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Hitler_Jugend.jpg
The German Nazi party established the Hitler Youth (in German: Hitler-Jugend or HJ) in 1926. The Party set up the HJ youth-training system for young Germans to gain military training and to develop their understanding of and obedience to Nazi ideology.
The HJ grew out of the Jugendbund der NSDAP ("Youth Union of the NSDAP", JdN), founded in March 1922, which first met in May of that year, and catered for males aged 14 to 18.
In 1928 the HJ gained a section for males aged 10 to 14: initially called the Deutsch Knabenschaft ("German Boyhood") in 1931 it became the Deutsche Jungvolk in der Hitler-Jugend ("German Young People in the Hitler Youth"). A section for females aged 14 to 18, originated in 1929 called Schwesternschaft der Hitler-Jugend ("Sisterhood of the Hitler Youth"); it became the Bund Deutscher Mädel ("Union of German Girls", BDM) in 1930 and a section for younger females, the Jungmädelgruppe ("Young Girls' Group"), was added in 1931.
Following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 other right-wing youth groups merged with the HJ. From December 1 1936 under the Jugenddienstpflicht ("Youth Service Obligation") the authorities banned all other youth groups and merged their membership into the Hitler Youth. HJ membership became compulsory for youths over 17 in 1939 and for all over the age of ten in 1941. Arthur Axmann replaced Baldur von Schirach as leader in 1940.
The Hitler Youth had the basic motivation of training future "Aryan supermen" and future soldiers who would serve the Third Reich faithfully. Physical and military training took precedence over academic and scientific education in Hitler Youth organizations. Youths in HJ camps learned to use weapons, built up their physical strength, learned war strategies, and became indoctrinated with anti-Semitism. They typically wore uniforms composed of light brown shirts and brown shorts, similar to children in a military camp, with some high-ranking boys wearing black shirts.
As World War II progressed the group took on the work of men drafted into the armed forces, manned anti-aircraft defences and also produced many soldiers, especially for the Waffen SS, notably the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Jugend" under Kurt Meyer. As the Allies invaded Germany, the Wehrmacht recruited members of the HJ at ever younger ages: during the Battle of Berlin in 1945 they formed a major part of the German defence forces. The Hitler Youth members fought with great courage during the battle. One group of Hitler Youth even managed to hold off a Soviet tank division for three days. Many soldiers said that no one scared them more than the Hitler Youth.
After the war the new authorities dissolved and banned the Hitler Youth movement.
Members
- 1923 - 1 200
- 1924 - 2 400
- 1925 - 5 000
- 1926 - 6 000
- 1927 - 8 000
- 1928 - 10 000
- 1929 - 13 000
- 1930 - 26 000
- 1931 - 63 700
- 1932 - 107 956
- 1933 - 2 292 041
- 1934 - 3 577 565
- 1935 - 3 943 303
- 1936 - 5 437 601
- 1937 - 5 879 955
- 1938 - 7 031 226
- 1939 - 7 728 259
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