What was the reaction of young people to the Hitler Youth/BDM ?
History Coursework:
What was the reaction of young people to the Hitler Youth/BDM ?
Section A: Plan of the investigation
The youth was an essential part in Hitler's plan for creating a new Volksgemeinschaft; virtually from birth German children were to be brought up as "good, loyal National Socialists", who strongly believed in the Nazi ideology/superiority of the Arian race. He loved the idea of a strong, nationalist German youth and tried successfully to impose his racist ideology on them. As the war deteriorated for Germany, attitude changed rapidly to the negative; the reaction of the youth to the HJ was additionally influenced by factors such as the quality of local leadership of the organization and social background. Nevertheless, how did the German youth react towards this involvement in their daily lives? To investigate the question of the overall reaction of the German youth I will use a variety of secondary written sources to give me the background information: amongst these I will explore a number of primary sources, including my grandmother Marianne Götz, a former BDM-member and written accounts by eyewitnesses.
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Section B: Summary of evidence
"We are rotten to the marrow. But my magnificent youngsters! Are there finer ones in the world? With them I can make a new world"1 Hitler was a strong believer in the power of a youth converted to nationalism. In order to convert a character whose former education was predominated by the traditional, and possibly hostile influences of parents and the Church, the Nazis used two major institutions: the school system and, in particular, youth groups. Additionally they also made sure that former members of such organizations would join further Nazi organisations, such as RAD and DAF. When the Nazis founded the Hitler Youth/BDM in 1922, it promised to the German youth tension, comradeship, excitement and a great future in a great Germany 2. A child was integrated into the Nazi education virtually from birth onwards 3. This clarifies that children who were growing up in the 3rd Reich did not have the choice to decide in which organisations/schools they want to participate; "their souls" were belonging to the "great leader". Women were to stay at home and do household chores and the men's duty in this totalitarian system was to prepare for war and consequently the boys should develop physical and military skills rather than developing intellectual ones.
In order to draw the youth's attention the Nazis used youth's natural refusal to practice their intellectual skills and their willingness to participate in sport activities. Nevertheless, in the classroom Nazi leaders recognized that literature could be used to shape a child's view of the world by disseminating social values.4 Hitler Youth organizations did not really differ from former religious Youth organizations, which were continuously integrated into the Nazi structure. Moreover the Hitler Youth expanded rapidly after 1933 with the (obvious) support of the government and used a variety of activities, such as camps, sport and military training; German boys found themselves quite attracted by the use of weapons in the Hitler Youth and the fact that they would not have any school on Saturday and their youth organization activities instead. Furthermore the Hitler Youth offered a variety of other interesting and encouraging activities as for example the "Motor-HJ, Air force-HJ, Communication-HJ" which were of magnificent interest and attended the enthusiasm of the boys. Or where else could you go gliding while your anti-Nazi educated mates have to go to school? The Hitler Youth's main purpose was to strengthen the Youth for war and build up a qualified source of human young, fanatic fight 'material'5. Mainly in the north and in industry areas the pressure of the NSDAP became bigger after 1933; this is to explain with the fact that youths/children of the working-class were more likely to join the HJ/BDM compared to youths of middle-class parents which went to the Gymnasium (Ger. For "upper-school") and showed a more critical attitude.6 As a whole, however, the methods the Nazis used to gain the attention of the youth worked well and were greeted by widespread enthusiasm.
It became clear as Germany went to war that this directly affected the HJ. However, at the very beginning of the war, as things went well for the Wehrmacht, there was still enthusiasm and willingness to fight from the side of the youth, which was brainwashed by the Nazi propaganda of how good things would go the training in the HJ became more war-orientated 7. On the other side former HJ squads proved that they went through a tough military education and soon became nightmares of the progressing Allied- war forces. Just 10 days after the humiliating German ...
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It became clear as Germany went to war that this directly affected the HJ. However, at the very beginning of the war, as things went well for the Wehrmacht, there was still enthusiasm and willingness to fight from the side of the youth, which was brainwashed by the Nazi propaganda of how good things would go the training in the HJ became more war-orientated 7. On the other side former HJ squads proved that they went through a tough military education and soon became nightmares of the progressing Allied- war forces. Just 10 days after the humiliating German defeat by the Russians in Stalingrad, where 300,00 men died, Hitler agreed to the establishment of the first Hitlerjugend fighting divisions; the average age of the 12. SS- tank division was just 17 and instead of cigarettes, like the other divisions, they gained sweets instead from the HQ.8
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Section C: Evaluation of sources
Two of the sources used were:
1.Primary Source
- Sally Perel: Ich war Hitlerjunge Salomon, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, München, 1992
What is quite significant about this book is that a Jew, who went through the HJ, has written it. This extraordinary fact becomes even more important as he states at the end that one has been "dazzled" by the Nazis: in the Appendix he says how he, as a Jew and his parents were constantly threatened of being deployed to a concentration camp, was amazed by the marching Hitler youth and also how much fun he actually had in the HJ 9. One would expect that he experienced exactly the opposite and hated the HJ; the fact that he liked it makes the book an even more objective and so a reliable and valuable source for my investigation. The main purpose of this personal account is to inform the next generation to make them being more aware of the past and warned for the future.
