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Gathering: A picture of a Hitler Youth
'Landjahr' training camp taken in 1938 by a 15-year-old boy who was taking part
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I
will post information of Adolf Hitler’s Youth Organization, the Hitler Youth
A.K.A Hitlerjugend from Wikipedia and other links. I do it for history
researching.
Hitler
Youth
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Hitlerjugend
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Motto
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Blut und Ehre
("Blood and Honour") |
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Formation
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1933 (1922)
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Extinction
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10 October 1945
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Type
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Legal
status
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Region served
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Leader
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Baldur von Schirach, Artur
Axmann
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Parent organization
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The
Hitler Youth (German: Hitlerjugend (help·info), often abbreviated as HJ in
German) was the youth organization of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins
dated back to 1922 in form of predecessor organizations affiliated to the (at
the time) Munich-based Nazi Party. From 1933 until 1945, it was the sole
official youth organization in Germany and was partially a paramilitary
organization; it was constituted of the Hitlerjugend proper for male
youth aged 14 to 18, the Deutsches Jungvolk (German Youth) for younger boys,
and the League of German Girls.
With
the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945, the organization de facto ceased
to exist. On 10 October 1945, it was outlawed by the Allied Control Council
along with other Nazi Party organizations. Under Section 86 of the German
Criminal Code, the Hitler Youth is an "unconstitutional organisation"
and the distribution or public use of its symbols, except for educational or
research purposes, are not permitted.
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Hitler Youth members performing the Nazi
salute at a rally at the Lustgarten in Berlin, 1933
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Hitler Youth visit the 12th SS Panzer
Division, 21 March 1944 in Belgium
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Origins
In
1922 the Munich-based Nazi Party established its official youth organisation
called Jugendbund
der NSDAP. It was announced on 8 March 1922 in the Völkischer Beobachter, and its inaugural
meeting took place on 13 May the same year. Another youth group was established
in 1922 as the Jungsturm Adolf Hitler (help·info).
Based in Munich,
Bavaria, it
served to train and recruit future members of the Sturmabteilung
(or "Storm Regiment"), the adult paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party.
Following
the abortive Beer Hall Putsch (in November 1923) the Nazi youth
groups ostensibly disbanded, but many elements simply went underground,
operating clandestinely in small units under assumed names. In April 1924 the Jugendbund
der NSDAP was renamed Grossdeutsche Jugendbewegung (Greater German
Youth Movement). On 4 July 1926 the Grossdeutsche Jugendbewegung was
officially renamed Hitler Jugend Bund der deutschen Arbeiterjugend
(Hitler Youth League of German Worker Youth). This event took place a year
after the Nazi Party itself had been reorganised. The architect of the
re-organisation was Kurt Gruber, a law student from Plauen in Saxony.
After
a short power-struggle with a rival organisation—Gerhard Roßbach's Schilljugend—Gruber
prevailed and his "Greater German Youth Movement" became the Nazi
Party's official youth organisation. In July 1926 it was renamed Hitler-Jugend,
Bund deutscher Arbeiterjugend ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker
Youth") and, for the first time, officially became an integral part of the
Sturmabteilung.
The name Hitler-Jugend was taken up on the suggestion of Hans Severus Ziegler.
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Deutsches Jungvolk recruits line up for roll
call at a rally in Berlin, in 1934
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By
1930 the Hitlerjugend had enlisted over 25,000 boys aged 14 and upwards.
It also set up a junior branch, the Deutsches Jungvolk (DJ), for boys aged 10 to 14. Girls from 10 to 18 were
given their own parallel organisation, the League of German Girls (BDM).
In
April 1932 Chancellor Heinrich Brüning banned the Hitler Youth movement
in an attempt to stop widespread political violence. But in June Brüning's
successor as Chancellor, Franz von Papen, lifted the ban as a way of
appeasing Hitler, the rapidly ascending political star. A further significant
expansion drive started in 1933, when Baldur von Schirach became the first Reichsjugendführer (Reich Youth Leader),
pouring much time and large amounts of money into the project.
