14A Nazi youth policy 277 As you read this chapter, note down points to help you with the following SOURCE 14. 5 Robert Ley,leader of the LabourFront (DAF) structured essay. Westart our work when the child is three. Assoon as it begins to think, a little a) Whatwere the aims of Naziyouth flag is put into its hand. Then comes school, the Movement, the I and education policy? Storm Troop... Wenever let a singlesoul go, andwhen they havegone through b) What methods did they use? allthat, thereis the Labour Front, whichtakes them when they are grown up c) How successful were they in andnever lets hold of them .,. whether they like it or not. achieving their aims? u Theprogress of German youth through Nazi organisations u

, ->-'t^. *,; Boys Girls You may like to study the topics in . 6-10 Pimpfen (Cubs) . 10- 14JungMade] ()M) -YoungGirls I Chapters 14 and 15 in a rather different . 10-14Deutsches'Jungvolk . 14-18 Bund Deutscher Madel (BDM) 5 manner. (Young German Boys) - League of German Girls . 14-18Hitlerjugend(HJ)- . 18-21 Glaube und Schonheit- I Divide into groups of three or four. HitlerYouth <( Each group should choose to study Faith and Beauty either Youth or Women in . Readthe appropriate chapter, making I notes on: I a) Aims of Nazi policy b) Nazi methods Male Both Female i c) The effectiveness of Nazi policy. . Reich Labour . German LabourFront (DAF) . NS Frauenwerk (NSF) - Service (RAD) . NSDAP National SocialistWomen's I Discuss your findings with your group. . Wehrmacht (army) . German Students' League Organisation s (overwhelmingly male Then one group on each topic can z report its findings to the rest of the membership) class.

Nazi aims for both boys and girls . Be obedient I . Idolise the Fiihrer <^ . Be physically fit . Sacrificeself for the nationalgood ^ . Do everything possible to strengthen the health and racial purity of the German nation Boy Girl I . Be a strong fighter . Bear many children Q Q Influences on German youth under the.Thjrd Reich

Nazi influences NSF NSDAP Wehrmacht(army) Faith and Beauty DAF RAD BDM (Leagueof German Girls) Media German Students' League Jung Madel Schools HitlerYouth DeutschesJungvolk Pimpfen

American Key films, music -\ Church ^->. Nazi influences I Friends Family ~ ^ Possibly non-Nazi influences -{ Ke,

Whatkinds of sources

SOURCE 14.7 A nursery rhyme from SOURCE 14. 8 Marianne Gartner joined the Hitler Youth atthe age oftwelve in 1938. the 1930s In her memoirs The Naked Years; Growing up in NaziGermany she recalls the change from I 'excitingactivities' to 'indoctrination'(instruction) d What puffs and patters? What clicks and clatters? One day, fittingly enough on Hitler's birthday, my agegroup was called up and I / know, oh whatfun! tookthe oath:~'Ipromise always to do my duty in the Hitler Youth, in love and loyalty to the Fuhrer. ' Service in the Hitler Youth, we were told, was an ^ It's a lovely Gatling-gun. honourable service to the German people. I was, however, not thinking ofthe Q Fuhrer, nor of servingthe German people, whenI raisedmy right hand, butof Q the attractive prospect ofparticipating in games, sports, hiking, singing, campm, andother exciting activities awayfrom school andthe home. A uniform, a badg an oath, a salute. There seemedto benothing to it... Thus, unquestioningly, I acquired membership, andforthwith attended meetings, joined ballgames and competitions, andtook part in weekendhikes... It was not long, however, before plain-faced leaders taught usmarching drill ^ andmarching songs. I hatedmarching... Therewere now lectures onNational Socialism, stories aboutmodem heroes andabout Hitler... whileextracts from were used to expound [putforward] the new racial doctrines.

SOURCE 14. 9 A German describes her experience in the BDM, the League of Doyou think contemporaryyouth German Girls movements are used for purposes' landall the other girk of my age had to attendevening classes twice weekly. We had to bepresent atevery public meeting. andatyouth rallies andsports. Theweekends were'crammed full with outings, campaigns andmarches, whenwe earned heavy packson our backs. It was all fun in a way,and we certainly got plenty ofexerclse'_ What do Sources 14.8-14 show about 'it hada badeffect on our schoolreports. Wehad no timefor homework. Theyoung^ the following aspects of the youth movements: discipline ... Wewere marched up anddown as though we weresoldwrs onthe a) the aims of the Hitler Youth barracksquare ... Wewere of course lectured a loton National Socialist ideology,^ b) the methods used mostof this went over our heads ... Wewere told to prepare for motherhood, asthe c) the reasons why youngsters joined mother ofour beloved teader and the National Socialist government wasthe most d) the reactionsof young Germans? importantperson in the nation. Wewere Germany's hope and Germany's Juture. SOURCE 14. 10 . Membership of the SOURCE 14. 11 Numbers attending camps Hitler Youth 279 1935-7 9 73,803 HJ members attended camps 1932 107,956 1937 96, 699 BDM members attended camps 1934 3,500,000 In 1935, duringa rally of 100, 000members of the Hitler Youth and League of 1936 6,000,000+ German Girls in , 900fifteen- to eighteen-year-old girls became I pregnant.

