Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation
The Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation, consisting of the Young Pioneers and the Thälmann Pioneers, was a youth organisation of schoolchildren aged 6 to 13 in East Germany. They were named after Ernst Thälmann, the former leader of the Communist Party of Germany, who was executed at the Buchenwald concentration camp.
| Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation Pionierorganisation Ernst Thälmann | |
|---|---|
Emblem of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organization | |
Flag | |
| Founded | 13 December 1948 |
| Dissolved | August 1990 |
| Headquarters | East Berlin, German Democratic Republic |
| Ideology | Communism Marxism–Leninism Stalinism (until 1956) |
| International affiliation | WFDY |
| National affiliation | Democratic Bloc (1948–1950) National Front (1950–1990) |
The group was a subdivision of the Freie Deutsche Jugend (FDJ, Free German Youth), East Germany's youth movement. It was founded on 13 December 1948 and broke apart in 1989 on German reunification. In the 1960s and 1970s, nearly all schoolchildren between ages 6 and 13 were organised into Young Pioneer or Thälmann Pioneer groups, with the organisations having "nearly two million children" collectively by 1975.
The pioneer group was loosely based on Scouting, but organised in such a way as to indoctrinate schoolchildren aged 6 – 13 with socialist ideology and prepare them for the Freie Deutsche Jugend, the FDJ. Afternoons spent at the pioneer group mainly consisted of a mixture of adventure, myth-like socialist indoctrination and the upkeep of revolutionary traditions. In the summer, children usually went to pioneer camps similar to the West German Wandervogel groups or the Scouts. International pioneer camps were also common, intended to foster friendship between different nationalities.