On April 19, I was admitted to the Hitler Youth. At half past nine we were sat at home, then we marched to the ice cellar. There we had to stand for ages because the initiation ceremony wasn’t until eleven. When the time came, we marched into the hall. Our parents had also been invited to the celebration. Then the local group leader spoke. His speech was really great. At twelve o’clock the celebration was over and we went home again. We also have sports practice. There we train with equipment but also do exercises using our body weight alone. The first time we had sports practice we did leapfrog jumps. The next day my muscles were completely sore and I could barely walk. At the social evening the day before our leader told us about the Führer and his top staff, then we learned some songs. On the Saturday was the Reichsentscheid <em[the final ceremony]. In the ice cellar we had to stand in rows as we had done in the hall. Then came two ring leaders. They asked a few questions and then some of the older girls did a beautiful folk dance. We were really freezing, though, because we had to take off our jackets and were only wearing ankle socks. It was really very cold. It was there that I picked up my tonsillitis. Occasionally we played scouting games but not very often as we had to spare our shoe soles. As I have an ear infection at the moment, I am not allowed to get involved with my duties until the summer holidays.
Among the Jungmädelschar [the Young Girls’ Troop]
Germany, June 8, 1942
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