Nazi Germany: The Hitler Youth

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

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.

Action. Fun. Adventure. These were the things promised to children as young as ten, who were lured by the promises of Hitler Youth or BDM. By training the children rigorously and implementing Nazi Germany’s core beliefs in them, Hitler formed future Nazi citizens that would be willing to sacrifice their lives for Hitler and the Third Reich. In 1920, Hitler approved the founding of Hitler Youth which modeled a previous youth group who distinguished themselves, wanting to reconnect with the land ( Lisciotto). The brainwashing of Germany’s children through the use of Hitler Youth programs was unethical: it was created to mold children into perfect Nazi citizens,implementing a deep sense of racial superiority taught by teachers, infusing deep hatred for anything the Nazis considered a threat to Germany, and due to Hitler Youth teachings of reporting adults who were not law-abiding citizens, it lead to children reporting their parents out of duty to the Third Reich.

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

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 isolated the youth from the rest of Germany to be able to easily manipulate their beliefs. In 1926 the Hitler Youth was founded to train boys to enter the SA (Storm Troopers), a Nazi Party paramilitary formation. After 1933, however, youth leaders sought to integrate boys, while isolating them from the German girls and from their parents, into the Nazi national community to prepare them for service in the armed forces as soldiers. The Nazi army was such a dominant

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

Firstly, the Nazi’s used Germany’s defeat during the First World War (which began in the summer of 1914 and ended in November 1918) to their advantage. WWI claimed many lives and of course changed the lives of those in Germany forever. The years after the First World War were to see the rise to power of Adolf Hitler, the most notorious character of the twentieth century. Hitler offered to the Germans that one day he would Germany great again. Hitler also provided a scapegoat to the people of Germany, saying that the reason why Germany was in great debt and had such high unemployment was because of the Jewish people. This appealed to the German’s because it meant that they’d have an easy way out rather than taking the blame upon themselves. After Hitler was appointed as chancellor of Germany the basic democratic structure of the Germany was weakened then abolished. This then created a sense of fear the German population, and they were too scared to fight back. The lives of many millions of people across Europe would be devastated as a result of the beliefs, policies and actions of the Nazis led by Hitler.

Action. Fun. Adventure. These were the things promised to children as young as ten, who were lured by Hitler Youth and BDM organizations. By training the children rigorously and implementing Nazi Germany’s core beliefs in them, Hitler formed future Nazi citizens that would be willing to sacrifice their lives for him and the Third Reich. In 1920, Hitler approved the founding of Hitler Youth which modeled a previous youth group who distinguished themselves through clothing and such, wanting to reconnect Germans with the land ( Lisciotto). The brainwashing of Germany’s children through the use of Hitler Youth programs was unethical: it was created to mold children into perfect Nazi citizens, implementing a deep sense of racial superiority taught by teachers: infusing deep hatred for anything the Nazis considered a threat to Germany, and due to Hitler Youth teachings of reporting adults who were not law-abiding citizens, it led to children reporting their parents out of duty to the Third Reich.

The Hitler Youth was for boys ages 14 to 18. The organisation was similar to scouts and would do things such as learning about survive skills and they would go on camps. The Hitler Youth was used to turn train children to become part of the Strom Regiment. The Storm Regiment was a wing of the Nazi Party. There was a large focus on physical training to get the youth members ready to be soldiers. To help this the Hitler Youth organised a lot of sport activates for youth all around Germany. The Hitler Youth would also teach their members to use guns and other basic military practices. The Hitler Youth also had a very strong belief of racism. The Nazi’s believed they were a superior race, this belief was taught to the Hitler Youth. The members of the youth were taught to be racist. Nazi’s also hated Christianity, and the perfect tool to stop it was the Hitler Youth. The youth members of the youth would infiltrate Church groups and spy on the church goers. This would usually end in multiple arrests for religious practices.

The Nazis were basically Hitler’s “children” because they had been given tasks to complete in order to make the perfect world. The beginning of their existence was mostly a series of of meetings and small efforts to gain power with no notable events. This shows that the group started with little meetings trying to get attention. The word “Nazi” is an abbreviation for the word “Nationalization.” Nationalization is basically basically where they got their name, Nazi Party. Then the Nazi Party grew into a mass movement and ruled Germany through totalitarian means from 1933 to 1945. Soon, the Nazis finally got their attention in which they ruled

Hitler Youth Whether it was the gas chambers, the murder trains, or the experiments used on the jews, all around, the holocaust was one of the worst things that has happened in the history of all humanity. This inhumane treatment was normalized at that time since it was so common; the nazi party wanted to keep it that way. Hate is something to be taught, and the best way to learn is to be taught as children. Thus, creating Hitler Youth. Founded in Munich, 1923, the association barely made it to a thousand members, and gradually increased over time.

Adolf Hitler was one of the most powerful dictators in the 20th century. After World War One, he rose to power and eventually took over the German government in 1933. He established concentration camps and the Hitler Youth Group. Hitler believed the Jews were a threat to the Aryan supremacy. Millions of Jews were sent to concentration camps, where they were either starved to death or gassed in gas chambers. This resulted in the death of over six million Jews. Hitler not only brainwashed the Nazis into thinking they were superior, but he started to convert them at a young age, around 10 -18 years of age. He wanted to occupy the minds of the young before they could begin to think for themselves. The Hitler Youth was created in the 1920’s and by the time Hitler took over the German government in 1933, the group stood at 100 000 members. Hitler made it clear as to what he expected the German children to think: “The weak must be chiselled away. I want young men and women who can suffer pain. A young German must be as swift as a greyhound, as tough as leather, and as hard as Krupp’s steel.”. Up until 1939, youths could avoid doing any active service if they paid their subscription. But in 1939, the legal obligation was reaffirmed with the Jugenddienstpflicht law which conscripted all youths to join whether their parents objected or not. Once Hitler had control of the Jews and the Nazis, he had one more thing to do, and that was to gain more territory. On September 1st, 1939, Hitler launched an invasion of Poland. Britain and France realized their alliance meant nothing and declared war against Germany and therefore World War II had begun. Hitler cared more about holding all the power and expansionism than his

From the 1920s onwards, the Nazi Party targeted German youth as a special audience for its propaganda messages. These messages emphasized that the Party was a movement of youth: dynamic, resilient, forward-looking, and hopeful. Millions of German young people were won over to Nazism in the classroom and through extracurricular activities. In January 1933, the Hitler Youth had only 50,000 members, but by the end of the year this figure had increased to more than 2 million. By 1936 membership in the Hitler Youth increased to 5.4 million before it became mandatory in 1939. The German authorities then prohibited or dissolved competing youth organizations.