SOURCE 14. 12 The numbers of SOURCE'14. 13 A. Klonne, Youth in the Third Reich. I 982 participants in nationwide sporting u competitions for young people WhatI likedabout the Hitler Youthwas the comradeship. I wasfull of enthusiasm ... what boy isn'tfired by highideals such as comradeship, loyalty, honour. .. 1935 3. 4 million Thetrips... offinto the countryside...J waspleased that sport had its place... 1939 7 million Laterwhen I becamea leaderthe negative aspects became obvious. I foundthe I compulsionand the requirement of absolute obedience unpleasant. It was 5 preferred thatpeople should not have a will of their own ... The Hitler Youth was interfering everywhere in people's private lives I In ourtroop the activitiesconsisted almost entirely ofstolid [boring]military ^. drill... Wiydidn't we complain to parentsand teachers? The explanation I can a: findis thatwe were all in thegrip ofambition; we wanted to impressour sub- I leaderswith exemplary [perfect] discipline,with our powers of endurance, with our military bearing. ^ SOURCE 14. 14 Melita Maschmann, former leader in the BDM, Account Rendered, 1964 I WheneverI probethe reasonswhich drew me to join the Hitler Youth, I always I come up against this one: I wanted to escapefrom a childish narrow life and I s wantedto attachmyself to somethingthat wasgreat and fundamental. This 2 longing I sharedwith countless others ofmy contemporaries. Our camp community was a reducedmodel of thatwhich I imaginedour s national community to be. It was a completely successfulmodel. Never before or since have I had the experience of such a good community. Among us were 3 Nazi Party. A great admirer of Hitler, he was appointed head of the German Students' League in 1929 and Nazi Youth Leader in 1931. At the age of 26 he became Youth Leader of the German Reich,a post he held until 1940. Photographsof him were much displayed,and he was presentedto the Germansas a demigod [outstanding,almost divine person], embodyingall thatwas fine and noble in Germanyouth Enemiesmade jokes abouthis effeminate(feminine-like) behaviour. In 1941 he was made Gaufeiter of , where he -k,, supervised the deportation ofJews, though at the Nuremberg trials in 1945-6 he denied knowledge ofthe'Holocaust. He wassentenced to twenty years' imprisonment. Released in -^ ^^i 1966, he'wrote a bookwhich, in an attempt to prevent any rebirth of , explained the fatal fascination of Hitler

