About the Hitler Youth

Adolph Hitler is known for his barbaric genocide against the Jewish people and he created a youth group to coincide with his Nazi party and to spread his anti-Semitic views. Training and instruction in the views of the Nazi party was standard. Not all children wished to be a part of the Nazi rule, but conformity was expected of all children.

Significance

Adolph Hitler created the Hitler Youth as an offshoot to the Nazi party he was building. Hitler wanted all young Germans to become involved in the Hitler Youth because he wanted to teach the German children early. By beginning training at such a young age, Hitler believed he would have better recruits for his Storm Regiment. The Hitler Youth first became a group in 1922 and became more powerful as Hitler's power grew.

Features

The Hitler Youth consisted of only of boys who ranged in age from 14 to 18. Separate groups for young boys age 10 to 14 and girls were not a part of the Hitler Youth but were instead given their own groups. While these groups were voluntary to begin with, by 1936 the group became mandatory for all German young people. Arranged much like the military, the Hitler Youth group had units and companies.

Time Frame

The Hitler Youth began in 1922 as a small group for children to compliment the Nazi Party, whose leader was Adolph Hitler. Kurt Gruber led the group in 1923 after complications with the former leader but the name "Hitler Youth" was not applied until 1925 and it did not become official until 1929. A young man named Schirach pushed out Gruber in 1931. After Hitler came to power in 1933, the Hitler Youth were trained in more physical and militaristic ways.

History

Adolph Hitler created the Nazi Party from the German Worker's Party. Within two years, he created the beginnings of the Hitler Youth. Creation of the Hitler Youth was done to spread Hitler's doctrine against the Jewish people. The Hitler Youth were being trained to become Nazi fighters and leaders. While the Hitler Youth were trained militarily from the beginning, they were eventually sent out to fight in the final years of World War II and were among those soldiers fighting up until the end.

Effects

Because of the mandatory involvement of all German youth from 1936 to 1945, it became necessary that adults who were children during that time not be looked down upon in later years. Almost an entire generation of future German leaders was made to join the Hitler Youth and there was little way to decipher if they wanted to be involved or had to be involved due to their age. The young age of the Hitler Youth also made it difficult to prosecute any of them for war crimes that they may have done because it is difficult to hold a child accountable for something they have been indoctrinated to do.

Resources

• Hitler Youth Summary
• Hitler Youth