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Soldiers of the
Hitlerjugend practicing the use of rifles while in a Bann-Lager in 1933.
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Doctrine
The
members of the Hitler Youth were viewed as future "Aryan
supermen" and were indoctrinated into racism. One aim
was to instill the motivation that would enable its members as soldiers, to
fight faithfully for Nazi Germany. There was more emphasis on physical
and military training than on academic study. The Nationalsozialistischer
Reichsbund für Leibesübungen (NSRBL), the umbrella organisation promoting and
coordinating sport activities in Germany during the Nazi era, had the responsibility
of overseeing the physical fitness development programs provided to the German
youth.
The
Hitler Youth were used to break up Church youth movements, and in anti-Church
indoctrination, used to spy on religious classes and Bible studies, and
interfere with church attendance.
After
the Boy Scout
movement was banned throughout German-controlled countries, the Hitler
Youth appropriated many of its activities, though changed in content and
intention. For example, many activities closely resembled military training,
with weapons training, assault course circuits and basic tactics. Some cruelty by the
older boys toward the younger ones was tolerated and even encouraged, since it
was believed this would weed out the unfit and harden the rest.
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Traditions-Arm-Dreiecken, regional sleeve
badges, gold is HJ, silver is Bund Deutscher Mädel
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HJ uniform from the 1930s
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Uniform
and emblems
Members
wore uniforms very much like that of the SA,
with similar ranks and insignia. The
summer uniform consisted of a black shorts and tan shirt with pockets, worn
with a rolled black neckerchief secured with a woggle, usually
tucked under the collar. Headgear originally consisted of a beret, but this was
discarded by the HJ in 1934.
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Hitlerjugend camp in China in 1935, with
permission of the Government of the Republic of China
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Organization
The
Hitler Youth was organised into corps under adult leaders, and the general
membership comprised boys aged fourteen to eighteen. The organisation was also
seen as an important stepping stone to future membership of the elite Schutzstaffel (SS).
Members of the Hitler Youth were particularly proud to be bestowed with the
single Sig Rune (victory symbol) by the SS. The SS utilized
two Sig Runes as their mark, and this gesture served to symbolically
link the two groups.
The
Hitler Youth was organised into local cells on a community level. Such cells
had weekly meetings at which various Nazi doctrines
were taught by adult leaders. Regional leaders typically organised rallies and
field exercises in which several dozen Hitler Youth cells would participate.
The largest gathering usually took place annually, at Nuremberg,
where members from all over Germany would converge for the annual Nazi Party rally.
The
Hitler Youth maintained training academies comparable to preparatory schools,
which were designed to nurture future Nazi Party leaders, and only the most
devoted members could expect to attend.
The
Hitler Youth also maintained several corps designed to develop future officers
for the Wehrmacht
(Armed forces). The corps offered specialist pre-training for each of the
specific arms for which the member was ultimately destined. The Marine Hitler
Youth (Marine-HJ), for example, was the largest such corps and served as a
water rescue auxiliary to the Kriegsmarine.
Another
branch of the Hitler Youth was the Deutsche Arbeiter Jugend – HJ (German
Worker Youth – HY). This organisation within the Hitler Youth was a training
ground for future labor leaders and technicians. Its symbol was a rising sun
with a swastika.
The
Hitler Youth regularly issued the Wille und Macht (Will and Power)
monthly magazine. This publication was also its official organ and its editor
was Baldur von Schirach. Other publications included Die Kameradschaft
(Comradeship), which had a girl's version for the BDM called Mädelschaft,
and a yearbook called Jungen eure Welt (Youth your World).
Another
program entitled Landjahr Lager (Country Service Camp) was designed to
teach specifically chosen girls of the BDM high moral character standards
within a rural educational setting.