ACTIVIT I Writea report bya sympatheticjournalist in I 939about the role ofthe Hitler Youth in Nazi Germany. or: After readingthe rest ofthis chapter,write a report as a German opponent of Nazism in 1942 for the Social Democratic Party in exile (SOPADE), assessing the extent of the effectiveness of the Hitter Youth. 280 In what ways was education used as I propaganda? s What do you consider to be the I Identify three important changes made by the Nazis to the education system. most important subjects taught in 2 Explainthe purpose of each change. school/college' 3 Copy and complete the table below. In column 2, give specific examples of how § Do you think a Nastigovernment the Nazistried in schools to develop the spirit of Vofksgemei'nschoft. s would have the same pnorities7 To gain influence over youth, would Aims Methods it be more important for the Nazis Anti-intellectualism I to mampulate the teachers or the s curriculum? Anti-semitism Indifference to the weak I Nationalism Militarism I Obedience and discipline I Hitler worship i The Nazis' approach stemmed from their anti-intellectual prejudices and the importance they placed on healthy bodies and National Socialist character, as I part of a racially pure Volksgemdnschaft. Bemhard Rust, the Nazi Education s Minister, stated in 'Education and Instruction', the official manual for teachers, z 'The chief purpose of the school is to train human beings to realise that the State is more important than the individual, that individuals must be willing and § ready to sacrifice themselves for Nation and Fuhrer.' The Nazi strategy on education had a number of strands. They were initially I concerned to exercise greater control over the schools. Regulations were issued, .^ co-ordinating teachers and encouraging local Nazi officials to interfere in schools. Many teachers were already sympathetic to the Nazis and by 1956 over 50 per cent of teachers had voluntarily joined the Nazi Party. To ensure that all teachers followed the party line, they were pressurised into joining the National t Socialist Teachers' League (NSLB). By 1957, 97 per cent had done so. Members Q had to attend one-month training courses, stressing Nazi ideology and physical Q education. By 1938, two-thirds had attended. Local Nazi officials kept records on individual teachers, aud fhose who were insufficienUy committed to National Socialism could be dismissed. The other major strategy the Nazis used was to change the curriculum. Greater stresswas put on physicalexercise which, by 1936,took up at leasttwo hours a day. Naziideas were incorporated into subjects, particularly biology andhistory. Religious educationwas downgradedand eventually replaced. From 1955, all textbooks had to be approved. New textbooks were produced, reflecting Nazivalues. There was also a move away from co-educational schools to ensure the differentsexes received their appropriate education. Girls took needleworkand music, not Latin; then language and home crafts, to become good homemakers andmothers. Localplebiscites were held, which due to governmentpressure led to parents voting to end deaominational (religious) schools. By 1959 all the denominational schools had been abolished. As in other areas, the Nazis did not initiate major structural reorganisation. They used the school system they inherited, and supplemented it with new Na%i institutions. Thus some new schools to train thefuture Nazielite were created. In 1955 Education Minister Rust announced the formation ofNational Politics] Institutes ofEducation (NAPOLAs) for boys aged 10-18 to develop future leaders. In 1956the NAPOLAswere taken over by the SS.There were21 by 1938 and 39 by 1945. Theyprovided a military-style boarding education, with classes called 'platoons' and with the atmosphere ofa military camp. There w?» even more stress on physical education, compulsory manuallabour andfurther political training replaced religious education. 281 In 1957Youth Leader Schirach and DAF Leader Ley set up newspecial leadershipschools, the AdolfHitler Schools.They were intended partly to rival the SS'sNAPOLAs and to avoidRust's interference. Only eleven werecreated. Theywere free boarding schools for 12-to 18-year-olds,selected mainly on I groundsof physical appearance and leadership potential. In the curriculum i physical,political andmilitary training were even more dominant.Many

features ofnormal schools were abandoned. Significantly, Nazi leaders did not u send their own children there. u Worthy Naziyouths could finally progress to three new Ordensburgen (Castles ofOrder), partly modelled on medieval chivalric orders, wheretheir trainingas future politicaland military leaders was completed. Theywere I housed in vast castles, which held 1,000students (caUed Ordensjunkers) aged s 25-50,plus 500staff. Hitler toldRauschning, 'My Ordensburgenwill mould a youth from whichthe world will shrink in terror.' I .^ Therewere fewer changes in thenature ofhigher education. Most significant wasa considerablecontraction in numbers ofstudents, from 115,000m1955 to 57,000in 1959,reHecting the Nazi downgrading of academic education. Thereafternumbers rose to 82,000by 1944,mainly due to a largemcrease in I female students (11 per cent of students in 1939 were female; in 1944, 49 per I cent) and to a growing realisation ofthe value of specialist education. In general, the government did not intervene very muchin the universities, I though some Gauleiterinterfered more. As with schools, the government tried to ensure the political compliance of I the educators. In April 1955 the Lawfor the Restoration of the Civil Serviceled s to about1, 200university teachers (about 10 per cent) beingdismissed (55 per 2 centfor racial and 56 per centfor political reasons). There waslittle reaction to s this purge in whichthe universities lost some oftheir greatestthinkers. In November 1955 all universityteachers were madeto sign a 'Declarationin Support of Hitler and the National Socialist State' and join the Nazi Lecturers' I Association.New appointees hadto attend a six-weekideological and physical s/> training camp. Studentswere forcedto join the Nazi-controlledGerman Students' League, but 25 per cent seem to have avoidedthis. Studentshad to attendtwice weekly I sessions for ideological and fitness training. They hadto score points in Q sporting activities (unless givenmedical exemption). University curriculawere Q modified in some areas, for example, with racial and EUGENIC ideas in medicine, law, politics. However, there was a growing perception that standardswere falling. Indeed,by fhe~1940s some Nazileaders realisedthe adverse effects oftheir educationpolicy andwanted to reverse its anti- intellectual stress, arguingthat they neededto train more scientists to compete with other countries in research.

