Every Sunday ABC News Radio broadcasts a show from Deutsche Welle in Germany called “Inside Europe”, and yesterday I caught a piece about a German WWII rebel youth movement that I’d not heard of before.

The Edelweiss Pirates were rebelling against the strict behavioural codes of Nazi society, just like teenagers do anywhere, but in that extreme setting that could lead to them getting beaten or killed (6 of them were hanged along with 7 adult friends in one execution in Cologne) .

The difference is that because they were being rebellious in general, instead of specifically at the Nazis for political reasons, they’ve been seen as criminals rather than a form of resistance, even though they carried out sabotage and handed out anti-Nazi leaflets, but this is changing with the 60th anniversary of the execution of the 6 in Cologne on 10th November 1944.

There is even a German film being made to commemorate them.

Update:
A good, short summary about the Edelwiess Pirates is here.