Flags of the Hitler Youth
The
basic unit of the Hitler Youth was the Bann (unit of the whole district,
consisting of 2,400 to 3,600 members, with 4 Stamm/Stämmen each of 600 members
or more), the equivalent of a military regiment. Of these Banne, there
were more than 300 spread throughout Germany, each of a strength of about 6,000
youths. Each unit carried a flag of almost identical design, but the individual
Bann was identified by its number, displayed in black on a yellow scroll above
the eagle's head. The flags measured 200 by 145 centimetres (79 in
× 57 in). The displayed eagle in the center was adopted from the
former Imperial State of Prussia. In its talons it grasped a white coloured sword and a
black hammer. These symbols were used on the first official flags presented to
the delegation of the Hitler Youth at a national rally of the NSDAP in August
1929 in Nürnberg. The sword was said to represent nationalism,
whereas the hammer was a symbol of socialism.
The poles used with these flags were of bamboo topped by a white metal ball and
spear point finial.
The
flags carried by the Hitler Youth Gefolgschaft (Escort), the equivalent
of a company with a strength of 150 youths, displayed the emblem used on the
Hitler Youth armband: a tribar of red over white over red, in the centre of
which was a square of white standing on its point containing a black swastika.
The Gefolgschafts flag measured 180 by 120 centimetres (71 in
× 47 in) with the three horizontal bars each 40 centimetres
(16 in) deep. In order to distinguish both the individual Gefolgschaft
and the branch of Hitler Youth service to which the unit belonged, each flag
displayed a small coloured identification panel in the upper left corner. The
patch was in a specific colour according to the branch. For example, there was
a light-blue patch, a white Unit number, and a white piping reserved for the Flieger-HJ,
or Flying Hitler Youth. The flagpoles were of polished black wood and had a
white metal bayonet finial.
The
Deutsches Jungvolk was the junior branch of the Hitler Youth, for boys
aged 10 to 14. Its flag (Jungbann) generally followed the same style as
those of the Hitler Youth. The differences were its flag had an all-black field
with a white eagle; the scroll above the eagle's head was in white with the
unit number in black; and the sword, hammer, beak, talons, and left leg of the
eagle were in silver-grey colour. The flags eventually measured 165 by 120
centimetres (65 in × 47 in) high. The flagpoles were of black
polished wood topped with a white-metal spearhead-shaped finial. It displayed
on both sides an eagle bearing on its breast the Hitler Youth diamond.
In
contrast, the DJ Fähnlein flag, that of the name of the unit, equivalent
to a troop or company, was of a very simple design. It displayed a single runic
S in white on an all-black field. The Fähnlein number appeared on
a white patch sewn to the cloth in the top left-hand corner. It was piped in
silver and had black unit numbers. The size was 160 by 120 centimetres
(63 in × 47 in). The flagpoles were of polished black wood with
a white metal unsheathed bayonet blade. A Fähnlein however, was not so
much the flag, but the name of the DJ unit itself, a term which had been taken
over from ancient Landsknecht denominations.
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Flag of the Hitler Youth (General flag)
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HJ Gefolgschafts (Escort) Flag
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Arbeiterjugend (HJ)
pennant (pre 1933)
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DJ Fähnlein (Troop) Flag
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DJ pennant
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Early DJ pennant (pre 1933)
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Bund deutscher Mädel (BDM)/Jungmädel
(JM)- Untergau pennant
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Bund deutscher Mädel (BDM)/ JM-Gruppen
pennant
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Membership
In
1923, the youth organization of the Nazi party had a little over 1,000 members
and was limited to Munich. In 1925, when the Nazi Party had been refounded, the
membership grew to over 5,000. Five years later, national membership stood at 25,000.
By the end of 1932, it was at 107,956. When the Nazis came to power next year,
1933, and the membership of Hitler Youth organisations increased dramatically
to 2,300,000 members by the end of that year. Much of these increases came from
forcible takeovers of other youth organizations. (The sizable Evangelische
Jugend, a Lutheran youth organisation of 600,000 members, was integrated on
18 February 1934). In 1934, a law declared the Hitler Youth to be the only
legally permitted youth organization in Germany, and stated that "all of
the German youth in the Reich is organised within the Hitler Youth."
