Hitler and Nazi Germany by Spielvogel Jackson J.; Redles David;

Author:Spielvogel, Jackson J.; Redles, David; [Jackson J. Spielvogel, David Redles]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Published: 2020-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

The Manipulation of Youth

In their desire to establish a total state, the Nazis understood the importance of winning over the youth to their ideology. The future was theirs if they succeeded.

The Hitler Youth

The Weimar Republic had witnessed a striking variety of youth groups. Five million young people belonged to independent youth organizations as well as those sponsored by religious groups, political parties, and sporting associations. In no other country was there a youth movement of such numbers and vitality. The Nazi seizure of power dramatically changed the youth scene.

The first Nazi youth league was established in 1922 and came to a quick end with the failure of Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. A new organization entitled the Hitlerjugend (the Hitler Youth) was founded in 1926 with Kurt Gruber as its leader, although control of the organization eventually passed to the young and dynamic Baldur von Schirach. The son of an aristocratic family, Schirach had joined the Nazi Party in 1925 at the age of 18. In 1931, Hitler appointed him Reich youth leader of the NSDAP and head of the Hitler Youth. At that time the organization and Schirach were subordinate to Ernst Röhm’s SA. By the end of 1932, the Hitler Youth membership was still under 100,000, constituting a small percentage of youth-group membership. The members of the Hitler Youth were primarily from the lower-middle and working classes. In the summer of 1932, the organization was freed from the SA and given an independent status within the party.

After the Nazi seizure of power, Schirach’s Hitler Youth consolidated its position among the youth of Germany. Under Schirach’s leadership a group of Hitler Youth occupied the offices of the Reich Committee of German Youth Associations, the umbrella organization for all German youth groups. This action served to coordinate all youth groups except the Catholic organizations, which were protected by the concordat made with the Catholic Church. Young people from the various groups were pressured to join the Hitler Youth. By the end of 1933, membership had increased dramatically to 3.5 million. Although even schoolteachers were used to enlist new Hitler Youth, it is apparent from the testimony of a former member from the small town of Northeim that other motives were also at work.

There was no pressure put on me by my father or anyone else to join the Hitler Youth—I decided to join it independently simply because I wanted to be in a boys club where I could strive towards a nationalistic ideal. The Hitler Youth had camping, hikes, and group meetings. I was number 9 in the Northeim group when I joined in 1930. There were boys from all classes of families though mainly middle class and workers. There were no social or class distinctions, which I approved of very much. There was no direct or obvious political indoctrination until later—after Hitler came to power. Without really trying to get new members, the Northeim Hitler Youth grew rapidly. I think most of the other boys joined for the same reason I did.

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