4. Initial Relative Leniency Towards the Edelweiss Pirates
Despite the hardened attitudes, local authorities continued to be relatively lenient towards the Edelweiss groups – at least in comparison to how the Nazis usually dealt with adult subversives. For example, penalties for the “delinquents”, who often kept their hair long and their appearance bohemian to set themselves apart from the militarized regimentation all around them, were often limited to a stern talking to, then shaving their heads. That was not enough for SS head honcho, Heinrich Himmler. He wanted an example made of youngsters who failed to show complete loyalty, and he deemed any half measures when dealing with such “subversives” to be unacceptable.
