Trude Mohr (later Trude Bürkner-Mohr) (September 12, 1902 – 1989) was the first Reichsreferentin of the Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM).

Early life

She was born in 1902 to a German nationalist family. She never completed gymnasium,Kater, Michael H. (2004
"Hitler Youth"
Harvard University Press. , . p. 78 and joined the German nationalist youth movement by the 1920s,Pelinka, Anton; Thurner, Erika. (1998
"Women in Austria"
Transaction Publishers. , . pp. 20-23. becoming a Bund Deutscher Mädel leader.Reese, Dagmar. (2006
"Growing up female in Nazi Germany"
University of Michigan Press. , . p. 48. She found employment in the postal service.

NSDAP and BDM

In 1928 she joined the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

(Nazi Party), and in 1930 she was assigned the task of establishing a BDM in a Brandenburg district as an arm of the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth ( , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was th ...

. She became its leader in 1931, and by 1932 her group was the second largest in the country. When the Hitler Youth was suspended for excessive violence in 1932, the BDM was as well. This did not deter Mohr or her staff, and they carried on the activities of the organization. After internal feuding, it was restored and in 1933 she was given leave from her employment with the postal service to be able to devote herself to the greater establishment of the BDM. She was appointed the first Reichsreferentin in June 1934. Her main initiative was to nourish a new way of living for the German youth, stating:

Resignation and legacy

In 1937, after marrying

Obersturmführer __NOTOC__ (, ; short: ''Ostuf'') was a Nazi Germany paramilitary ranks, Nazi Germany paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organisations, such as the Sturmabteilung, SA, Schutzstaffel, SS, National Socialist Motor Corps, NSKK and the ...

Wolf Bürkner,"Auch Du gehörst dem Führer": die Geschichte des Bundes Deutscher Mädel (BDM) in Quellen und Dokumenten
/ref> she became pregnant and resigned her duties. Party rules required that any female leader was to be unmarried. At the time of her resignation, the organization had grown to 2.7 million members. She was succeeded by Jutta Rüdiger. In an interview in 1980, she stated she was devoted to a single idea for her whole life, and was not ashamed of it.

Later life

After her resignation, she took a position with Hermann Göring Works administering social welfare services to employees. Her application for a coveted low-ranking party position was not accepted, resulting in her increasing efforts to obtain such. In June 1945 she was captured and briefly imprisoned by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

,
"1945 war Bürkner-Mohr kurz interniert, danach Hausfrau. 1953 kandidierte se für die Partie Gesamtdeutscher Block/Bund der Heimatvertriebenen und Entrechteten vergeblich für den niedersächsicchen Landtag und den Deutschen Bundestag. 1953-80 war sie wieder berufstatig, u.a. in der Betribesfürsorge deutscher Konzerne." and then became a housewife. In 1953 she stood unsuccessfully in the elections for the

Landtag of Lower Saxony The Lower Saxon Landtag () or the Parliament of Lower Saxony is the state diet of the German state of Lower Saxony. It convenes in Hanover and currently consists of 146 members, consisting of four parties. Since 2022 the majority is a coalition ...

and the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

as a candidate for the

All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights ( or GB/BHE) was a right-wing political party in West Germany, which acted as an advocacy group for the Germans who had fled and been expelled from Central and Eastern Europe during ...

. From 1953 to 1980 she worked in social welfare for German corporations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohr, Trude 1902 births 1989 deaths German prisoners and detainees Hitler Youth members Nazi Party members Prisoners and detainees of the British military Women in Nazi Germany