Hitler Youth

Randy Ketwaroo & Mirza Khan


Summary:

Hitler youth were a great way to build leaders in Nazi Germany. The Hitler Youth was established in 1926 and were originally intended to follow the movement of the Germans Worker Party. Hitler’s motive for creating this group was to assemble all the youth and make them adapt to military lifestyle by making them undergo vigorous training to become a soldier at an early age. Kids were 10 years of age and would join a group called the Jungvolk (boys age 10-14) and they would soon join the actual HJ (Hitler Youth age 14-18) their original mission was to bring Hitler to power. They soon started a new mission which was bringing victory in the war. They would go door-to-door trying to collect scrap metal for war and other purposes.

Girls also were very interested in becoming a Hitler youth leader so they formed a group called the BDM (Bund Deutscher Mädel) in 1930 a younger division was added. They would do various things such as help wounded soldiers. In 1942, there were many bomb raids so Hitler decided to create WELS camps. They would enlist boys 16-18 to undergo mandatory three weeks war training where they would learn various skills. The Battle of Berlin occurred in 1945 and as Germany was being breached, the members of the Hitler Youth were enlisted in to the army and contributed to the German defense lines. Hitler youth camps are useful in some ways but seemed like a lot of work and neglect.

 Interesting Facts:

- 5000 KLV camps were created by 1945

- From 1940 to 1945 about 2.8 million children were sent to these camps

- The main role for females were to give birth to healthy, racially ‘pure’ boys

Quotes:

Page 268 – “With his ears,” Rudy finished. “He can’t –” “Right, that’s it.” …  “Both of you – six laps of the grounds.”

Page 283 – “It’s on my chin, too. My chin! I’m lucky I didn’t swallow it! …  The field at Hitler Youth just got fertilized,”