Germany - Third Reich: Luftwaffenhelfer (HJ) Cloth Breast Eagle, machine-woven form, complete.
Condition: Good Condition.
Luftwaffenhelfer (literally, "air force assistants") were established on January 22, 1943, following implementation of the decree Kriegshilfseinsatz der Jugend bei der Luftwaffe ("Youth War Assistance Service in the Air Force"). The order called for drafting whole school classes of male students born in 1926 and 1927 into a military corps, supervised by Hitler Youth and Luftwaffe personnel. The draft was later extended to include 1928 and 1929 births. Deployment included ideological indoctrination by the Hitler Youth, military duties and limited continuation of the normal school curriculum, often by the original teachers.
While the official term was Luftwaffenhelfer (HJ), the term more commonly used is Flakhelfer (female: Flakhelferin) (Flak-helper). The 1926–1929 births are commonly referred to as the "Flakhelfer-Generation". In German culture, the phrase is associated with the collective and incisive experience of being torn out of conventional adolescent life through circumstances of total war and being thrown into strict military service and extreme peril; in the final phase of the war, the antiaircraft batteries became preferred targets of Allied aircraft.
In August 1944, some 660,000 regular male soldiers and 450,000 female helpers (anti-aircraft personnel) in all departments served with the Luftwaffe within the 'auxiliary antiaircraft defense'. Many of the girls came from the Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM), although they had to officially join the Wehrmacht because it was forbidden for BDM members to do armed duty. In 1945, "Flakhelferinnen" and other female assistants were trained and allowed to carry weapons to defend themselves.