However,
how active many members were remains open to speculation. For example, in the
class of Hans J. Massaquoi, 100% of the Aryan pupils in
his class became Pimpf. However many of his classmates joined because of
their parents or teachers or to be like everybody else. After several months
many of the children became inactive and almost all left after one or two
years.
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"Leistungsbuch" (Performance
booklet) of a Hitler Youth / Deutsches Jungvolk member. The symbol in the upper
right, based on the Sowilo rune, reads "For accomplishments in the DJ
(Deutsches Jungvolk)". The symbol in the lower left, based on the Tiwaz
rune, reads "For accomplishments in the HJ (Hitler Jugend)".
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By
December 1936, Hitler Youth membership had reached over five million. That same
month, membership became mandatory for Aryans, under the Gesetz
über die Hitlerjugend law. By 1938, the Hitler Youth had over 7.7 million
members. This legal obligation was reaffirmed in March 1939 with the Jugenddienstpflicht,
which conscripted all German youths into the Hitler Youth—even if the parents
objected. Those parents who refused to allow their children to join were told
that the state would take their children away. Massaquoi claims, though, that
the war did not allow the law to go very far. From then on, most of Germany's
teenagers belonged to the Hitler Youth. By 1940, it had eight million members.
Later war figures are difficult to calculate, since massive conscription
efforts and a general call-up of boys as young as 10 years old meant that
virtually every young male in Germany was, in some way, connected to the Hitler
Youth. Only about 10 to 20% avoided joining.
Long
before 1939, though, German youths were under growing pressure to join the
Hitler Youth. Students who did not join were frequently assigned essays with
titles such as "Why am I not in the Hitler Youth?" They were also the
subject of frequent taunts from teachers and fellow students, and could even be
refused their school-leaving
certificate--which made it impossible to be admitted to university. A
number of employers refused to offer apprenticeships to anyone who wasn't a
member of the Hitler Youth. By 1936, the Hitler Youth had a monopoly on all
youth sports facilities in Germany, effectively locking out non-members. As time
went on, a number of boys chafed under the regimented nature of the
organisation; some even dropped out and only rejoined when they learned they
couldn't get a job or enter university without being a member.
There
were a few members of the Hitler Youth who privately disagreed with Nazi
ideologies. For instance, Hans Scholl, the brother of Sophie Scholl and one of the leading figures of the anti-Nazi resistance
movement White
Rose (Weiße Rose), was also a member of the Hitler Youth. This fact
is emphasised in the film The White Rose which depicts how Scholl
was able to resist Nazi Germany's ideology while being a member of the Nazi
party's youth movement. The 1993 Thomas Carter film Swing Kids also focuses on this topic.
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| Members of a Hitlerjugend company of the Volkssturm at the German-Soviet front in Pyritz, Pomerania, February 1945. |
World War II
In
1940, Artur
Axmann replaced Schirach as Reichsjugendführer and took over
leadership of the Hitler Youth. Axmann began to reform the group into an
auxiliary force which could perform war duties. The Hitler Youth became active
in German fire brigades and assisted with recovery efforts to German cities
affected from Allied bombing. The Hitler Youth also assisted in such organizations
as the Reich Postal Service, Deutsche Reichsbahn, fire services, and
Reich radio service, and served among anti-aircraft
defense crews.
By
1943, Nazi leaders began turning the Hitler Youth into a military reserve to
replace manpower which had been depleted due to tremendous military losses. In
1943, the 12th SS-Panzer-Division Hitlerjugend,
under the command of SS-Brigadeführer
Fritz Witt,
was formed. The Division was a fully equipped Waffen-SS
panzer division, with the majority of the enlisted
cadre being drawn from Hitler Youth boys between the ages of 16 and 18. The
division was deployed during the Battle of Normandy against the British and
Canadian forces to the north of Caen. During the following months, the division earned itself a
reputation for ferocity and fanaticism. When Witt was killed by allied naval
gunfire, SS-Brigadeführer Kurt Meyer took over command and became
the youngest divisional commander at age 33.
