Hitler Youth - youth organization of the NSDAP. Banned in 1945 during the denazification.
The Hitler Youth organization was founded in the summer of 1926 as a National Socialist youth movement. Its leader was the Reich Youth Leader Baldur von Schirach, who reported directly to Adolf Hitler.
History and activities of the Hitler Youth
In the last years of the Weimar Republic, the Hitler Youth made a significant contribution to the escalation of violence in Germany. Teenagers from 10 to 18 years old could join the ranks of this organization. Detachments of the Hitler Youth attacked cinemas showing the anti-war film All Quiet on the Western Front.
This led to the fact that the government decided to ban the showing of this picture in many German cities. At times, the authorities forcibly tried to calm down the raging youth. For example, in 1930, the head of Hanover, Gustav Noske, banned schoolchildren from joining the Hitler Youth, after which a similar ban was extended to other regions.
However, such measures were still ineffective. The Nazis called themselves popular fighters persecuted by the government. Moreover, when the authorities closed one or another cell of the Hitler Youth, a similar one appeared in its place, but only under a different name.
When the Hitler Youth uniform was banned in Germany, in some places groups of butchery teenagers began marching through the streets in blood-stained aprons. Opponents of the youth movement felt fear, because they understood that everyone had a knife hidden under their apron.
During the election campaign, the Hitler Youth actively supported the Nazis. The boys distributed leaflets and posted posters with slogans. Sometimes participants in the movement encountered resistance from their opponents, the communists.
In the period 1931-1933. over 20 members of the Hitler Youth were killed in such clashes. Some of the victims were exalted by the Nazis to national heroes, calling them "victims" and "martyrs" of the political system.
The leadership of the Hitler Youth and the NSDAP called on their supporters to avenge the death of the unfortunate young men. After the Nazis came to power, the Hitler Youth Law was adopted, and later a bill on the adoption of the Youth Call of Duty.
Thus, if earlier joining the Hitler Youth was a voluntary matter, now participation in the organization has become mandatory for every German. The movement soon began to form part of the NSDAP.
The leadership of the Hitler Youth tried by any means to attract youth into their ranks. Ceremonial parades, war games, competitions, hikes and other interesting events were organized for the children. Any young man could find his favorite hobby: sports, music, dance, science, etc.
For this reason, teenagers voluntarily wanted to join the movement, so those who were not members of the Hitler Youth were regarded as "white crows." It is important to note that only "racially pure" boys were admitted to the organization.
In the Hitler Youth, racial theory, German history, the biography of Hitler, the history of the NSDAP, etc. were seriously studied. In addition, primarily attention was paid to physical data, rather than mental. Children were taught to play sports, taught hand-to-hand combat and gun shooting.
As a result, the overwhelming majority of parents were happy to send their children to this organization.
Hitler Youth in World War II
With the outbreak of war, members of the Hitler Youth were busy collecting blankets and clothing for the soldiers. However, at its final stage, Hitler began to actively use children in battles, due to the catastrophic shortage of adult soldiers. It is curious that even 12-year-old boys took part in the bloody battles.
The Fuhrer, along with other Nazis, including Goebbels, assured the guys of victory over the enemy. Unlike adults, children succumbed to propaganda much easier and asked fewer questions. Wanting to prove their loyalty to Hitler, they fearlessly fought the enemy, served in partisan detachments, shot prisoners and threw themselves under tanks with grenades.
Surprisingly, children and adolescents behaved much more violently than adult fighters. An interesting fact is that Pope Benedict XVI, aka Josef Alois Ratzinger, was a member of the Hitler Youth in his youth.
In the last months of the war, the Nazis began to attract even girls to the service. During this period, detachments of werewolfs began to form, which were needed for sabotage and guerrilla warfare.
Even after the surrender of the Third Reich, these formations continued their activities. Thus, the Nazi-fascist regime took the lives of tens of thousands of children and adolescents.
12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Youth"
One of the units of the Wehrmacht, entirely composed of members of the Hitler Youth, was the 12th SS Panzer Division. By the end of 1943, the total strength of the division exceeded 20,000 young Germans with 150 tanks.
In the very first days of the battle in Normandy, the 12th SS Panzer Division was able to inflict significant losses on the enemy army. In addition to their successes on the front lines, these warriors have earned a reputation as ruthless fanatics. They shot unarmed prisoners and often hacked them to pieces.
Division soldiers regarded such killings as retaliation for the bombing of German cities. The fighters of the Hitler Youth fought heroically against the enemy, but by the middle of 1944 they began to suffer serious losses.
During a month of fierce fighting, the 12th division lost about 60% of its original composition. Later, she ended up in the Falaise cauldron, where she was later almost completely broken. At the same time, the remnants of the surviving soldiers continued to fight in other German formations.
Hitler Youth photo
