Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation session
Encyclopedia
An Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation session (Pioniernachmittag) was a regular gathering of members of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation
Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation
The Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation, consisting of the Young Pioneers and the Thälmann Pioneers, was a youth organisation of schoolchildren aged 6 to 14, in East Germany...

 in the GDR. The session was organised by the class teacher (form tutor) or an adult volunteer for all pioneers of a form and took place on Wednesday afternoons. In 1989, 98% of all schoolchildren in the GDR were member of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation. Subsequently, the regular afternoons could be considered as being part the extracurricular school life.

Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation sessions consisted of a mixture of social activities, adventure, and myth-like socialist teaching. Social activities and adventures included sports, discos, walks, hand-crafts, celebrations or paper chases
Paper Chase (game)
Paper Chase is a racing game played outdoors with any number of players. At the start of the game, one person is designated the 'hare' and everyone else in the group are the 'hounds'...

. These activities were comparable to that of other youth organisations like the Scout
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....

s. More propaganda-like activities were visits of the Soviet Army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...

 and police or lectures about the history of Socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

 or the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...

.

Furthermore, the school achievements (or the lack thereof) of individual pupils were publicly discussed in these sessions. Strong students were assigned to weak students as tutors.

Regularly, afternoons were used to collect waste for recycling from individual households. Pupils walked from door to door and asked for paper, metal, glass bottles and jars, or clothes. The resources were sold and the proceeds were given to charitable causes (like Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 or Sandinists
Sandinista National Liberation Front
The Sandinista National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas in both English and Spanish...

) or used for school activities. In 1979/80, pupils collected 73 million jars and bottles of glass, 20,000 tons of metal, 30,000 tons of paper and 9,000 tons of used textiles.

Further reading

  • After The Wall: Confessions from an East German Childhood and the Life that Came Next by Jana Hensel, 2004 ISBN 1586482661
  • Youth in the GDR: Everyday life of young people under socialism by Jochen Weyer, 1974
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