Hitler Youth

By: Emily Perry

B1

Historical Background

Movements for youngsters were part of German culture and the

Hitler Youth had been created in the 1920's. By 1933 its
membership stood at 100,000. After Hitler came to power, all other
youth movements were abolished and as a result the Hitler Youth
grew quickly. In 1936, the figure stood at 4 million members. In
1936, it became all but compulsory to join the Hitler Youth. Youths
could avoid doing any active service if they paid their subscription
but this became all but impossible after 1939.

The Hitler Youth catered for 10 to 18 year olds. There were separate
organizations for boys and girls. The task of the boys section was to
prepare the boys for military service. For girls, the organization
prepared them for motherhood.

How The Youths Were Organized

Little boys aged 6 to 10 were allowed to hang around the older boys
and participate informally. Boys 10 to 14 belonged to the Jungvolk,
then from 14 to 18 were in the actual Hitler, the commonly used
abbreviation for Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth). Each boy was given a
performance booklet detailing his progress in athletics and Nazi
indoctrination throughout all of his years in the HJ.

Nazi Propaganda
"Propaganda tries to force a doctrine on
the whole people... Propaganda works on
the general public from the standpoint of
an idea and makes them ripe for the
victory of this idea." Adolf Hitler wrote
these words in his book Mein Kampf, in
which he first advocated the use of
propaganda to spread the ideals of
National Socialism among them racism,
anti-Semitism, and anti-Bolshevism

A day in the life of Hitler youth

The average day of someone attending the Hitler Youth was mainly
about school and sports. Women and men attended different
classes, and learned slightly different things than the boys. Boys
were required to have at least two hours of physical education a
day. Hitler in particularly suggested boxing, with no gloves. He
states: "There is no sport that, like this, that promotes the spirit of
aggression in the same measure, demands determination as quick
as lightning, educates the for steel like versatility." The boys of the
Hitler Youth assisted in fire services, anti-aircraft defense crews, and
even radio service. Boys were even taught how to fire a gun.
Women still needed physical activity but not as much as the boys,
they focused on things like house living such as gardening,
cleaning, and sending the boys and husbands off to war. Both
genders were taught to hate Jews. The study of war was taught in
almost every subject including math. Teachers and students met
together at certain points so that they would discuss their goals, and
how the teacher can help the child achieve their goals.

Hitler Youth Rules

Different ages = different groups

All boys and girls of the Hitler Youth are subject to a public legal
educational authority according to the provisions of regulations,
decreed by the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor
Furthermore, juveniles are excluded from membership in the Hitler
Youth, as long as they are in official custody
If mentally challenged you are not allowed to be in the Hitler youth
unless passed by a special person.
Jews are excluded from the membership of the Hitler Youth.
Juveniles of German citizenship, who reside abroad, and who are
only temporarily in the German Reich, are not obliged to serve in the
Hitler Youth.

The membership in the Hitler Youth becomes inactive for

the duration of active military service.

Consequences for Rebellion

The police saw them as childish pranks
and arrested most people
The leaders got put under constant
surveillance
In 1944 the leaders were publicly hung to
show not to oppose Hitler youth
Many were punished by death

League of German Girls

The League of German Girls was part of the Hitler Youth movement
in Nazi Germany. The League of German Girls was for girls aged
between 14 and 18 and followed on from the Young Girls League
that was for girls aged between 10 and 14 years.

The whole idea of having a solely girls organization within Nazi

Germany started in the 1920s. Hitler had already formulated his
belief that young girls had to undergo training to make them fit and
strong enough to be good German mothers. While the Nazi Party
was still a relatively weak political party prior to the 1929 Great
Depression, it did have the Sisterhood of the Hitler Youth. In 1932,
the name was changed to the League of German Girls. But initially
membership of this youth movement was purely voluntary.

Works Cited
"The Nazi Party: Hitler Youth." Hitler
Youth. Web. 16 Dec. 2014. .
"Holocaust Education and Archive
Research Team." - Blog Top list. Web.
16 Dec. 2014.
Nazi Germany - Hitler Youth." Nazi
Germany. Web. 16 Dec. 2014.