YOUTH RESISTANCE
IN WISMAR
The
Wismar "ring gang"
"TOUGH
LIKE LEATHER AND HARD AS STEEL"
The
The physical and ideological education of young people under National Socialism was
also met with resistance. Many young people tried to escape the drill and indoctrination.
indoctrination, such as the jazz-loving "Swing Youth" or the "Edelweiss Pirates" who resisted.
the "Edelweiss Pirates". In Wismar at the end of 1943, Ernst D., Horst
Käkenmeister, Udo K., Herbert S., Paul Waade, Otto W. and Georg W. joined forces against the Hitler Youth.
against the Hitler Youth.
The
young people chose a ring as a symbol of cohesion, which each
member was to wear and called themselves the "ring gang". They gave themselves names of
jazz greats or names borrowed from American crime fiction.
Paul
Waade was called "Chicago" because the plots of many of the books he read
were set in this city. Like most of the members, he came from a working class family.
his father was a communist and lived in exile. All of them had already
Nazi authorities: Going to restaurants and cinemas without
accompanied by adults, "loitering" on public streets and squares during the hours of darkness
streets and squares during the hours of darkness, being deprived of compulsory HJ service and brawls with
HJ members were punished with youth detention.
---
The
meeting point for the "ring gang" was the harbor smithy at Ziegenmarkt. Master blacksmith
Otto W. and Horst Käkenmeister were apprenticed to master blacksmiths Schoknecht. Here the young people listened to
BBC news, which they also passed on to French prisoners of war. Popular
The banned foreign station was mainly popular because of its swing music.
They Germanized one of the songs: "Jobb Goebbels dances swing in the Wintergarten.
His wooden leg sounds like a drum kit." At night, during the blackout,
the group roamed through Wismar, chanting the communist "Internationale".
Some of the young people got hold of pistols. In the blacksmith's workshop
the firearms were fired when Master Schoknecht was out.
--
All
These activities were mostly spontaneous and were done out of reluctance against the
harassment by the HJ or out of a thirst for adventure. January 1944 was a different story.
members of the "Ringbande" had heard about the "Edelweiss Pirates" and
decided to make contact with the group. Herbert S. and Paul Waade
went to Hamburg on January 23 and found a young man in a pub on the Reeperbahn
who described himself as an "Edelweiss Pirate". However, there was no further
cooperation, however. The next day, the youths from Wismar
youths were arrested one by one. With the exception of Otto W., all of them were still
minors. Paul Waade reported on the arrest by the Gestapo: "They came between five and six in the morning.
came between five and six in the morning. [...] I was then taken to the
prison in Wismar [...] for two or three days - and then we were
transferred to Schwerin."
-
The
Hamburg Higher Regional Court did not convene at Schwerin's Demmlerplatz until a year later, on
The young people were sentenced to prison terms of between nine months and three and a half years.
between nine months and three and a half years. They were lucky, because the
court also accused them of having criminal energy, but did not see any political or
political or oppositional motives behind them. Rather, it found them to be
half-mature and unbalanced. In contrast, the "Edelweiss Pirates" had been brutally persecuted
persecuted and only a few survived the Nazi regime. Paul Waade received a year in youth prison
for participating in an anti-state organization and listening to foreign radio stations.
stations. The sentence was deemed to have been served by the pre-trial detention.
of the "ring gang" were sent to the remand prison in Hagenow after the sentence was handed down.
Hagenow, to Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel or to the Neumünster youth prison. After
the end of the war, they were released in May 1945.
YOUTH RESISTANCE IN WISMAR
The Wismar "Ring Gang"
"TOUGH AS LEATHER AND HARD AS KRUPP STEEL"
The physical and ideological education of
youth under National Socialism also met with
resistance. Many young people tried
to elude the drill and indoctrination, such as
the jazz-loving "Swing Youth" or the
"Edelweiss Pirates" who were in the resistance. In
Wismar,
at the end of 1943, Ernst D.,
Horst Käkenmeister,
Udo K., Herbert S., Paul
Waade, Otto W., and
Georg W. joined forces
against the Hitler Youth.
The young people chose a ring as a symbol
of solidarity, which every member was to wear, and called
themselves the "Ring Gang." They gave
themselves names of jazz greats or names borrowed from
American crime fiction.
Paul Waade was called "Chicago" because the
plots of many of the books he read were set in this city. He, like most of the
members, came from a working-class family; his father was a communist and lived
in exile. All of them had already attracted negative attention from the Nazi
authorities: visiting restaurants and cinemas without adult supervision,
"loitering" on public streets and squares after dark, evading
compulsory Hitler Youth service, and fighting with Hitler Youth members were
punishable by youth detention.
The meeting place of the "Ring Gang" was the
harbor blacksmith's store at the Ziegenmarkt. Otto W. and Horst Käkenmeister
were apprenticed to master blacksmith Schoknecht. Here, the young people
listened to BBC news, which they also passed on to French prisoners of war. The
banned foreign station was popular primarily because of its swing music. They
translated one of the songs into German: "Jobb Goebbels dances swing in
the winter garden. His wooden leg sounds like a drum." At night, during
blackouts, the group marched through Wismar, belting out the communist
"Internationale." Some of the young people got hold of pistols. The
firearms were fired in the blacksmith's workshop when Master Schoknecht was
out.
All of these activities mostly occurred spontaneously and
out of resentment against the harassment of the Hitler Youth or out of a thirst
for adventure. Things were different in January 1944. The members of the
"Ring Gang" had heard of the "Edelweiss Pirates" and
decided to make contact with the group.
Herbert S. and Paul Waade traveled to Hamburg on January
23 and found a young man in a bar on the Reeperbahn who called himself an
"Edelweiss Pirate." However, no further collaboration took place. The
next day, the Wismar youths were arrested one by one. Except for Otto W., all
were still minors. Paul Waade reported on the arrest by the Gestapo: "They
came between five and six in the morning. [...] I was then taken to prison, in
Wismar [...] for two or three days - and then we were transferred to
Schwerin."
The Hamburg Higher Regional Court convened at Schwerin's
Demmlerplatz a year later, on January 24, 1945. The youths were sentenced to
prison terms of between nine months and three and a half years. They were
lucky, because the court also accused them of criminal activity, but saw no
political or oppositional motives behind it. It found them rather immature and
unbalanced. In contrast, the "Edelweiss Pirates" had been brutally
persecuted, and only a few survived the Nazi regime. Paul Waade received a year
in youth prison for participating in an anti-state organization and listening
to foreign radio stations. The sentence was considered to have been served due
to the pre-trial detention. Other members of the "Ring Gang" were
sent to serve their sentences after the verdict was announced in the Hagenow
remand prison, in Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel, or in the Neumünster youth prison.
After the end of the war, they were released in May 1945.
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