Cynthia A. Sandor - Author

05/13/2026

Meet the author! May 14 - 16, 2024
Location: Youth Building
Table # 304 - 3rd table in on the right

The 2026 Findlay MV Show

05/07/2026

Nice E-Mail-Review I received from Olivia today. She writes:

"I hope you’re having a productive writing day.

I recently came across Through Innocent Eyes: The Chosen Girls of the Hi**er Youth, and it’s a striking and complex historical memoir. The focus on the Landjahr Lager program and its portrayal as an elite educational and character-building experience for young girls within the broader context of N**i-era Germany presents a perspective that is likely to provoke strong reflection and discussion among readers.

What stands out is the emphasis on structure, discipline, and ideological formation as experienced by children in that system, as well as the way the narrative is framed through memory and personal recollection. Given the historical context, it also sits within a broader and sensitive conversation about how lived experiences intersect with ideology, education, and the realities of the period.

It reads as a firsthand recollection that engages with a deeply controversial historical environment through personal perspective."

05/01/2026

May 1st - Blessed Beltane Day

04/29/2026

Walpurgis Nacht - April 30th
May Day - May 1st

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1XFumSijCL/

MAY CUSTOMS in GERMANY and AUSTRIA
"Alles neu macht der Mai" (May makes everything new.)

MAY DAY
This Friday is May Day! The first day of May is a legal holiday in Germany, Austria and most of the world. Known as "Tag der Arbeit" (Labor Day) in German, the USA is one of the few exceptions, not observing Labor Day on the first day of May. In Berlin, May Day is a day of noisy protest – nothing like May Day in most of Germany and Austria. But the rest of May in most of German-speaking Europe is a time for cherry blossoms, Maypoles, and other customs.

As usual, the Romans did it first. The festival of Floralia, honoring Flora, the goddess of flowering plants, ran from April 28 to May 3 and symbolized the springtime renewal of the cycle of life. Men were bedecked with flowers, the women brightly dressed during the six-day celebration that featured behavior and dress (or the lack thereof) that was normally verboten. Singing, dancing, food and drink abounded. About a month later, on May 23, it was time to celebrate Flora yet again – with the rose festival. Flora's twin sister, Fauna, was the goddess of animals and wildlife, giving us the English expression "flora and fauna".

PHOTO: An unpainted Maypole in Afritz am See, Carinthia (Kärnten), Villach Land, Austria. In many localities a Maypole is left plain, with only an evergreen decoration at the top. Credit: Naturpuur, CC-BY-4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

MAYPOLES
Germany, particularly in the southern part (Bavaria, Baden, Swabia), but not only there, has venerable Maypole traditions. But Maypole customs are also found in Austria and other parts of Europe (Finland and Sweden, but in June). But the more you learn about Maypole customs, the more you realize how complex they can be. For instance, there are strict rules for stealing a Maypole! This is a big part of the Bavarian "Maibaum" tradition.

Even before May 1st, neighboring communities and their "Burschenverein" members select a suitable tree for that year's Maypole. Later, rivalries play out in the stealing of a neighboring Maypole. But there are rules! Among the dozen or so related rules is one stating that the pole may not be cut or damaged in any way. Some communities even have so-called "Maypole police" to prevent theft and/or enforce the rules.

Small Maypoles of Love: "Liebesmaien"
Especially in smaller communities, a popular Maypole tradition involves single men who want to express their love for a young lady in the town or village. The tradition varies by location, but essentially a young man sets up a small Maypole (about 20 ft/6 m), usually made from beech trees adorned with colorful crepe paper or a large red paper heart ("Maiherz") bearing the name of the intended or a short romantic verse. Depending on local custom, the "Love Maypole" may be placed in front of a particular maiden's house, or in front of the houses of all the unmarried ladies in villages.

MAIBOCK
May and late April is also when many German breweries brew a special beer called "Maibock". Also known as “Heller Bock” (“pale bock”) or "Frühlingbock" ("spring bock"), the German-style Maibock is paler in color and more hop-centric than traditional bock beers. A lightly toasted malt character is often evident.

02/06/2026

Received a wonderful book review from Helly!

01/28/2026

Had an excellent turn out on the book presentation at the Eldred WWII Museum in Eldred, PA.

ELDRED, Pa. — Imagine your mom telling you that, when she was growing up, she once snuck out of the house after curfew or was the mastermind behind her senior class prank. Would you be surprised? Shocked? What if she told you she had been a member of the Hi**er Youth under the N**i regime? That’...

01/18/2026

Now available through bdmhistory.com or cynthiaasandor.com - paperback, hardcover - ebook available on kobo.

Service in the Jungmädelbund – Year One offers a rare window into the workings of the Jungmädelbund—the “Young Girls’ League” of the Hi**er Youth—revealing how girls aged ten to fourteen were systematically shaped into loyal participants in National Socialism. This historical document, presented with critical context, lays bare the rigid expectations, mandatory activities, and ideological conditioning that structured a girl’s daily life under the Third Reich.

The book details the organization’s meticulously planned program: weekly social and sports meetings, community events, and additional service duties. At the center of this curriculum stood the Jungmädel leader, responsible for enforcing discipline, cultivating group identity, and guiding each girl through a prescribed path of obedience, conformity, and ideological “education.”
Training materials reproduced and analyzed here show how the regime blended play, storytelling, singing, crafts, physical training, and ritualized instruction to create seamless integration between leisure, school, home, and political indoctrination. The guidelines emphasize building “comradeship,” obedience, and loyalty—ultimately preparing girls for transfer into the Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM) and adulthood within the N**i worldview.

Chapters outline the structure and purpose of various components of service:
• Home Afternoons, where stories, songs, and prepared “lessons” established ideological themes.
• Sports Afternoons, intended to cultivate physical fitness through regimented games.
• Practical Work, including music, crafts, and group activities designed to reinforce unity and attentiveness.
• Trips and Camps, where loyalty and group discipline were strengthened.
• Service Briefings, short sessions meant to “instruct” girls in their duties, dress codes, organizational hierarchy, and ideological tenets.

Accompanied by examples from original training scenarios, this text demonstrates how everyday activities were transformed into instruments of discipline. Through detailed schedules, behavioral expectations, and scripted instruction, the guidelines illuminate the mechanisms by which ordinary childhood was redirected toward service to the N**i state.

More than a historical artifact, Service in the Jungmädelbund – Year One stands as a critical reminder of how authoritarian regimes target youth, intertwining routine, identity, and ideology to secure long-term loyalty. This edition provides essential insight for historians, educators, and readers seeking to understand the lived experience of indoctrination—and the vulnerabilities of childhood within totalitarian systems.