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The Edelweiss Pirates (''Edelweißpiraten'') were a loosely organized group of youth in Nazi Germany. They emerged in western Germany out of the German Youth Movement of the late 1930s in response to the strict regimentation of the Hitler Youth. Similar in many ways to the ''Leipzig Meuten'', they consisted of young people, mainly between the ages of 14 and 17, who had evaded the Hitler Youth by leaving school (which was allowed at 14) and were also young enough to avoid military conscription, which was only compulsory from the age of 17 onward. The roots and background of the Edelweiss Pirates movement were broached in the 2004 film ''Edelweiss Pirates'', directed by Niko von Glasow. ==History (1930s)== The origins of the ''Edelweißpiraten'' can be traced to the period immediately prior to World War II, as the state-controlled Hitler Youth was mobilized to indoctrinate young people, at the expense of the leisure activities previously offered to them. This tension was exacerbated once the war began and youth leaders were conscripted. In contrast, the ''Edelweißpiraten'' offered young people considerable freedom to express themselves and to mingle with members of the opposite sex, whereas Nazi youth movements were strictly segregated by gender, the ''Hitler-Jugend'' for boys and the ''Bund Deutscher Mädel'' for girls. Although predominantly male, the casual meetings of the ''Edelweißpiraten'' even offered German adolescents an opportunity for sexual experimentation with the opposite sex. The ''Edelweißpiraten'' used many symbols of the outlawed German Youth Movement, including their tent (the ''Kohte''), their style of clothing (the ''Jungschaftsjacke''), and their songs. The first ''Edelweißpiraten'' appeared in the late 1930s in western Germany, comprising mostly young people between 14 and 18. Individual groups were closely associated with different regions but identifiable by a common style of dress with their own edelweiss badge and by their opposition to what they saw as the paramilitary nature of the Hitler Youth. Subgroups of the ''Edelweißpiraten'' included the ''Navajos'', centred on Cologne, the ''Kittelbach Pirates'' of Oberhausen and Düsseldorf, and the ''Roving Dudes'' of Essen. According to one Nazi official in 1941, "Every child knows who the Kittelbach Pirates are. They are everywhere; there are more of them than there are Hitler Youth... They beat up the patrols... They never take no for an answer." Although they rejected the Nazis' authoritarianism, the ''Edelweißpiraten's'' nonconformist behaviour tended to be restricted to petty provocations. Despite this, they represented a group of youth who rebelled against the government's regimentation of leisure and were unimpressed by the propaganda touting ''Volksgemeinschaft'' ("people's community").〔 During the war, many ''Edelweißpiraten'' supported the Allies and assisted deserters from the German Army. Some groups also collected propaganda leaflets dropped by Allied aircraft and pushed them through letterboxes.〔 Apart from gatherings on street corners, the ''Edelweißpiraten'' engaged in hiking and camping trips, defying the restrictions on free movement, which kept them away from the prying eyes of the totalitarian regime.〔 They were highly antagonistic to the Hitler Youth, ambushing their patrols and taking great pride in beating them up. One of their slogans was "Eternal War on the Hitler Youth".〔 As one subgroup, the Navajos, sang: 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Edelweiss Pirates」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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