2. Secondary Source
- Illustrierte Geschichte der Hitler Jugend 1922-1945; Brenda Ralph Lewis, Tosa Verlag 2000
Brenda Ralph Lewis, a former member of the HJ, has written this secondary source. It unfortunately gives us only information about the HJ for boys, the actual Hitlerjugend. In the appendix the author states that at the very beginning the HJ was the same as any other youth organisations for him: a possibility to do sports and cross-country games rather than express his nationalistic feelings. Nevertheless, as the war started and things went negatively his amaze for the HJ got diminished rapidly. The fact that it was published in 2000 gives it a certain distance to WWII and thus objectivity; additionally the author had the opportunity to use a variety of sources written before his, to chronologically narrate the history of the HJ.
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Section D: Analysis
At the very start of the rapid emergence of HJ-organisations, Hitler found an enthusiastic answer from the Germany youth. This is demonstrated by the massive general increase in Hitler Youth members from 107, 956 in 1932 to more than 6,000,000 in 193610. The reasons for joining the HJ varied from case to case; many just joined to be part of the group and not being excluded11, and/or just the shire desire to participate in "exciting youth activities"13. Many Youths stated this also at the beginning as the main reason rather than enthusiasm for the Nazi party and so for a narrow, deeply convinced political attitude. Furthermore many parents argued that their own jobs would be more secure through their children's contribution in the organizations. A fact is that the social status of the whole family was significantly diminished if the children did not become member in one of the HJ organizations; thus contribution to the party meant rise in social status. Youths had the biggest advantage, who were extraordinary in a certain type of sport; this was because the Nazis saw physical education as more important than intellectual. One could count on financial support by them 15, which was responded enthusiastically. These circumstances and the fear of the secret police, which should maintain the oppression of any opposition or individual who spoke out against the regime,16 helped the HJ to gain members before the war. Due to the fact that my evaluations are mostly based upon subjective primary sources, these statements are arguable; but in regard to the majority of youths the HJ organizations were responded with enthusiasm.
In higher education, normally a sphere of objective political judgement, the Nazis made sure that a youth's character would be radically transformed in line with their ideology 17. This was mainly achieved by making membership in the Deutsche Studentenschaft (DS) compulsory if one was to go to university.18 Additionally the majority of the professors/teachers were convinced Nazis or if not, were replaced by ones which were. Nazi ideology entered the whole higher education system and proved to be successful, significantly benefiting from the historical fact that under the Weimar Republic the universities were mostly dominated by right-wing nationalists and, according to that, anti-democratic attitudes.19 Unquestionably the forming of a deeply convinced league of students formed a strong cadre for the Ordensburgen or also for the Napolas, elite schools which were to produce the future government and military leadership of the Nazi state 20; these gave the youth, humiliated by 1st WW and inflation, new perspectives and hope for a high position in the Nazi elite class and so new motivation.
The Nazis tried rigorously to suppress any resistance and any youth opposition, including any 'renegade' youth groups, as a Concentration camp especially made for troublemaking youths was introduced in 1940 in Möringen next to Göttingen21; in the 3rd Reich rebelliousness was regarded as resistance against the regime and hence a crime. Looking at the membership numbers of resistance groups like the Swing Youth, the White Rose or the Edelweisspiraten, it becomes clear that their numbers were in proportion extremely small. Hitler distinguished between the different formations22, which had different motivations. Significant is that the members of the Swing Youth and also other resistance groups were predominately of upper/bourgeois origin23; this supports the theory that one's reaction towards the HJ was influenced by the social background one was coming from. Apart from this passive resistance, which obviously did not express the attitude of the majority, most of the young people found themselves not in a position of judging the situation in an objective manner.
Nevertheless, as Germany suddenly went to war the overall mood in the Hitler Youth organizations changed; it became clear that the mindless motto of the HJ "Führer, command - we follow!"24 would have a malign influence upon the lives of the youth. At the very beginning, the youths were even encouraged to join Hitler organizations as things seem to go well; however, as events went more negatively, the attitude changed rapidly and the majority of the German youth had much more in mind to save their own lives rather than dying for the 'fatherland'. The worst case that could have happened to a young retiring HJ-recruit was to be picked up by the Waffen-SS, which always looked for new 'material'.25; for some youths though it was an honour to join the SS and they were not scared of it, as my primary source Theodor Götz. So this statement has to be regarded critically. Later in the Volkssturm26 even 13-year old youths were forced to join the war and fight a senseless fight. The reaction to that was - understandably -, negative.
