Girls usually had a different curriculum from boys. They also studied domestic science and eugenics (how to produce perfect offspring by selecting ideal qualities in the parents)
- The Hitler Youth was an organization formed by the Nazis, for young boys or girls to join this organization at the age of 14 and do hiking, singing folk-songs, camping and sport. The German Maidens was an organization for girls only. They had to do similar activities and tests as the boys, but in a certain extent it was slightly less military.
Both boys and girls marched in exciting parades with loud bands. They were also physically fit and their leisure time was devoted to the Nazis and Hitler. They were strong cross-country runners, and confident at reading maps. After years of summer camps, they were comfortable camping out of doors, and the boys knew how to clean a rifle and keep it in good condition.
- The boys were preparing to fight in battles, they had to be fierce and grow hate for Jews, and show no any mercy to any of them. They had to learn to be loyal to the Nazi German Nation.
The girls were preparing to help out with the war, but also to find a right Aryan man and have as many children as she can.
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The ‘swing movement’: This was made up mainly of middle-class teenagers. They went to parties where they listened to English and American music and sang English songs. They danced American dances such as the ‘jitterbug’ to banned jazz music. They accepted Jews at their clubs. They talked about and enjoyed sex. They were deliberately ‘slovenly’. The Nazis issued a handbook helping the authorities to identify these degenerate types. Some were shown with unkempt, long hair, others with exaggeratedly English clothes.
The Edelweiss Pirates: The Edelweiss Pirates were working class teenagers. They were not an organized movement, and groups in various cities took different names. They were mainly aged between 14~17. At the weekends the pirates went camping. They sang songs just like the Hitler Youth except they changed the lyrics and mocked Germany. When they spotted bands of the Hitler Youth they taunted and sometimes attacked them. The Edelweiss Pirates included both boys and girls. The pirates also were much freer towards sex, which was usually frowned upon by the Hitler Youth. The pirates caused many troubles.
In 1944 in Cologne, Pirate activities escalated. 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’, and the 12 were publicly hanged in 1944.
The Pirates had no strong political views. They were not political opponents of the Nazis but they resented and resisted Nazi control of their lives.
