Essay Starting A Spark

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear” (Nelson Mandela).Nelson Mandela inspired many people through his fearless acts of courage. However, Nelson Mandela is just one example of a courageous individual. In “Hitler Youth” by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, and Elie Wiesel’s “Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech” both Elie Wiesel and character Sophie Scholl endure situations when courage is needed to survive. Courage is the best way for individuals to respond to conflict.

One way in which the Hitler Youth pushed the Nazification of Germany was through the brainwashing of the youth in schools (Featherman, 1932). Hitler was smart and realized it would be very hard to convince adults to change their ways immediately, so he targeted the youth because they were young and easily manipulated. According to

When Hitler became Chancellor of Nazi Germany, in 1935, he proposed many changes in education and throughout the country. He believed that these changes would influence people and indigenise them of his beliefs and reforms that should happen in the country – to praise his glory and make Germany the most powerful country and its rule to continue forever. One of these integral changes was education. Hitler strongly believed that, younger minds were easier to infiltrate and indoctrinate, as they were developing and imposed this sudden change amongst schoolchildren to provoke stronger Nazism in the future generation of Germans. Older generations, could oppose and have

Naziism had a huge impact on German youth during Hitler’s reign of power over the state. The life of a German child changed dramatically during the 1920’s and 30’s, especially for

This proved to be relatively easy, because often the leaders of the other youth groups sympathized with Hitler and were easily lured into Hitler youth. By the end of 1933 membership had increased to two million and by 1936 it had risen to five million.

Hitler isolated the youth from the rest of Germany to be able to easily manipulate their beliefs. In 1926 the Hitler Youth was founded and was made for the purpose to train boys to enter the SA (Storm Troopers), a Nazi Party paramilitary

The courage in the people of Germany during WWII caused them to take chances in order to stay alive, do the right thing despite the sacrifices and resist Nazi propaganda. In Germany during WWII anyone who resisted the Nazis would receive punishment. “ Hans blew it online verge of joining the party. Everyone knew you weren’t supposed to paint over the slurs written on a Jewish shop front” (Zusak 104). Hans was a very skilled painter and one day decided to go and paint over the slurs the Nazis had written on Jewish shops. Hans did this on purpose because everyone knew you would be punished for erasing Nazi propaganda. This reveals that Hans and also other Germans resisted the Nazis despite the consequences. They chose to resist their propaganda because they did not agree with it. In the novel there was various incidents were courage

The Hitler Youth, also known as the Hitlerjugend, was designed specifically for young Germans who wanted to fulfill their duties to the Fatherland and its leader, Adolf Hitler. Founded in 1926, this helped Hitler gain support from children throughout the entire country. Children as young as 6, with good records could join and become apprentices. By 1933, there were 100,000 members of the Hitler Youth and by 1940, 90% of all German children were members of the organization. Children were encouraged directly, mostly through school teachers. Parent permission was not necessary, making it easier for children to join. There were different sections of the Hitler Youth, based on age. It also had several divisions much like a real army. The boys were treated much like real soldiers at Hitler Youth training camps. They practiced military marching daily, strengthened their bodies, and had their hair shaved in military

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” – Winston Churchill. The two selections, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow, are both great examples of people who are going through conflict but still display courage. The best way people can respond to conflict is by having courage and confidence.

Then the Nazis had to prepare for the future and the future of Germany was the youth. Many organisations like the Hitler youth and the league for German Maidens were set up to teach the youth to follow the Nazis. In the Hitler youth they were taught like the military, neat, tidy and organised. The youth saw Hitler as a father figure in the fatherland and obeyed him. Then Hitler used indoctrination in the education system to recruit them into the army as loyal Nazis. There were subtle Nazi views added into all school work to brainwash the youth, as they were naive and didn’t see the wrong side of the Nazis true nature. The future of the people’s community was successfully secure and the Nazis would keep control for years to come.

Children were not only drawn into Nazi ideology through education reforms, but the creation of Nazi Youth Organizations also attracted a majority of German youth to the Nazi belief system. The single greatest tool used by Hitler to convince the youth to work towards the Volksgemeinschaft was the Hitler Youth. The goal of this party-run youth organization was to brainwash children to think and act German, and to wipe out class distinction and individualism. Like the education system, the Hitler Youth also emphasized physical fitness, as a key part of Aryan superiority. It also provided a plethora of group activities, the goal of these activities was to build trust for your

Hitler believed that the future of Nazi Germany was the children. He set up a program to educate the children the way he wanted. The Hitler Youth had teaching schemes to fill the youth's minds with Nazi Germany. Before Hitler came into power, the kids could avoid doing things for Hitler Youth if they

Courage… the ability to do something that one frightens. Imagine living in a home you’re whole life, than boom you get told that you can't live there anymore and you will be moved against your will to god knows wherever. Jewish people experienced this from 1933-1945.. That’s a 12 year experience where they had to show courage to be able to survive. In the book “Night” written Elie Wiesel many examples of courage are shown not only by jewish humans but Hitler's army, the Nazi’s. Courage was needed to surpass all the hardships and adversities throughout the distraught period of time, now know as The Holocaust.

“Young boys were organized into the Deutches Jungvolk (German Young People, informally called Pimpfe), older boys into the Hitlerjugend (HJ). The Deutches Jungvolk could have boys from the ages of 10-14 and the Hitlerjugend could have boys from the ages of 14-18. When World War II started, more than ninety percent of German youth were members of these organizations. Ninety percent is a huge percentage. That means that almost every teenage German, Gentile was a member of some kind of Nazi Youth Organization. Many of these youth organization actually over rid the parental control on the children. Many were told that the individual or the family was less important than the state. If children had disloyal parents, they were encouraged to report them. When the boys weren’t in school or at home with their parents, they were with their youth organization learning military maneuvers and different chants. An example of the one the chants that the Hitler Youth used to march around chanting are: “Comrades, we march to the field, red today, tomorrow dead, Comrades it must be that way.” If the boys made any achievement in the Hitler Youth, credit in school would be given to the student. The teacher must respect the authority of the youth leaders, regardless of their age or attitude towards them. Blind obedience seems to be a common theme. Children are taught these ideologies without knowing the true real reason. Teachers are forced to believe and follow these ideologies if they wish to

“the Hitler Youth was such a group, with its own departments of culture, school, press, propaganda and so on. All this early organization was done because Hitler realized that, if and when he finally managed to over throw the Weimar government, we would need to have something ready to take its place immediately.”