“Girl in the Country” (German: Mädel im Landjahr) is a silent, black-and-white historic German film produced during WWII as propaganda in support of the Nazi regime. In particular, the film was made to highlight life at an indoctrination camp for the League of German Girls / Band of German Maidens (BDM) (the girls’ wing of the Hitler Youth). The BDM used campfire romanticism, summer camps, tradition, and sports to indoctrinate girls within the Nazi belief system and train them for their roles in German society: wife, mother, and homemaker. Note: This film would have originally been accompanied by a typewritten script, which would have been read out loud by an instructor or projectionist.
Disclaimer for YouTube (0:00). Film begins, logo for Reich Agency for Job Placement and Unemployment Insurance (RAfAuA) (0:14). Group of young women/girls wearing long jackets, carrying suitcases, ushered into courtyard of rural compound where they are greeted by a female supervisor (0:31). Text “We become comrades” (1:48). Camera slowly pans faces of the young women as they listen to the introduction (1:51). Austere living quarters, multiple bunk beds line walls of small room, after sound of bell girls change into workout uniforms (2:08). Girls run into courtyard, line up shoulder to shoulder for inspection (2:34). Physical training: light jog, jumping jacks, stretching (3:10). Communal bathroom, girls help each other wash off in small tin buckets and washcloth, brush teeth over same small sink (4:16). Back in courtyard for another inspection, this time girls wearing knee-length dresses, one girl leads group in Hitler Salute (5:05). Nazi flags raised up flagpoles (5:34). Text “Our happy day’s work” (6:25). Farmer delivers straw, hay to commune on horse-drawn carriage; Girls get to work sorting through hay, stuff hay into burlap sacks used for mattresses (6:29). Group of girls hurry into storage closet, hand out brooms, buckets, and rags before girls return to courtyard for inspection by one of their peers – girls get to work fetching water, scrubbing stairway (8:45). Girls change out of shoes and into work slippers, stand in line and hold up soles of shoes for inspection (10:49). Sequence of shots of girls harvesting crops from communal garden – Leafy greens, tomatoes, string beans, potatoes; Sit together smiling, laughing as they peel/ clean potatoes (12:02-15:10). All the girls sit together at long, communal table (15:30). Girl writes out what appears to be grocery list, budgets out prices of ingredients (15:46). Text “Our daily bread” (16:12). Shots from a grain mill, girls in dresses and aprons meet with young man who shoes them harvested grain, windmill at grain mill; Back at compound girls gather around and use freshly ground flour to kneed, roll, bake fresh bread; Bring trays with loaves to outdoor oven (16:15). Close-up as girls carry freshly backed loaves of bread back to kitchen, slices of bread smothered in butter lined up on tray, bread and tea given out to girls in courtyard as afternoon snack (19:24). Girls sit together under tree in circle, laughing together while knitting what appear to be socks (20:56). Text “The struggle of our people – our training” (21:44). Girls sit together in grass field reading articles of German-language newspaper, attend geography class (21:50). Text “In the costumes of our peasant women” (23:25). Older woman already dressed in “peasant costume” helps dress one of the girls; Scene changes to group of girls in traditional dress performing dance, other girl plays accordion as live music accompaniment (23:30). Woman from previous scenes in traditional dress demonstrates for girls how to spin flax into thread on traditional wheel (25:23). Clothes making: Girls use paper patterns to cut floral fabric, practice pinning garments on each other before hand sewing, ironing dresses (27:07). Gentle glow from singular lamp illuminates room of girls knitting together (29:14). Glimpse of girls seen through doorway wearing military-like uniforms, gather around campfire holding torches (29:33). Text with quote by Hitler (30:38). Film ends (30:57).
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
