The purpose of the girls section was to prepare them for motherhood. Girls who were 10 joined the league of young of girls and at the age of 14 they joined the league of german girls. Girls had to be able to run 60 metres in 14 seconds, throw a ball 12 metres and complete a 2 hour match. The rest of the activities were focused on how to look after children. They were thought about race and removal of the people thought to be inferior.
At school new subjects such as race science taught school children that germans were superior to other races and that all jews were to blame for germany's problems. In the key subjects such as History the nazi version of the past was taught. even in maths the problems solved were about how much fuel a bomber would need to attack enemy cities. Teachers who opposed these teachings were sacked. The biology lessons would have informed them that they were special being part of the aryan race as they were superior to other races.
Q3) what were the attractions of the youth movements ( to young people)?
Many young people were attracted to the Nazi youth movements by the leisure opportunities they offered. there were really no alternatives for them to go to. All other youth organisations had been either absorbed or made illegal. only half of all german boys were members in 1933 and only 15 per cent of girls. in 1939 membership of a nazi youth movement was made compulsory. but by this time the youth movements were going through a crisis. many of the experienced leaders had been transferred into the german army and others had been replaced by keener nazis. many of the movements were now run by older teenagers who enforced Nazi rules. they even banned other teenagers to meet informally with their friends. As the war went on, the activities of the youth movements focused on the war effort and military drill.
How did young people react to the Nazis
Q1) why they supported the nazis ?
Q2) explain what the swing movement was. how did the nazis react to this organisation?
The swing movement was mainly made up of middle-class teenagers. they went to parties where they listened to english and american music and sang english songs. At that time these types of music went illegal but were seen as anti-Nazism because it conflicted with the idea of an Aryan race.They danced american dances such as the jitterbug to banned jazz music which was seen as a threat to the public. the hitler youth would often spy on the group and report the dance. As they listened to jazz they would have understood english and believed in spreading allied propaganda. They accepted Jews at their club and they were deliberately slovenly. The nazis issued a handbook helping the authorities to identify these degenerate types. Some were shown with long hair and others with exaggeratedly english clothes. By 1942 Himmler said that once they were captured they were to be sent to concentration camps with beatings and force labour.
Q3) explain who the edelweiss pirates were. how nazis reacted to these young people ?
The edelweiss pirates were working-class teenagers. They were not an organized movement and groups in various cities took different names: The roving dudes (Essen), the kittelbach pirates (Düsseldorf) and the Navajos (cologne). The Nazis classified all the groups under the same single name the edelweiss pirates as they had a lot in common. The pirates were mainly aged between 14 and 17, the reason for this is because Germans could leave school at 14 and didn't have to join the army until 17. At the weekend the pirates went camping. They sang songs just like the Hitler youth but they changed the lyrics of songs to mock germany and when they spotted bands of Hitler youth they sometimes attacked them. in contrast with the Hitler youth the pirates included both boys and girls. The pirate’s activities caused serious worries to the Nazi authorities in some cities. In December 1942 the Gestapo broke up 28 groups that contained 739 pirates. The Nazi approach to the pirates was different from their approach to other minorities. Sometimes they arrested them and sometimes they ignored them. In 1944 in cologne pirate activities increased. They helped to shelter army deserters and escaped prisoners. They stole armaments and took part in an attack on the Gestapo during which its chief was killed. The Nazi response was to round up all the ringleaders. Twelve were publicly hanged in November 1944. They were not political opponents of the Nazis but they resented and resisted Nazi control of their lives.
