Excerpt from Internal Party Materials; Decision by the Politburo from October 22, 1957

I. Ideological tasks of the Jugendweihe

The Jugendweihe was successfully implemented in 1957. As an old revolutionary working-class custom, it is among the valuable traditions of the Socialist workers’ movement; it is being cultivated among us and filled with new content.

The Jugendweihe is contributing to an ever-greater extent to educating our boys and girls in Socialist thinking and acting, to enriching their knowledge, and to solidifying their morals. It helps in developing our youth into people who are educated in an all-around way, steadfast in character, and fit for life, and who, borne by noble patriotism, affirm the German Democratic Republic and actively stand up for peace, friendship among nations, and Socialism as the highest goals of progressive humanity. The Jugendweihe serves to prepare young people for their future lives as adult members of our Socialist society. It confers rich knowledge and experience, which enable them to meet the demands of their future professions and to successfully attend our middle and upper schools. Above all, boys and girls become familiar with the developmental laws of nature and learn to apply them, in order to participate actively in the Socialist build-up of our republic.

The youth lectures in preparation for the Jugendweihe contribute to the formation of the Socialist worldview, especially by dealing with the laws of nature and society and with the questions of Socialist morality and ethics. They also address such issues as help in the future stages of life, the choice of a profession, the elucidation of Socialist relationships among people, and the historical role of the German Democratic Republic. In the coming year, as well, these lectures should be designed, in accordance with suggestions by the Central Committee for the Jugendweihe, to be interesting, varied, and rich with experiences. The youth lectures must be connected more closely than before to the life and struggle of our nation in building up Socialism. Through visits to enterprises, MTSs [machine tractor stations], LPGs [collective farms], and other production sites, participants in the Jugendweihe should learn not only about the scientific-technical aspects of production, but also about – and more strongly than before – the economic interconnections. The work of political education, which has often been neglected in recent times, must be improved. In the preparatory classes for the Jugendweihe, the oath must be more thoroughly explained than previously and incorporated into Socialist education as a valuable instrument. The work with scientific-technical films is crucial in the youth lectures. They are to be systematically integrated into the program of the youth lectures.

The Jugendweihe is very valuable for all boys and girls, regardless of the worldview of their parents or the worldview in which they were previously raised. Our workers in the enterprises, all working people, especially all parents, must be persuaded that the Jugendweihe serves the good of our young people, and that it is indispensable for their lives ahead. In that way, we will succeed in achieving mass participation in the Jugendweihe over the next few years.

II. The working class and the Jugendweihe

The working class bears a great responsibility for the Socialist education of our young generation. The Jugendweihe, with its own forms and methods, supplements the Socialist educational work that is being done in schools, in the pioneer organization “Ernst Thälmann,” and in the home. That is why the successful implementation of the Jugendweihe as a contribution to the Socialist education of youth is an important task of the working class. It is interested in seeing an ever larger number of boys and girls participate in the Jugendweihe and in making the youth lectures and events even more interesting and eventful than before.

Good persuasive and educational work was possible wherever capable activist groups for the Jugendweihe existed in enterprises. It is the task of these groups, especially in close collaboration with the women’s committees in the enterprises, to convince more and more workers and young people of the correctness and necessity of the Jugendweihe through systematic education about scientific-technical problems and through conversations about questions of Socialist morality and ethics. In the process, topics like the following should be addressed: problems of nuclear energy, intercontinental rockets, the study of outer space by Soviet earth satellites, and so on, as well as questions concerning the Socialist attitude toward work and public property, Socialist relations among people, and other topics.

In this way, the workers in the enterprises will be introduced to Marxist-Leninist views of the developments in nature and society and will realize the great value of the Jugendweihe for their children. This kind of educational and persuasive work, which should extend over the entire year, will lead to more and more children of members of the enterprise participating in the Jugendweihe.

It is necessary to proactively engage with the issue of the Jugendweihe everywhere. Successes were achieved wherever the working class engaged in intensive persuasive work. Wherever it was possible, through mass-political education about the reactionary role of certain circles within the church, to isolate aggressive clergy from the faithful, to convince church councils to be tolerant of the Jugendweihe, or to achieve mass protests by workers and parents (including Christian circles of the population) against coercive measures and pressures on the conscience on the part of various church leaderships, the opponents of the Jugendweihe retreated. Those forces must be shown that our workers’ and farmers’ state places the freedom of conscience of all citizens under its protection. During these struggles, the feelings of the circles of the population that still have religious sentiments should not be offended. Through this and other methods, as for example, a public debate about scientific-technical questions, we will succeed now and in the future in putting the reactionary forces in their place and in successfully carrying out the Jugendweihe.

In promoting the Jugendweihe, our party comrades must be won over, through the patient work of persuasion, to send their children only to the Jugendweihe and not to confirmation. In order to achieve mass participation in the Jugendweihe next year, individuals who still have religious sentiments must be made aware that their children can participate in the Jugendweihe even if they are also being confirmed. For that reason, the promotion of the Jugendweihe by the committee and activist groups must in no way be limited to ideologically advanced workers and parents, but must be expanded as soon as possible to Christian parents and children as well.

III. Tasks of the party

The leadership of the basic organizations of our party is responsible for the political guidance of the Jugendweihe. That applies especially to the party organizations in schools.

