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"My program for educating youth is hard. Weakness must be hammered away. In my castles of the Teutonic Order a youth will grow up before which the world will tremble. I want a brutal, domineering, fearless, cruel youth. Youth must be all that. It must bear pain. There must be nothing weak and gentle about it. The free, splendid beast of prey must once again flash from its eyes...That is how I will eradicate thousands of years of human domestication...That is how I will create the New Order." – Adolf Hitler, 1933.
Branch of the Nazi Party • 1922 – 1945 • There were three sections. One for males 14-18 One for males 10-14 One for females • 2.3 million kids were members in 1933 • Their motto was “Blood and Honor”
Propaganda Poster Hitler Youth recruitment poster. The wording translates to: "Youth serves the leader. All ten year-olds into the Hitler Youth."
Uniforms The kids wore a brown shirt and black shorts and an arm band with a Nazi swastika. The arm band had a white horizontal stripe to easily distinguish the young members from brown shirted storm troopers, the SA, who resented being confused with the youths.
Why Were They Formed • They were taught racist views. • They were trained to be soldiers. They had weapons training and assault courses. • Older kids were encouraged to be cruel to younger kids so the Nazi leaders could weed out the weak and harden the rest.
Training • Nazi leaders had preparatory schools (prep schools) to train the most radical and devoted followers.
Schools • Every classroom had a picture of Hitler. • History books were rewritten to support Nazi beliefs. • Kids were taught how to distinguish inferior races of people by physical characteristics. • Hitler Youth songs also contained anti-Semitic lyrics including one song that said: "Yes, when the Jewish blood splashes from the knives, things will go twice as well."
Did You Have to Join • In 1936 Germany passed a law that required all Aryans had to join. • In 1936 the law changed to require all Aryans join, even if their parents disagreed.
Requirements • You spent the first few months on probation while you were trained. • Then you had a test - recite all the verses of the Horst Wessel Song and answer questions about Hitler's life and the history of the Nazi Party. • Then you had a physical test – run 60 meters in twelve seconds and take part in a cross country hike lasting a day and a half. • Finally you had a courage test - jump from a first or second story ledge into a large canvas held by older boys. • After passing all of the tests, you were entitled to wear the brown shirt with a leather shoulder strap and the Hitler Youth dagger bearing the inscription Blood and Honor.
What Did They Do at First? • They helped repair cities that had been bombed. • They delivered mail. • They helped firefighters. • They served on anti-aircraft crews.
Nuremberg Rally • Saturday, Sept. 10 – 80,000 Hitler Youth march into the stadium performing maneuvers. • They spell Adolf Hitler in the stands. • Hitler talked about his own troubled youth. • "You, my youth, are our nation's most precious guarantee for a great future, and you are destined to be the leaders of a glorious new order under the supremacy of National Socialism. Never forget that one day you will rule the world!"
What Happened Later? • They were drafted into the war at age 16. • Later the age dropped to 12. • During the Battle of Berlin, the children fought ferociously, but the Russian troops were too strong. All of the kids died, except 2.
8 Year Old Soldiers • If the boys happened to get cornered by American patrols, they often battled until the last boy was killed rather than surrender. And the boys kept getting younger. American troops reported capturing armed 8-year-olds at Aachen in Western Germany and knocking out artillery units operated entirely by boys aged twelve and under. Girls were also used now, operating the 88mm anti-aircraft guns alongside the boys.
