Summary

Badge of Freie Deutsche Jugend (FDJ), Free German Youth.

"The Free German Youth, also known as the FDJ (German: Freie Deutsche Jugend), is a youth movement in Germany. Formerly it was the official youth movement of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany.....The FDJ was founded in January 1936 through the merger of the Young Communist League of Germany, Socialist Youth League of Germany and the Socialist Workers Youth[7] as an underground anti-fascist movement to oppose Hitler and the Nazi Party's rule. However, the Gestapo of the Third Reich effectively prevented pro-communist groups such as the FDJ from operating within the country and the group was subsequently pushed out of Nazi Germany. " (Wikipedia 3 May 2018)

Part of collection of badges collected by Jim Cooper, a veteran member of the Building Workers' Industrial Union (NSW Branch) and Union and political activist before his death in 1984. His daughter passed the badges on to Alf Zeeno, ex-secretary of the BWIU, with a request that they be donated to the museum.

Physical Description

Metal shield-shaped badge with sunrise image in blue and metal in lower section, and initials on black bacgkround in upper section.

More Information