What was it like to live in Nazi Germany? How did life change for young people in Nazi Germany? Although Adolf Hitler was a very confident man

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Name: Matthew Dathan

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Centre Name: Elmfield, Stourbridge

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What was it like to live in Nazi Germany?

How did life change for young people in Nazi Germany?

Although Adolf Hitler was a very confident man even he knew that there would be some opposition to his plans. Therefore he decided to focus a lot on persuading the youth of Germany to support him. By teaching them Nazi beliefs and ideas Hitler believed that these beliefs would stay with them for the remainder of their lives and would then be fed to the next generation. It was the future which Hitler was concerned about, and Germany’s youth was the future. Young people do not have as much knowledge or experience as adults and they are easily persuaded by propaganda so they will always be very important as they are easy targets. Also, Hitler could get rid of any present opposition by simply killing those who threatened him. But if he was going to succeed in the long run he would have to have full support, and therefore he had to make sure he had support of the young generation. When the Nazis came into power a young person’s life changed dramatically, every aspect of their lives was now very much linked with Nazism. Hitler wanted children to be so loyal to him that they should treat him like a God. He wanted them to be more loyal to him than to their own parents. He told children to report their parents if they were in any way opposed to his ideas. This caused much conflict between parents and children.

Education

Education was very much influenced by Nazi propaganda and instead of being a school as such, it was more of a place to promote Nazism. Every lesson helped promote Nazi ideas and beliefs. In history children would learn about Germany’s terrible history and how the ‘November Criminals’ had destroyed the country. They learnt how traumatic the 1920’s were and how badly the Weimar government had dealt with the problems. In biology pupils were taught how they were superior in intelligence and strength over other races or ‘sub human’ Jews or Slavs of Eastern Europe. In Geography they would learn about how harsh the Treaty of Versailles was to Germany and in Physics and Chemistry young people learnt how to make weapons and explosives. Even in maths the Nazis managed to portray their resentment of the Jews. Below is a maths problem given to the pupils to work out:

‘A bomber aircraft on take off carries twelve dozen bombs, each weighing ten kilos. The aircraft takes off for Warsaw, international centre of Jews. It bombs the town. On take off with all bombs on board and a fuel tack containing 100 kilos of fuel, the aircraft weighed about eight tons. When it returns from the crusade, there are still 230 kilos of fuel left. What is the weight of the aircraft when empty?’ (Source 1, see end)

The sentence about the Jews is totally irrelevant to the question, however it is emphasising to the pupils how bad the Jews are.

All these subjects would encourage and persuade young people to believe in Nazism and would make people believe that to be loyal to Hitler was the right thing to do.

‘But my magnificent youngsters! Are there finer ones in the world? Look at these young men and boys! What material! With them I can make a new world.’ (Source 2, see end)

This speech would make youngsters feel proud and they would be encouraged to like Hitler as he sees them as very important people and because of this it will make the youngsters be honourable and loyal to Hitler.

The Hitler Youth Movement

It was not only at school where youngsters were being indoctrinated with Nazi ideas. Hitler set up the ‘Hitler Youth Movement’ which was a number of youth organisations that taught young Germans Nazi beliefs and also trained them to become strong and fit. These groups, which took place during out of school times, attracted many young people as it was a chance to go away without their family and learn new skills and to meet new people. Many parents liked the idea too. All other youth organisations were banned by the Nazis and therefore the Hitler Youth Movement grew in members.

In 1936 Membership to the Hitler Youth organisations became compulsory, and even though there were still some children who refused to join, by 1939 the majority of Germany’s youth were members.

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 The main aim of these organisations was to make youngsters believe in Nazi concepts, but the Nazis also used these organisations to train young men and boys so that they would become strong and effective soldiers. They would go on frequent marches and cross country runs in whatever conditions befell them. They would camp outdoors in terrible conditions so that they would be prepared for such conditions when they joined the army. They would also spend long hours practising how to shoot.

The girls would also be trained hard in order for them to become fit and ...

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