TOPICS COVERED
Traditional role prior to
the Nazi take over
Nazi Policy
towards youth
Examples of Success or failure
policies used
in terms of
Volksmeinschaft
Traditional Role Prior to the
Nazi take over of Power
A strong youth movement already existed in Germany.
It began in the 1890s and was known as the Wandervögel
a male-only movement featuring a back-to-nature theme.
Traditional Role Prior to the
Nazi take over of Power Page 2
This youth movement grew rapidly from 1900 to 1914 which soon created its
own competing youth groups, borrowing the back-to-nature theme and other
ideas from the Wandervögel
The Catholic Youth Organization, the Boy Scouts, along with a variety of political,
religious, para-military, and sports groups sprang up, organized so that youth was
indeed led by youth
At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, most German youths were quickly caught up
in the war mania that swept Germany and enthusiastically went off to the battlefield
anticipating it as a noble, romantic experience that would mold them into 'new men.'
Nazi policy towards youth
In Hitler’s eyes the young were particularly
important. They had to be won over so that Hitler’s
policies could be implemented. To create a radical
state, the Nazis had to make children believe in the
superiority of the Aryan, the ‘master race’.
All young Germans were taught to see him as a
father-figure who demanded and should receive
unquestioning loyalty from his people.
Nazi Policy towards Youth
Hitler Youth Movement
This organization had been running since 1925 and in the first
few years after 1933 many young people joined voluntarily. It
offered a variety of leisure pursuits. This was particularly
welcomed in rural areas where the arrival of the Hitler Youth
meant a first chance to join any kind of Youth Organization.
Boys and girls could now enjoy weekend trips, walking and
sports.
Later on youths were forced to Join the Hitler Youth
organization. When this happened discipline was tightened and
there was a greater emphasis on drill.
During the war years the number of leisure activities was cut.
Playing fields and youth club buildings were bombed and many
Youth leaders were called up for war. Thousands of young
Germans now created their own youth gangs and culture in
opposition to the Hitler Youth.
The structure
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Outside school, young people had to belong to youth
organisation which taught them loyalty to Hitler and trained
them in military skills.
There were five organisations for the youth to join. Together,
they made up the Hitler Youth Movement.
Girls
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Age Boys
6-10 The Pimpfen (The Little Fellows)
10-14 The Jungvolk (The Young Folk)
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14-18 The Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth – HJ)
The Bund Deutsche Madel
(The German Girls League)
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The Jungmadel (Young Girls)
Hitler Youth For Boys
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For boys aged between 10 and 14 years Baldur
von Schirach set up the Jungvolk. The boys had to
learn semaphore, arms drill, and take part in twoday cross-country hikes. They also had to learn
Nazi dogma and once they passed the necessary
tests they were given a special dagger marked
"Blood and Honour". The main objective of the
organization was to provide Adolf Hitler with
loyal supporters
The task of the boys section was to prepare the
boys for military service.
Hitler Youth For Girls
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Once girls reached the age of they could join the
Jungmädel. At 14 they entered the Bund
Deutscher Mädel. (German Girl’s League). This
included a year of farm or domestic service. They
were trained by female guardians and their overall
leader was Gertrud Scholtz-Klink.
Girls were assigned to help care for wounded
soldiers in hospitals, to help in kindergartens, and
to assist households with large families. They also
stood on railway platforms, offering
encouragement and refreshments to army troops
departing for the front.
Popularity
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The Hitler Youth group became extremely popular in the
1930s. It became so popular that many other youth groups
had to be shut down.
By 1936 almost all young Germans were either in the
Hitler Youth, or in the League of German Maidens.
Youth groups for girls were not as important for the Nazis
as boys groups, because girls could not be trained for
military service.
In 1938 there were 8,000 full-time leaders of the HJ. There
were also 720,000 part-time HJ leaders, often
schoolteachers, who had been trained in National Socialist
principles.
The End Of The Hilter Youth
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The Hitler Youth was disbanded by Allied authorities as an
integral part of the Nazi Party.
Some members of the Hitler Youth were accused of war
crimes; however, as the organization was staffed with children,
no serious efforts were made to prosecute these claims.
While the entire Hitler Youth was never declared a criminal
organization. the Hitler Youth adult leadership corps was
deemed to have committed crimes against peace in corrupting
the young minds of Germany.
Many top HJ leaders were put on trial by Allied authorities,
with Baldur von Schirach sentenced to twenty years in prison.
Examples of policies used
Young German boys in a Hitler
Youth parade
Hitler Youth in scouting
activity
Success or Failure
Flag Bearers lead a group of
Hitler Youth
Grave site of murdered
member of Hitler youth
Success or Failure
Hitler youth at book burning bonfire
‘Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach (standing in
the car) salutes Jungvolk boys parading through the
streets of Nuremberg. 1933.
A scene from the Nazi film "Triumph
of the Will" reveals Hitler speaking
to top Nazi leaders about his youth.
1934.
Hitler Youth are assembled inside the sports stadium
at Nuremberg awaiting the arrival of Hitler. 1934.
Enthralled Hitler Youth salute Adolf Hitler after his
arrival in the stadium during the 1934 Nuremberg rally.
An SS man with Einsatzgruppe D prepares to shoot a Ukrainian
Jew kneeling before a mass grave as a crowd watches.
Close-up from previous photo reveals a young member of the Reich
Labor Service, product of the Hitler Youth system, casually watching.
As Allied troops advance into Germany, a boy rolls a cartload of family
possessions out of harm's way while his mother pushes from behind.
One of Hitler's boy-soldiers is tended to by an American who examines his
injury while awaiting the arrival of a medic. 1944.
At Dachau, following Germany's defeat, Americans force former Hitler Youths
to view a Nazi Death Train. 1945.
A German girl is overcome as she walks past the bodies of 800 slave workers
killed by the SS near Namering, Germany. 1945.
Schirach at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials (1946) :18
"I bear the guilt for having trained the young for a
man who murdered millions. I believed in that man.
That is all I can say in my defense."