Hitler Youth Uniforms: Hosiery--Knee Socks

Figure 1.--Here we see a group of DJ boys, probably at camp. Mote how all the boys have rolled down their knee socks and rolled up their sleeves. When ever you see all the boys in a group doing this, they were probably told to do so by the group leader.

Knee socks were very prevslent with both Hitler Youth boys, both the DJ and HJ boys. We are not sure about the precise regulations. Not do we know if their was actual regulation hosiery. Most images of the Hitler Youth show Hitler Youth boys wearing knee socks. Most boys seem to be wearing grey knee socks, although it is a bit difficult to tell with the black and white photography of the day. We are not sure why brown or black knee socks were not chosen to match the uniform. Perhaps grey knee socks were more common at the time. Boys did not normally wear patterned knee socks with their uniforms. We see very few examples of this. Some boys wore white knee socks, nut mostly for for dress occassions. We see boys wearing knee socks in different ways. Many boys during the Summer folded down their knee socks. We are not sure why they did this. Perhaps comfort in the warm weather was a factor. Quite a number of boys had hand knitted wool socks, which would have been scratchy and uncomfortable in hot weather. Fashion may also have been a factor. We suspect that some boys liked the look. I am not entirely sure why. We also see boys wearing knee socks with heavy ankle socks. We believe that this was popular for hiking.