Trude Kriessmann's badges

Trude, Willi's sister, was a high BdM leader in Kaernten from 1941 to 1943, although she was a follower of Adolf Hitler's National Socialism long before that. The Bund Deutscher Mädel was the National Socialist organization for girls and young women, comparable to the Hitler Youth for boys and young men. When Austria became part of the German Reich in April 1938, the BdM became popular.

On this page are Trude's very own badges, the red/white diamond swastika worn on the white nurses' aprons of the Gesundheitsdienst (Health Service), and the triangle of the Southwest Canton,  which she served. The photo is from a Hitler Youth gathering in her region during the war, somewhere in Kaernten.