‘Nazi attempts to win the support of young people between 1933 and 1939 were very successful’. Do you agree? Explain your answer. (16)
I agree that the Nazis were successful in winning the support of some young people but were not successful in winning the support of all young people.
One success was the numbers of young people who joined the Hitler Youth Movement. The Hitler Youth had been set up back in 1926 but became more important when Hitler came to power in 1933. Young people were under a lot of pressure to join and took part in evening and week-end activities where they were indoctrinated in Nazi ideas. There Were different branches and levels for boys and girls. The education system was also successfully controlled by the Nazis. Textbooks were changed to conform to Nazi ideas. School subjects were used for the purposes of indoctrination e.g. in history lessons pupils were taught about the unfairness of the Treaty of Versailles. In geography lessons pupils learnt about the importance of Germany extending its borders to create living space for its growing population. Science was used to teach pupils about Nazi racial ideas. Special schools were also set up to produce future political and military leaders. These schools were called Naploas and Ordensburgen. Most young people went along with Nazi ideas, which could be considered a success. Some were so successfully indoctrinated that they even informed on their anti-Nazi parents
