Hitler Youth Research Paper

Movements for children in Nazi Germany were very common, especially because of Hitler’s belief that the future of the Nazi party rested with Germany’s youth. The most prominent of these movements was the Hitler Youth Movement, also known as Hitlerjugend and abbreviated as HJ. This movement was inspired by an earlier German Youth movement, Wandervögel (translated in English as Migratory Bird) and was established in 1922, but popularized in 1932, when the Nazis came to power. The Nazis used this movement to produce loyal supporters of the Nazi party and live out Hitler’s dreams of the thousand year Reich since it was much easier to convert young children to national socialism as opposed to converting older people. This organization was very important to the Nazi party for many reasons, especially their involvement in other organizations and fundraising. Hitler Youth was set up in the 1920’s and it was made up of ten to eighteen year olds, girls could voluntarily participate up until the age of twenty-one. The boys and girls had their own separate organizations within the HJ and because they had different programs, they learned different things. The boys of Hitler Youth learned and participated in many activities such as biking, boating, camping, singing, shooting, and fundraising. Girls went on weekend camps, took part in community events, and were taught about socialism. Coincidentally, all of these events were related to war. Since the children of the Hitler Youth Movement took part in different events

and learned many things about the National Socialism, they were key to Nazi Germany’s future success.
Adolf Hitler (Der Führer “the leader” as the Hitler Youth called him) was one of the most powerful and memorable dictators in history.

He ruled Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. Even before 1934, he “shared” power with the president while he was chancellor. He was accepted into the German army in August 1914, to serve during World War I . In 1933, he was appointed chancellor to promote political balance. He used this political position to rise to

power.
Before his rise to power, he and the Nazi Party established Hitler Youth. The Hitler Youth became official in 1926. Groups involved in the movement met on weekends in the evenings. At first, the idea of having meeting rendered unsuccessful; in 1938, the attendance of Hitler Youth meetings was so poor that they passed a law in 1939, known as the Second Execution Order. This law made attending meetings a requirement. The reason behind lack of attendance was believed to be that the meetings were so late kids would be too tired for school in the mornings. Hitler also controlled what was taught in the schools during this time. In schools, ideas of racism and Anti-Semitism were spread. Children were taught to believe that the Aryan race is the supreme of the races and that they should follow after the Nazis. As a result of these ideals being taught and retaught, many young supporters that would stick by Hitler with everything they had were produced. They were very eager to join the movement.
As The Hitler Youth became more popular, they developed a uniform, but it was not a standardized one at first. Children were very proud to wear uniforms because they were seen as important, but there were many variations over time and between different groups and units. Of what is known today, the standard uniforms consisted of white shirts along with black or white socks, shoes, and boots, though they changed seasonally. At one point, brown army shirts were also worn. Popular headwear was permitted, including berets and soft or hard peaked caps. Still, there were variations based on how strictly a unit enforced the dress code. In 1938 a patterned shoulder strap was introduced. Different divisions of the HJ, such as the general HJ, aviation HJ, and motorized HJ adopted their own colored shoulder straps with only slight variation in actual style of dress. That is how people differentiated the units.. These uniforms were worn at meetings, parades, and summer camps. They also had a very distinct haircut, a variation of the curtained haircut, where the hair is buzzed on each side, but longer on the top. Today, it is popular for many people in Europe and even North America to ask their hairdressers for the “Hitler Youth” haircut in order to get the same curtained and professional look. Girls involved in HJ usually wore braided pigtails.
For the most part, boys did physical training in HJ. Hiking was extremely popular in order to prepare boys for military marches. Later in the evening, stories were told conveying Nazi beliefs and ideals. Musical groups were also popular, as Nazis found it important to show German culture through music. Of course, bullying was found in HJ groups. Bullies had no punishment and were actually encouraged because they were thought to ‘toughen up’ the younger boys. When the HJ boys reached the age of eighteen, they were required to join the military. Girls, on the other hand, worked differently in their side of the Hitler Youth Organization.
Before the League of German Girls, (BDM) girls did not take part in outdoor activities. It was very uncommon that they left the side of their parents, but the freedom that these programs seemed to allow drew their attention. Once girls were enrolled in the HJ, they were taught to become perfect German women. Their league was extremely focused on preparing women to become wives and mothers. They were also encouraged to support war. Other than that, they held fundraisers to fund activities for the boys and were taught all about socialist nationalism. They were made to be obedient and easily controlled, which was important for the fact that they could be used to assist in many things with lack of complaint.
Hitler Youth also had many different branches and special programs such as the Marine-HJ, Flakhelfern, the firefighting squad and Streifendienst. The Flakhelfern volunteered to do jobs such as serving as messengers, signallers, weather observers, and ammunition carriers and the Streifendienst worked as a patrol group. The Streifendienst was purposed to police Hitler Youth. The firefighting squad helped the regular fire police. These groups came into play during the war.
When World War II broke out, many things about the way the Hitler Youth was organized changed, such as the Streifendienst expanding and advancing, helping police track down escaped prisoners and any other suspicious people rather than just helping police other HJ member. Boys used the training they learned in HJ camps and became soldiers. Other boys assisted on the front lines. Girls were assigned to care for wounded soldiers and help out large families. They also spent time teaching in kindergartens. In the six years of war, there was complete participation of the Hitler Youth, though the conditions were rough.
After World War II and Hitler’s suicide, the Hitler Youth groups disbanded. Some German boys attempted to keep groups intact and continued to work in guerilla groups called “Werewolves.” In 1946, allied forces forced the youth to undergo democratic training, with the purpose of undoing their years of learning about Nazi ideals. They wanted to erase all of the beliefs they were taught growing up. It was pretty harsh, though, the children were forced to view the dead bodies of prisoners from the concentration camp.
Since children involved with Hitler Youth took part and assisted in many things, they were very important to Nazi Germany. Because Hitler had dreams of a Thousand Year Reich, he purposed German children to help him. This was because he knew that little kids are very impressionable. Children’s movements were very popular and Nazis took advantage of that. They established this group, the Hitlerjugend, or Hitler Youth to breed supporters of their national socialist ideals. Within the group, there were many different programs for boys and girls that were made to look fun and exciting, as to encourage membership. The boys had German Young People (Deutsches Jungvolk) and Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend) while girls had League of Young Girls (Jungmadelbund) and League of German Girls (Bund Deutscher Mädel). Another female organization, Belief and Beauty (Glaube und Schönheit), was optional for girls aged seventeen to twenty-one. Though the girl programs all served for the same, producing model German woman who were obedient and could keep a family, The Belief and Beauty was used specifically to produce the perfect German wives. Boy programs, on the other hand, involved a lot of training and learning. Boys typically participated in hikes and climbs to build up muscle so they were able to march for long periods of time. Boys also learned about weapons. They participated in grenade throwing and trench digging activities in camp. Both genders grew up learning all about Nazi beliefs and felt very passionate about Hitler.
When it was difficult, during wartime, girls were appointed to act as nurses and helpers. They helped families and volunteered in kindergarten. Some boys were brave enough to fight first-hand, but mostly assisted doing stuff such as serving as messengers, signallers, weather observers, and ammunition carriers. Other boys, once that previously acted as patrols for the general HJ, became armed groups helping officers in searching for escaped prisoners traitors. Though, all of the Hitler Youth Movement members were very happy to assist during war time because their upbringing caused them to be passionate about Hitler and their homeland, which is why they were so beneficial to the Nazi Party.