As
German casualties escalated with the combination of Operation Bagration and the Lvov-Sandomierz Operation in the east,
and Operation Cobra in the west, members of the
Hitlerjugend were recruited at ever younger ages. By 1945, the Volkssturm
was commonly drafting 12-year-old Hitler Youth members into its ranks. During
the Battle of Berlin, Axmann's Hitler Youth formed a
major part of the last line of German defense, and were reportedly among the
fiercest fighters. Although the city commander, General Helmuth
Weidling, ordered Axmann to disband the Hitler Youth combat formations, in
the confusion this order was never carried out. The remnants of the youth
brigade took heavy casualties from the advancing Russian forces; only two
survived.
Post World War II
The
Hitler Youth was disbanded by Allied authorities as part of the denazification process. Some Hitler Youth members
were suspected of war crimes but, as they were children, no serious efforts
were made to prosecute these claims. While the Hitler Youth was never declared
a criminal organization, its adult leadership
was considered tainted for corrupting the minds of young Germans. Many adult
leaders of the Hitler Youth were put on trial by Allied authorities, and Baldur von Schirach was sentenced to 20 years in
prison. However, he was convicted of crimes against humanity for his actions as
Gauleiter of Vienna, not his leadership of the Hitler Youth, as Artur
Axmann had been as the functioning leader of the Hitler Youth from 1940
onward - Axmann only received a 39 month prison sentence in May 1949, but was
not found guilty of war crimes.
German
children born in the 1920s and 1930s became adults during the Cold War
years. Since membership was compulsory after 1936, it was neither surprising
nor uncommon that many senior leaders of both West
and East
Germany had been members of the Hitler Youth. Little effort was made to blacklist
political figures who had been members, since many had little choice in the
matter.
Despite
this, several notable figures have been "exposed" by the media as
former members. These include Stuttgart mayor Manfred
Rommel (son of the famous general Erwin
Rommel); former foreign minister of Germany Hans-Dietrich Genscher; Pope
Benedict XVI; philosopher Jürgen
Habermas and the late Prince Consort of the Netherlands Claus
von Amsberg.
INTERNET
SOURCE: http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/holoprelude/hitleryouth.html
Revealed:
Inside the Hitler Youth camps where youngsters were brainwashed to become
Nazis, having their heads shaved and standing guard... as rare albums from one
cadet go up for auction
- Chilling photographs of Nazi group were taken by 15-year-old Friedhelm Huhn during 'Landjahr' in 1938
- They show teenagers marching, having their heads shaved and gathering in front of swastika flags
- Two photo albums are set to fetch £750 when they go up for auction in California later this month
The
chilling photographs show how teenagers in Nazi Germany were brainwashed into
supporting the fascist cause at Hitler Youth indoctrination camps.
The
rare images capture the boys marching, standing guard and having their heads
shaved in accordance with military rules.
They
were compiled by a 15-year-old while he carried out his training over the
course of eight months in the year before the outbreak of the Second World War.
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Gathering: A picture of a Hitler Youth
'Landjahr' training camp taken in 1938 by a 15-year-old boy who was taking part
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Owner: The photographs were taken by
Friedhelm Huhn, whose identity document is shown, when he was attending the
camp in 1938
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Owner: The photographs were taken by
Friedhelm Huhn, whose identity document is shown, when he was attending the
camp in 1938
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The
photo albums, which were looted by an Allied soldier at the end of the war, are
now going up for auction in California.
They
originated from the 'Landjahr', the rural training camp for boys aged between
15 and 18 who had joined the Hitler Youth.
During
the war, members were drafted into the German fire service before becoming part
of the military reserve and then acted as the last line of the defence of
Berlin.