Active help from the offices of the district and county leadership has had a favorable effect on the development of the Jugendweihe in the past few years. For the planning and implementation of the Jugendweihe in 1958, it is recommended that the district and county leadership thoroughly assess the work of the committee for the Jugendweihe, hear reports in their office meetings about the state of the preparatory work by the end of November 1957, and pass the appropriate decrees to improve the political-ideological work for the Jugendweihe. Special help is to be rendered to the committees of the counties, the rural communities, and the activist groups for the Jugendweihe in the enterprises. In many committees for the Jugendweihe, the one-man-job, where it still exists, is to be eliminated, and a collective way of working is to be assured. Through the comrades in the committee for the Jugendweihe, it is to be guaranteed that the celebrations for the Jugendweihe generally take place within the stipulated period, on the last Sunday in March and the Sundays in April. Ideas about only holding the Jugendweihe celebrations after confirmation must be opposed. For participants in the Jugendweihe from places where only a few children currently participate in the Jugendweihe, greater efforts must be made to hold interesting youth lectures and impressive festivities for the day of the Jugendweihe in the MTS sections.

We must succeed this year in forming effective activist groups for the Jugendweihe in all enterprises, especially in the MTS, VEGs [state-owned farms], and LPGs [collective farms]. These activist groups in the workplace are to be given special attention. All districts and counties, following the examples of the districts of Gera and Erfurt, shall carry out enterprise-based conferences of the committees for the Jugendweihe. The party organizations within enterprises, in conjunction with the activist groups, shall recruit experienced and conscious members of the workforce who will provide active help in preparing and carrying out the Jugendweihe, who will make themselves available for designing the youth lectures, and who will be active as youth lecture leaders. In this context, close systematic collaboration is also necessary between the party organizations of the sponsoring enterprises and the sponsored schools. Qualified comrades who are suited for participation in the committees for the Jugendweihe shall be relieved of their social function and freed up to work in the committees.

Proven old comrades should pass on their experiences with the struggle in the youth lectures more vigorously than before, and in this way, they should work on behalf of the Socialist education of our youth. We recommend that the leading party organs of the districts and counties, and the basic organizations, systematically advance – especially in the member meetings of the basic organizations – the previously initiated debates about the problems of the Jugendweihe.

The work of persuasion is to be intensified especially among the leading comrades from the state and economic apparatus, as well as in the social organizations. The district and county leaderships shall see to it that the problems of the Jugendweihe are addressed in the party press, in the district and village papers, and with the help of the radio. Persuasive and educational work is to be supported through lessons from the party cabinets as well as through the relevant treatment during the party study year. In the directives to the party secretaries from the county leadership and in the activist groups within the party, the questions of the Jugendweihe are to be thoroughly debated.

In preparing for and implementing the Jugendweihe, the leadership bodies of the party must pay special attention to the collaboration of the mass organizations. The party organizations in the central leadership bodies of the mass organizations shall deliberate on how they can best support the preparation for and implementation of the Jugendweihe. The problems of the Jugendweihe are to be carried into the membership of the mass organizations through the comrades in charge. Through them, systematic educational and persuasive work is to be ensured. That applies especially to the unions and the Free German Youth. It should be recommended to the comrades on the executive boards of the industrial unions and the unions that they provide, through appropriate measures, more effective help than so far in the work of persuasion and promotion for the Jugendweihe. The problems of the Jugendweihe shall be the subject of discussions and debates within the framework of dealing with political-ideological questions. The union leadership in all enterprises shall offer help and support to the activist groups for the Jugendweihe. Through the Teachers’ Union [Gewerkschaft für Unterricht und Erziehung], teachers and educators shall be acquainted more thoroughly than before with the questions of the Jugendweihe and be persuaded to participate actively in the committees for the Jugendweihe. The teachers at the general-education schools and the institutions for teacher-training, the organs for national education, must contribute to the success of the Jugendweihe. It is their task to get students interested in participating in the Jugendweihe and, above all, to be active as youth lecture leaders. In the process, the work of persuasion and promotion on behalf of the Jugendweihe must extend over the entire year; it should be systematically begun among the children of the lower classes and their parents. Through the comrades in the organs for national education it is to be ensured that the Jugendweihe as a tool of Socialist education is dealt with in the pedagogical councils of the school, in the teacher conferences, and in the curriculum of the institutions for teacher-training. The work of persuasion and promotion for the Jugendweihe is to be intensified in the institutions for teacher-training. The comrades and the party groups in the parents’ councils should use their influence to convince the parents’ council at our schools that their children’s participation in the Jugendweihe is necessary and that they themselves should become active in planning and carrying it out. The task of the youth league, especially the pioneer organization “Ernst Thälmann,” is to familiarize the students in the lower classes with the goals and tasks of the Jugendweihe. The vacation period, especially, is to be used for this. The leadership of the youth league shall proceed to have FDJ members who have already participated in the Jugendweihe speak about their outcomes and experiences in pioneer friendships and groups. This will help to strengthen the work of persuasion and promotion among our young pioneers. The Free German Youth, together with the committees for the Jugendweihe and the activist groups, shall hold meetings for the participants in the Jugendweihe after the Jugendweihe as well. These meetings shall be organized in a youth-appropriate way, in the form of hikes, camp fire evenings, sporting events, and the like.

The comrades in the Society for the Spread of Scientific Knowledge shall support the work of persuasion and promotion on behalf of the Jugendweihe through suitable lectures and lessons, chiefly also through the use of films, especially in rural areas.

If attention is paid to the suggestions provided and to the personal experiences that exist everywhere, we will be able to make the Jugendweihe 1958 into a complete success, as well.