Berlin university ;-' i.r-s'a students giving the Hitler salute SOURCE 14. 15 A National Socialist Teachers' League (NSLB) official explains its role in 282 1937 Study Sources 14. 15-28. Naturally, the German teacher must first be converted to this completely new task I What methods did the Nazis use to of Germanyouth education. The real task of the NSLBis to create the new I try to ensure schools were teaching German educator in the spirit of National Socialism. It is being carried out with correctly? the samemethods with whichthe movement has conqueredthe whole nation: 2 Schools/colleges today have a indoctrination and propaganda. statement at the beginning of their prospectuses explaining the main SOURCE 14. 16 Dr Schuster, a geography teacher, describes the problems he faced, in an educational aims of the institution. interview in 1938: quoted in E. Amy Butler's Darkness over Germany, 1945 (see also page 317) Using the sources, write one for a school in Nazi Germany. Thereis no longer any intellectualfreedom... and educationis being degraded by political interference.. . Political agents, often ignorant and stupid men.. . interfere with my teaching of geography. Some of them don't seem to realise that any countries exist except Germany ... My headmaster, who is new and young and a very keen Nazi - infact he would not have the post if he were not a Party man - greatly hopes that I will leave, That is obvious, for he will get high praise if he can quickly establish an all-Nazi stqff,

SOURCE 14. 17 A British teacher in Germany describes the situation in schools in 1933 Naziswere sent to schools, where they walkedinto the classes and cross-examined the teacher in front of his pupils. If they thought it necessary they arrested him at once.

SOURCE 14. 18 From a newspaper report in Oldenburg The State Ministry has ordered: the Hitler Greeting is also to be used in conversation between teachers and pupils ... Every day at the beginning of the first lesson the pupils will get up from their places as soon as the teacher enters the class, stand to attention and raise their outstretched arm level with their eyes, The teacher will go to thefront of the class and offer the same greeting accompanied by the words 'Heil Hitler!' The pupils will reply 'Heil Hitler!'

SOURCE 14. 19 Teenage girls salute the flag at the start of the school day in 1933 . --.s^'v'sy^

SOURCE 14.20 DerAngriff, 27 October 1939 All subjects, German Language,History, Geography, Chemistry andMathematt - must concentrate onmilitary subjects- theglonfication of military serviceaw of German heroes andleaders andthe strength ofa regeneratedGermany. Chemistry will inculcatea knowledgeof chemicalwarfare, explosives, Buna [art[ficialrubber}, etc. whilemathematics will help theyoung to understand artillery calculations, ballistics etc. SOURCE 14.21 Extracts from a Nazi mathematics textbook 28; Question 95 The construction of a lunatic asylum costs 6 million RM. How many houses at 15,000KM eachcould have been built for that amount? Question97 To keep a mentally ill personcosts approx. 4 KM.per day, a cripple 5. 5 KM, a criminal3. 50 RM. Manycivil servants receive only 4 KM.per day,white I collar employeesbarely 3, 50RM, unskilledworkers not wen2 KMper head for their families. (a) Illustrate thesefigures with a diagram, Accordingto conservativeestimates, thereare 300, 000mentally ill, epileptics, § etc. in care. (b) How much do these people cost to keep in total, at a cost of 4 RM per head? s (c) How many marriage loans at 1,000KM each. .. could be grantedfrom this It money? I s lid SOURCE 14.22 From official instructions on the teaching of history, issued by the German Central Institute of Education, 1938 § Mt

13-16 German struggle. The Jew becomes prosperous! Manke Espi onage at the Front German want. Profit from German want War reports Blockade! Starvation! 17-20 The stab in the back. Jews as leaders of the Secret Servrce m Enemy Country Collapse November insurrection Bruno Brehm. Tbot was the End 21-24 Germany's Golgotha. Jewsenter Germanyfrom the east. Volkmann Rewrfuoon over Germany Feder TheJews Erzberger's crimesl Judah'striumph OQ Versailles Der Sturmer newspaper 25-28 Judah'sfoe! Mein K-ampf National Socialism Dietnch Eckart

29-32 The Bleeding Frontiers. The Jew profits by Germany's Beumelburg Germany in Chains w Enslavement of Germany. misfortunes. Wehner Pifgronageto Paris y.l The Volunteer Corps. Loans (Dawes,Young) Schlageter - a German hero iSl Schlageter [a young German killed by invading French troops in 1923] laws !-- and 133-36 National Socialism at grips with Jewishinstigators of murder. Horst Wessel [a young Nazi killed in a crime and the underworld TheJewish press brawl in 1930and turned into a hero] Germany's youth at the helm! The lastfight against Judah The Reich Party Congress The victory of faith 286 Alternative youth Edelweiss Pirates

