Experiences of Youth in Nazi Germany 1933-1945

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Young people in Nazi Germany during the period between 1933 and 1945 had many different experiences according to the category of society in which they fell. This was determined by Nazi ideology regarding the supreme importance of maintaining the purity of the Aryan master race. All other ethnic groups were regarded as inferior, and this policy was pursued through force, propaganda and education. Jewish children, Hitler Youth, Swing Kids, and the disabled had very diverse treatment under Hitler's rule. They all had differing experiences due to Hitler's belief in the master race.

The reason for these different experiences is Nazi ideology. Hitler's entire philosophy was based on a racist view of humanity. He believed that the Aryans must struggle against the Jews and defeat them, or be destroyed themselves, ?Those who want to live, let them fight and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live.? Some youth groups fitted Hitler?s ideal German, but some did not, and that is the reason why they suffered such brutal experiences.

Jewish youth in Nazi Germany suffered greatly after January 1933 when the Nazis came into power. Some rich Jewish families could afford to leave Germany but many could not. Hitler had made plain his hatred for Jews in Mein Kampf, ?If you cut even cautiously into such a sore, you find like a maggot in a rotting body, often dazzled by the sudden light ? a Jew.? Hitler blamed Jews for all the misfortunes that had fallen Germany. Children at schools were taught specifically anti-Semitic ideas. Jewish students were openly ridiculed by teachers and the bullying of Jews in the playground went unpunished. Hitler believed that if the Jewish children responded by not wanting ...

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...asures against them included cutting their hair, sending their leaders to concentration camps and sending them back to school under close supervision. In 1942 Himmler wrote to Heydrich telling him to get stricter with the ringleaders of the Swing movement. Soon after, clubs were raided and participants were taken to camps. Himmler said, ?I cannot but see that we have taken only half measures. All ringleaders are into a concentration camp to be re-educated?detention must be 2-3 years.?

In conclusion, most of the Hitler Youth fit into the category of Hitler?s ideal German. They were kept in high regard except they were worked to the extreme and if they were not good enough, they were killed off. However, the swing kids, the Jews and the disabled did not. Hitler loathed these groups and did what he could to exterminate them. This was all due to Hitler?s Nazi ideology.

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