Youth work farms (JWH) were institutions of state youth welfare in the GDR. As specialized homes within the youth welfare system, they primarily served the re-education of difficult and delinquent youth in the GDR. Based on the premise of the form and planability of human beings, the JWH aimed to "create the new person" following the model of the "educational and labor colony for children" proposed by the Soviet educator Anton Semjonowitsch Makarenko. A major focus was placed on developing youth into "socialist personalities" through political-ideological education, collective education, and work training. Although youth work farms were not penal institutions, daily life in the JWH was strictly organized and characterized by military discipline, daily roll calls, and a sophisticated system of rewards and punishments. Collective education was at the forefront.