User:Imersion/Volksbund der Deutschen in Ungarn

Volksbund der Deutschen in Ungarn (The Racial Union of Germans in Hungary)or VDU was a Nazi umbrella organization founded in 1938 by Franz Basch to replace the more moderate Ungarlaendischer Deutscher Volksbildungsverein (UDV), the rather anemic German organization Bleyer had formed in 1924. It was created shortly after the signing of the First Vienna Award between Hungary and Germany in November 1938. Closely supervised by the Hungarian government, the UDV had basically advanced a cultural agenda with only limited ability or aspirations to serve as a Shwovish or Danube Swabian political voice. In contrast, in their beliefs, methods, and aesthetics, the leaders of the VDU and the course they charted for Hungary’s Shwovish minority were decidedly National Socialist. During WWII it acted mainly as the handmaiden of Heinrich Himmler in Hungary to enlist its members in the SS forces of Germany. It was opposed by the TreuBewegung or Hungarian Loyalty Movement among the Shwoveh.