The Nazi Youth Party

The beginning of the Nazi Party can be traced back to 1919, just a year after the end of World War 1. Beginning with a group of unemployed soldiers unhappy about the Treaty of Versailles, the group quickly spiraled into a mass movement. In 1921, a former army veteran by the name of Adolf Hitler joined the association and quickly became the group's leader. Hitler soon began gaining new members as he went throughout the country advocating anti-semitism ideas and the idea that Germany would continue to suffer, unless their was a total revolution of German life where Jews and communists were eliminated. His ideas caught the attention of many, especially young, economically disadvantaged Germans, as they saw this as a chance to gain more than they ever had

On the other hand, however, the group also did not enforce membership as stringently as their male counterparts did. The League of German Girls was the female part of the overall national-socialist youth movement known as the Hitler Youth. Its proper title was The League of German Girls in the Hitler Youth. An important part of life in the League of German Girls was to help the girls build character, and to prepare them for what were supposed to be their future tasks within the Nazi Volksgemeinschaft, or people's community, by getting them involved in programs that were for the "good of the people", such as collecting for the Winter Relief, helping with the harvest or collecting medicinal herbs in the fields. But to the girls, many of the League of German Girls' activities looked like lots of fun and like something they really wanted to participate in along with their friends. Many of the activities were not unlike what youth organizations offer today: BDM members could see movies or plays at reduced rates, go on field trips, or go away to camp during their school holidays. They were also able to compete against one another locally, regionally, and nationally in sports and other competitions.

Nazi education policies were reinforced by Nazi youth movements. Boys joined the German Young People at the age of 10 and from ages 14 to 18, they became members of the Hitler Youth. They learned Nazi songs and ideas, did athletics, hiking and camping and, as they grew older, they practised marching, map reading and military skills. There was a great sense of comradeship. This further indoctrinated boys and, in effect, made them ready for military service.

With many young receptive minds at his disposal Hitler initiated the plans that saw all members of Hitler youth indoctrinated into the Nazi ideals. Hitler made it publicly clear what his plans for brainwashing the youths would consist of: “After these youths have entered our organisations at the age of ten, and there experienced, for the first time, some fresh air….. We shall under no circumstances return them into the hands of our old champions of class and social standing, but instead place them immediately in the party, or the labour front, the SA or SS….. And thus they will never be free again for the rest of their lives.” The Nazis successfully achieved the indoctrination by employing many different subtle brainwashing techniques. For example, at drill times, the repetitive use of a song helped numb the young minds of the Hitler Youth. These songs would invariably be related to duty, blood, honour, soil and above all death and fighting. The lyrics of one such song goes like this: “We are marching for Hitler through night and dread/ with the banner of youth for freedom and bread.” This indoctrination

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.

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

“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 founded in 1926” (“The Nazi Party”). As stated by Meinecke, “The Hitler Youth is not a boy scout or a girl guide organization… it is a compulsory Nazi formation which has consciously sought to breed hate, treachery, and cruelty into the minds and souls of every German child. It is in the true sense of the word education for death” (Conley). Hitler “based the Hitler Youth on anti-intellectualism, focusing on military training in preparation for becoming a soldier at 18” ("The Nazi Party”). The Hitler Youth was split up throughout the world, with some of the groups sent as far away as South America. “Baldur von Schirach was appointed the Reich Youth Leader” (“The Nazi Party”). There were age restrictions for the German Youth under Hitler. “German Youth could join the Hitler Youth beginning at the age of 10” (“The Nazi Party”). Hitler thought that the Hitler youth would help the “Third Reich last 1000 years” (Conley). The Hitler Youth played a major part in Hitler’s ultimate plan to eliminate the Jews, the

The Hitler Youth is around 10 to 18 year olds. There were a separate organisations for boys and girls. The purpose of the boys section was to prepare them for military service and prepare to fight. The mostly activities were all about their physical side so they can fight.     The attractions of the nazi youth movements were many young people were attracted to the Nazi youth movements by the opportunities that they offered.

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.

“The man with the mustache “The growth of the League was slow at first, and in 1922 assistance came from the party newspaper the Völkischer Beobachter which now called for new members. "We demand that the National Socialist Youth, and all other young Germans, irrespective of class or occupation, between fourteen and eighteen years of age, whose hearts are affected by the suffering and hardships afflicting the Fatherland, and who later desire to join the ranks of the fighters against the Jewish enemy, the sole originator of our present shame and suffering, enter the Youth League of the NSDAP..."( The Hitler Youth Jungsturm Adolf Hitler) During the last week of April 1945, only days before the ending of WWII the battle of Berlin, which was fought by the Germans against the invading armies among the defenders of were 5,000 members of the Hitler youth most of them were 15 and 16 years old a few of them as young as 12.

Within the Hitler Youth children were encourage to think of the team and Germany and not themselves. It had been hoped that children from rich and poor backgrounds would join together, but it didn't work. To join the DJ "Deutsches Jungvolk" (German Young People) a ten year old had to take a number of tests before they could be accepted some of these were * Remember Nazi ideas

The Hitler Youth indoctrinated the German youth by mixing regular daily activities with Nazi ideology. Even though the purpose of the Hitler Youth was to create a future generation of loyal Nazis, they still had to make the activities in the organization appeal to young people. In many ways, the Hitler Youth was similar to any other youth organization. One group in particular is the boy scouts. Similar to the scouts, the Hitler Youth included a lot of outdoor activities like camping and hiking.

In October of 1936 the Hitler made Hitler youth a mandatory membership, conscripted all German boys aged ten into the HJ as well. The laws required boys age ten and over to join but there were younger boys as little as 6 years old fighting to join the Jungvolk, which was the voluntary HJ. The young boys wanted to be a part of a group and fit in, and most of all wanted to wear a uniform. Alfons Heck described his infatuation with the HJ uniforms, comparing it to being part of a sports team and having pride in wearing your own teams’ jersey.