SOURCE 14.29 Edelweiss Pirates. The edelweiss flower was chosen as a symbol of SOURCE 14.30 EdelweissPirates'song I resistance to Hitler. The pirates wore the edelweiss as a metal badge on their collars Hark the heartyfellows sing! i Strum that banjo, pluck that string.' And the lassies all join in w Q We're going to get rid of Hitler, And he can't do a thing. -.^ ^-k Wemarch by banks ofRuhr and Rhine I ^ And smashthe Hitler Youth in twain. Our song isfreedom, love and life, We're Pirates of the Edelweiss. I Hitler's power may lay us low, g And keep us locked in chains, But we will smash the chains one dar. We'll befree again. We'vegot fists and we canfight ^ We'vegot knives and we'llget them out I We wantfreedom, don't we boys? I We are thefighting Navajos. s 2

The growing political and ideological bias of the Hitler Youth dimmished its attraction for many young people. The Edelweiss Pirates was the name for a I Choose five features of the activities loose collection ofsubgroups. These bands were mainly ofboys aged 14-17but w of the alternative youth groups and also includeda few girls. They could be recognisedby their badges,for example; explain what aspects of Nazi the edelweiss or skull and crossbones; and some wore check shirts, dark short ; g ideology they challenged. trousers, and white socks. They were largely localised groups with their own Why do you think their popularity names, such as the Roving Dudes, Kittelbach Pirates, the Navajos. Membership < i increased in the later part of the was mainly rooted in the working class. The earliest recorded groups existed la Q war? 1934 and membership has been estimated at 2,000 by 1959. Numbers grew most a Why do you think most of the rapidly during the war years. In 1945, for instance, the Cologne authorities sources on the alternative youth reported twenty groups of around 100 members. movements come from agents of the Nazi state? Their aims are not easy to identify. They were partly just rebellious youth trying to escape the mtrusive Nazi system, joining in popular pastimes such as' weekendcamps, hikes and singing songs aboutsex and food (not Hitler Youth songs!). However, some groupswere highlypoliticised, establishinglinks wifit'| the RPD and beating up HiUer Youth patrols with the slogan 'Eternal War onff| Hitler Youth!' In 1942 the Dusseldorf Hitler Youth complained of 'no go' areas ; During the Second World War some groups helped escaped prisoners ofwar anddistributed Allied andcommunist leaflets. Thustheir actionsranged from socially nonconformist behaviour to political resistance. The response of the authorities became harsher over time. They initially issued warnings with some raids and arrests, but in March 1940 150 NavajQsfl Colognewere arrested. Later, in December 1942,the arrested 759 .' Edel-weiss Pirates in Diisseldorf. They had their heads shaven, were detained,' sent for corrective education or to labour camps. Some were tried and execute: In November 1944 the leaders of the Cologne Edelweiss Pirates were hanged.; Swing Thesegroups of mainly upper-middle-class youths, unlikethe Edelweiss PWtf hadfhewealth to frequentnight-clubs. Many were nominally members of the Hitler Youth. Swing groups mainly developed in large cities, such as Hamburg Berlin, Frankfurtand Dresden, during the late 1950s.They rejected HiUerYoul

ideals,but were generally anti-politics. Their approachwas to develop a counter identity,expressed through forbidden music. They met in bars,night-clubs and 287 houses andplayed American Black andJewish jazz and swing, not the ofGcialIy sanctioned German folk music. The Nazisfelt undermined by their activities and closedthe bars and made some arrests. Although only a tinyminority ofGerman youthswere connected with the Swing groups, they doillustrate, aswith fhe I Pirates, the failure ofthe regime to dominate youth; andfor many they-were a I hearteningillustration ofnon-confonnity.

u SOURCE 14.31 A newspaperreport inthe ftheinischeLandeszeitung, February 1936 0 Dangerous Pirate Games On6 Octoberqf last year the police authorities... stageda massraid on the so- called Wolfsberg nearHuels. It had become known that a great number cf I 'Kittelbachpirates' had undertaken a socialtrip to theWoVsberg ... In orderto s put a stop to their games once andfor all, the police patrol of 6 October was § madeready. The 80 or so young chapsaged from 16to 25 who were on the :'---? -t. ^. eas increasedduring the war, to such a :^^ ^».. ^^v 'ar degreethat a serious risk of the Os rom/ political, moral and criminal i*:^s^^^. breakdown ofyouth must besaid to iiill'i^;.-^ ^. exist. jos I [ied,ot ;cuted< 2;ed.

lirates- e German historians have been . the BBsed of exaggerating the Stgmftcance Ae Ectotwei&sPirates. Why might ]ur& Youth vjf have done so? -:9W^