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Section E: Conclusion
To conclude, the Nazi advertisement was responded enthusiastically. Ostentatious marches and celebrations caused mass hysteria and were a magnet to a youth whose ego was humiliated by starvation. Social pressure brought the ones who were not to join into the HJ, that predominately consisted of youths from parents of the worker-class27, into the organizations; one was an 'outsider' if one did not join.28 The youth was heavily influenced by propaganda movies such as "Hilerboy Quex", the story of a 12-year old member of the HJ, that was murdered 1932 by Communists in Berlin29. Such movies formed an anti-democratic and anti-communistic attitude in the heads of the youth. The social background of the parents played a major role of a how the youth reacted. However, children are easy to manipulate and so most of the youths wanted to join by their own will (at least at the beginning).
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Words count:2000 words
Bibliography
i) Primary sources
- 1. Götz, Marianne. An interview about her experiences in the BDM and her reaction towards Nazi youth organizations.
- 2. Götz, Theodor. He was first in the HJ and then in wartime, was forced to become member of the HJ. Flak squads to defend incoming American bombers over his hometown Freiburg im Breisgau.
- 3. Hite, John &Hinton, Chris. 2000. Weimar&Nazi Germany.
- 4. Krause, Christina. She used to be amazing in ice-skating and gained financial support from the
Nazis
- 5. Perel, Sally. 1992. "I was Hitlerjunge Salomon". Heyne books.
ii) Secondary sources
- 6 . Aull-fürstenberg, Margarethe. 2001. Lebenslüge Hitler Jugend - Aus dem Tagebuch eines
BDM- Mädels- (-transl. out of the diary of a BDM girl-). Überreuter.
- 7. Burleigh, Michael &Wippermann, Wolfgang. 1991. The Racial State: Germany 1933-1945.
Cambridge University Press
- 8. Fischer, Klaus. 1995. Nazi Germany: A new history. Constable London.
- 9. Fest, Joachim. 1979. The face of the Third Reich. Penguin Books.
- 10.Grunberger, Richard. 1979. A social History of the Third Reich.!!!!!!!!!!!
- 11. Jenkins, Jane & Feuchtwange, Edgar. 2000. Hitler's Germany. Advanced History Sourcebooks
- 12. Lewis, Brenda Ralph. 2000. Illustrierte Geschichte der Hitler Jugend 1922-
1945. Tosa Verlag.
- 13. Noakes, J. & Pridham, G.. 1984. Nazism 1919-1945 Vol.2. University of Exeter Press.
- 14. Pine, Lisa. April 1997. Nazism in the classroom. Magazine History Today.
Weimar & Nazi Germany, John Hite & Chris Hinton, page 276; quoted in Hitler Speaks by Hermann Rauschnig in 1939
2 Illustrierte Geschichte der Hitler Jugend 1922-1945; Brenda Ralph Lewis, Tosa Verlag 2000, page 7
3 Weimar & Nazi Germany, John Hite & Chris Hinton, page 277; quote by Robert Ley, leader of the labour front (DAF)
as he said: "(...) We start our work when the child is three. As soon as it begins to think, a little flag is put into his
hand. Then comes school, the Hitler Youth movement, the Storm troop....We never let a single soul go, and when they
have gone through all that, there is the Labour Front, which takes them when they are grown up and never lets hold of
them...whether they like it or not (...)"
4 Lisa Pine: Nazism in the classroom, History Today April 1997
5 Illustrierte Geschichte der Hitler Jugend 1922-1945; Brenda Ralph Lewis, Tosa Verlag 2000, quote from Hitler on page 48
that makes clear that he wants to strengthen the youth for war: "The youth has to be fully trained in all physical exercises. I
want an athletic youth, this is the main purpose. By this I will delete 1000 years of human domestication (...) I want a
active, dominant, brutal youth which does not bother with pain"
6 Source is my uncle Theo, who was first in the HJ and then in wartime was forced to become member of
of the HJ and gave me useful detail about the class-distribution in Germany and his experience.
7 Source is my uncle Theo; he stated that "especially after the battle for England, there was a steady increase of more war
orientated exercises (...) later, when I was in my last school year, we had to go and help with the Flak canons (anti-aircraft
canons) (...)"