Some
of the photos show the 'soldiers of tomorrow' in uniform, complete with a
Swastika armband and long shorts.
They
are depicted marching in regimented order with a drill sergeant-type figure
walking alongside them.
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Activities: These photographs show teenagers
examining diagrams promoting physical fitness, and having their heads shaved
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Discipline: The boys - many of whom would
later fight in the Second World War - used to practice marching in military
fashion
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Memento: Friedhelm apparently kept the photos
and his uniform patches, but they were looted by an Allied soldier
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Another photo is a group shot of
dozens of members stood in a canteen with a giant Swastika flag above their
heads.
There
is a picture of two boys aged about 14 getting their hair shaved short in
military fashion, while others show boys studying diagrams about how to improve
their physical fitness.
The
two albums were compiled by Friedhelm Huhn, who carried out his training as a
teenager between April and December 1938.
It
is not known what happened to him during the war, but it is believed the albums
were taken as a souvenir by an Allied serviceman at the end of the conflict.
The
albums - along with Friedhelm Huhn's ID cards and Landjahr uniform patches -
are now being sold by auctioneer Nate D. Sanders, which is based in Los
Angeles.
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| Playful: But while the pictures may seem charming, the Swastika armbands worn by the teenagers hint at the dark truth |
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Gathering: One image shows all the
participants in the Landjahr standing under a huge swastika flag
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Terry Charman, a historian at the Imperial War Museum, said: 'Although it was
never compulsory to join the Hitler Youth, in practice it more or less was.
'Parents
really had to send their sons along for training. The Nazis represented it as a
German version of the Boy Scouts - which it certainly was not.
'The
boys were soldiers of tomorrow and the training had a strong military element
to it and involved firearms.
'A
lot of the Hitler Youth were drafted in the the anti-aircraft batteries but
those who had a reputation for being fairly awesome fighters joined the Waffen
SS.
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Outing: Other images appear to show the
Hitler Youth outside the setting of the camp on a visit to a city
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Collection: These photo albums are going up
for auction in California and are set to fetch £750
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'In
the last days of the war the Hitler Youth was mobilised in the German version
of the Home Guard and fought on both eastern and western fronts. A lot of them
were sacrificed in Berlin, some as young as 12 or 13.
'The
last Nazi newsreel film out of Germany in the war showed Hitler handing out
gallantry medals such as the Iron Cross to members of the Hitler Youth for
distinguishing themselves in battle.'
The
albums, which measure 10in by 7.5in, have a pre-sale estimate of £750 and are
being sold on February 27.
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Hitler Youth members performing the Nazi
salute at a rally at the Lustgarten in Berlin, 1933
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HOW THE NAZIS
BRAINWASHED VULNERABLE TEENAGERS IN A BID TO SPREAD THEIR FOUL RACIST IDEOLOGY
The
Hitler Youth ('Hitlerjugend' in German) were central to the Nazis' plan to
create a nation of Aryan 'supermen' by indocrinating children into their
twisted racist worldview from the age of 10.
The
organisation was founded as early as 1922, but it was not until Hitler came to
power in 1933 that the group took a prominent position in German society, as it
became more or less obligatory for all teenagers to join.
Members
would be educated in Nazi ideology, and had the genius of Hitler relentlessly
drilled into them.
Activities
such as the Landjahr, where teenagers would spend months working on a farm and
practicing military discipline, helped members bond and shored up their belief
in the Nazi cause.
After
the start of the Second World War, the Hitler Youth was transformed into an
auxiliary military force, initially attached to unites such as the fire brigade
and postal service.
Later
in the war, with Germany suffering increasingly devastating losses, teenagers
began fighting on the front line as part of their own SS division.
Hundreds
of boys as young as 12 helped form the last line of defence when Berlin was
besieged by the Allied forces, and most were killed by the Soviet troops who
entered the city.
Perhaps
the best-known member of the Hitler Youth is Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope
Benedict XVI, who was forced to join the movement but refused to attend meetings
due to his family's anti-Nazi views.
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