Sinne des Systems einsatzbereit”
Alexandra Offermanns – “Wir wussten, was uns gefaellt”
Dagmar Reese – “Die BDM Generation”
Dagmar Reese – “Straff aber nicht Stramm, Herb aber nicht Derb”
Ruth Reimann-Moeller – “Alles in Scherben”
Jutta Ruediger – “Der BDM – Eine Richtigstellung”
Jutta Ruediger – “Ein Leben fuer die Jugend”
Jutta Ruediger – “Die Hitlerjugend und ihr Selbstverstaendnis”
Alexander Shuk – “Das Nationalsozialistische Weltbild”
Renate Strien – “Maedchenerziehung in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus”
Nobert Westenrieder – “Deutsche Frauen und Maedchen”