8 Illustrierte Geschichte der Hitler Jugend 1922-1945; Brenda Ralph Lewis, top of page 134
9 Sally Perel: Ich war Hitlerjunge Salomon, Heyne Bücher 1992, appendix: "(...) I, the Jew Sally Perel, I know the Jupp in
me (his German name), I know the Nazi (...)", and, reading further, he states that one has been "dazzled" by the Nazis
0 Hitler's Germany, Jane Jenkins&Edgar Feuchtwanger; advanced history sourcebooks, page 100, introduction paragraph
with general information about the HJ
1 My grandmother, Marianne Götz: she stated in her interview "(...) as my and my mother went through the woods on a
tour, we met the other girls from my class which were in the HJ; they laughed at my and I felt great shame (...)"
3 My uncle Theodor, who was in the HJ and informed me that he ( and his comrades) "very liked games and physical
exercises in the HJ"; in additional this statement is supported by the appendix in the sec. source "Illustrierte Geschichte
der Hitler Jugend 1922-1945" by. Brenda Ralph Lewis
5 My grandmother's neighbour, Mrs. Krause, who used to be amazing in ice-skating and states in the interview: "(...) the
ones which were good in a certain type of sport gained massive support from the Nazis. I was amazing in ice-skating and
due to this fact they paid the hotel/equipment for me when I had to go to competitions on the weekend (...)"
6 My grandmother, Marianne Götz quoted as she said "(...) many parents decided to sent their children to the HJ because
one was constantly threatened by imprisonment; everyone, even your neighbour or persons next to you if they were deeply
convinced, could speak out against you and a family that was not Jewish and did not send their children to the HJ gave the
Nazis a reason of mistrust and the possibility of being imprisoned or being brought to a KZ grew (...)"
7 Nazism 1919-1945 Vol.2, J.Noakes& G.Pridham, quoted from intro of the chapter 'Higher Education' on page 245
8 Nazism 1919-1945 Vol.2, J.Noakes& G.Pridham, quoted from page 246 where it is stated that memebership in the DS
became compulsory for ' all full-time students at an institution of higher education who are of German origin and whose
mother tongue is German...irrespective of nationality'
9 Nazism 1919-1945 Vol.2, J.Noakes& G.Pridham, quoted from intro of the chapter 'Higher Education' on page 245
20 A social History of the Third Reich, Richard Grunberger, ch.18, middle of page 363
21 Illustrierte Geschichte der Hitler Jugend 1922-1945; Brenda Ralph Lewis, Tosa Verlag 2000 on page 81,
chapter ‚Renegades and Reistance'
22 The Racial State: Germany 1933-1945, Michael Burleigh&Wolfgang Wippermann, Cambridge University Press, pages
238/239 where Hitler stated: "Cliques are groupings of juveniles outside the Hitler Youth, who lead a separate way of life
(...) One must distinguish between a) cliques of an asocial-criminal character, b) cliques of an oppositional-political
character and c) cliques with a liberal-individualistic outlook (...)"
23 The Racial State: Germany 1933-1945, Michael Burleigh&Wolfgang Wippermann, Cambridge University Press quoted
from page 220 "(...) 'Swing Youth were young people of mainly bourgeois origin (...)"
24 My grandmother, Marianne Götz, quoted from an interview as she said: "(...) The sentence "Führer, Command - We the
follow!" was everywhere, at Nazi celebration or march; nobody knew at the beginning what consequences this could have
malign influence on the lives of the (male) members of the HJ later, as war became cruel reality (...)"
25 Again my uncle Theodor Götz who here attempted to explain to me the general mood of the German youth ( straight
after he and his school class were forced to join a Flak-squad: "(...) It was quite interesting for us, but we were not
amazed anymore, - in secret one was already talking about the lost war! However we still applied to the Wehrmacht
as Kriegsoffiziers - bewerber (volunteer) - me also to the communication-service - always with having in my mind: not to
the Waffen-SS.(...)"
26 In the last days of the 3rd Reich (1945) Hitler formed the so-called "Volkssturm" troops which mainly consisted of old
WW1 veterans (age >50) and extremely young youths (age <16).
27 Illustrierte Geschichte der Hitler Jugend 1922-1945; Brenda Ralph Lewis, Tosa Verlag 2000 p.18
28 My grandmother, Marianne Götz: "(...) the social pressure was enormous; all the others in my class went to the
organizations had regularly a laugh about me, the girl that stayed alone in school on Saturdays with Jewish girls(...)"
29 Illustrierte Geschichte der Hitler Jugend 1922-1945; Brenda Ralph Lewis, Tosa Verlag 2000, on page 32 a description of
the content of the movie and how it affected the minds of the youth.
Hans Kossmann History SL U6 Internal Assessment
