Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

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This organisation was numerically the most popular and clearly provided a large
variety of activities for its members in an attempt to meet all their educational and
recreational needs. The majority of its membership also belonged to Der Schild.
Der Schild was the sporting association of the national Jewish war veterans’
association, the Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten. It operated both adult and
youth sports’ associations and the youth wing in Magdeburg was well represented
and extremely popular. All interviewees recalled their uniforms of black shorts,
white shirts with a sewn-on badge bearing the word ‘Schild’ in a shield in black
lettering on white background. When Gisela Kent was interviewed, she produced
the badge, an important and symbolic reminder of her past, that was packed
amongst her possessions when she emigrated in August 1938. Interviewees
recalled participating in competition sports in football and European handball,
both at the sports ground adjacent to the Jewish cemetery and in other places. This
organisation was the only Jewish youth group in Magdeburg still operational
when the Reichskristallnacht took place.
Former members of these non-Zionist youth groups believed that the groups
and their associated activities did foster a positive Jewish identity for them, but
they also stressed how limited their options for social gatherings and activities
with other young Jews were. Many felt that this was the driving force behind their
active membership, rather than ideology. Like all young people they wanted to
access both social and recreational activities. Despite the groups’ non-Zionist and
nationalist ideology, the majority of members did not generally share the views of
their adult counterparts toward their German identities. They did not reject their
Germanness outright. However, owing to the pervading culture of hate and the