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 Hitler Youth Movement, the I and education policy? Storm Troop... Wenever let a single soulgo, 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 Nazi Germany. 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 <to you think historians usein investigatingthe impactof die Nazison youngpeople? . ;?-A. ^. 278 How did the Nazis use youth movements to inculcate their I values? SOURCE 14. 6 A young boy in the The Nazisused two major institutions to achieve their aims: the school system § uniform of the Pimpfen (Cubs) and, in particular, youth groups. Furthermore, once youngsters left education^ andyouth movements, theywould join other Naziorganisations, such asRAD and DAF (see page 252), to ensure they did not escape control. The Nazis hoped § that the influence ofsuch an array ofinstitutions would predominate over the traditional, andpossibly hostile, influences ofparents andthe Church. Converting any group in society to a way ofthinking haslong exercised the I minds ofpoliUcians and advertisers. Ifyou can offer exciting activities, people s maybecome more receptive to your broader aims. Thus the Hifler Youth focusei on offering fun and action to theyoung, butthis wasbacked up by intimidation I to persuade members to conform to all the state's demands. TheHitler Youth, created m 1926, expanded rapidly after 1955 with the support ofthe government It organised a variety ofactiviUes, suchas camps, sport andmilitary training. I In 1955 all other youth organisations, except Catholic ones protected by the Concordat (see pages 508-9), were taken over by the HiUer Youth After 1936 al t other youth organisations were banned. Although membership ofthe Hitler Youthbecame'compulsory, many managed to avoid it, especially after they left i school, which many did atfourteen. In addition, some rival groups were setup, I which the authorities failed to suppress. As membership became more s widespread, theHiUer Youth arguably becameless successful, becauseit 2 included less committed youngsters and because there developed an mcreasm; stress on military preparation at the expense of other, more popular, activities. 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 Mein Kampf 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 propaganda 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 belovedteader 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 Nuremberg, 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 </) peasant girls, students, workers, shop assistants, hairdressers, pupils, clerks, and w soforth. The camp was led by an East Prussian farmer's daughter ... She managed us in such a way that, after we had recognised one another's strengths andweaknesses, sheled us to accept one another as wewere, with everyone endeavouringto be helpful andreliable. Thefact that I had experiencedthis ^ model of a national community intensely created in me an optimism which I held Q on to stubbornly until 1945. Supportedby this experienceI believedin theface of Q all evidence to the contrary that this model could be extended infinitely. Baldurvon Schirach (1907-74): Hitler Youth Leader Schirachwas the son of an aristocratic German father and an American mother. He studied art history and developed anti-semitic and anti-Christianviews. In 1925 he joined the 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 Vienna, where he -k,, supervised the deportation ofJews, though at the Nuremberg trials in 1945-6 he denied knowledge ofthe'Holocaust.