Hitler did not only introduce Nazi Regimes into the Hitler Youth he also introduced his way of thinking into schools. The children would have 7 lessons per day, these would include:
The indoctrination of racial discrimination began in the classroom, Teachers were forced to teach children the difference between a Jew and an Arian and why the Arian race where better. If there happened to be a Jewish child in the classroom the teacher would use him or her as an example of people to avoid, they would use sticks to point out certain characterizes that Jews had that Arians didn’t, the Jewish children would be severely bullied because of this.
These camps and schooling methods did not just affect the children, the parents too were affected. If they didn’t sent their children to these schools they may be thought of as anti-Nazi supporters or maybe they were thought to have strange politics, they would be mocked by other parents; and the children would almost certainly be bullied.
In the Hitler Youth there were two sections, one for the boys this was called the Hitler Jugend, and one for the girls this was called the Bund Deutcher Madel. These two groups were split up into 3 age groups, children aged 6-10, children aged 10-14 and then children aged 14-18. All children no matter how old were given a booklet of progress where they would show their progression throughout their time in the Hitler Youth.
Within the Hitler Youth, Hitler created competitions where the winners would gain higher status. There would be competitions for singing, sport achievement and contributing to propaganda marches. This was one of the ways Hitler was preparing the youth for war. The reason he started to indoctrinate the youth was that after the first world was Hitler wasn’t allowed a proper army. By creating this Youth Group he could educate children to know no different and get them ready for the war ahead.
This competitive behavior forced on children did not stop outdoors; indoors too the children would be expected to work hard. Hitler made every child read “Mein Kampf”, and then Hitler would set them tests on it, if they got lower that 80% then that child would be marked as a bad Nazi. In his book “Mein Kampf”, Hitler stated that ‘…a less educated, but physically healthy individual with a sound, firm character, full of determination and will power, is more valuable to the Volkish community than an intellectual weakling’. By writing this in a book that he forced children to read it told them that the fitter you were the better Nazi citizen you would be.
Hitler also encouraged children in the Hitler Youth to go to Summer Camps. The summer camps were mainly for boys however there were a few of these camps for girls. At the camps boys were forced to sleep rough, the camps were mainly on farms where a lot of manual labor was performed, in conditions like the conditions the boys would end up facing during war. In the camps they would practice shooting, fighting and would also practice working as teams, as well a individually. During there stay at these camps, the boys would think of it as their second homes, and would enjoy participating with friends and foe.
In 1933 around the time that Hitler became chancellor there were just less than 1000 people part of the Hitler Youth groups, by the end of 1933 there were around 3.5 million children in Hitler Youth organizations and by 1939 (the start of the second world war) there were over 82% of children in these camps, just over 7.3 million people all over Germany. However this was down to Propaganda, and Hitler declaring that if children didn’t join the Hitler Youth then that child would been taken from their parents.
In conclusion I believe that by creating the ‘Hitler Youth’ the Nazis where prepared for later in history when the war broke out. All those boys who enrolled in the ‘Hitler Youth’ were therefore taken on, without having to be assessed, in to the army. This therefore gave the boys a target to aim for, as representing their county was a very special thing for the Germans even if it was in war. The boys who attended the ‘Hitler Youth’ were ready to join the army at 18. Therefore it benefited Hitler as well. He had created a youth that were willing to blindingly follow Hitler’s orders, whilst appearing to other countries, as an organization like the scout movement today. The girls would also have been ready by the time war broke out to take up their womanly roles as mothers and wives. Therefore the whole of the new generation would have been brain washed into supporting Hitler’s views on ideal race and perfect politics.
