Jasper Gifford 10D Mrs Graham

The Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend or HJ) were an integral part of the Nazi Regime. The Hitler
youth were the boy-scouts like youth organization of the Nazi regime, which operated from
1926 to 1945. Enrolment in the HJ was made mandatory in 1939, even if the parent did not
consent. ("Hitler Youth", 2019). The youth of Germany from 1933 to 1945 were manipulated
to a great extent by the Nazi Regime through the indoctrination of their political views and
preparation to become soldiers for the Military.

From 1933 onwards, the Hitler Youth’s political views were heavily influenced by the Nazi
regime, specifically in school. From the 1930s the school curriculum in Germany was
changed to be heavily race related, with a course known as “Rassenkunde” (race
knowledge) being introduced. Rassenkunde was heavily anti-Semitic, with children being
taught that the Aryan race was superior, and that the Jews were the most inferior. (Wiener,
2019). Anti-Semitism was one of the main ideologies of the Nazi party. From the Nazi’s
perspective, this would be an extremely effective way to influence children’s political views
as they would grow up to believe this as they were being taught this during their most
impressionable stage in life. According to the BBC, the aims of schools were to indoctrinate
children in the radical Nazi ideology and make children loyal to Hitler, effectively
brainwashing them. This was achieved through the rewriting of textbooks to promote Aryan
supremacy, an extreme sense of nationalism and heavy antisemitism. Teachers were even
forced to join the Nazi Teachers’ Association, which made sure they were able to effectively
teach the political and racial ideologies of the Nazi Party. In addition, academic subjects
were made significantly less important. ("Life for young people in Nazi Germany - CCEA -
Revision 1 - GCSE History - BBC Bitesize", 2019). Through the rewriting of textbooks and the
screening of teachers to enforce Nazi ideologies, this would highly influence the Hitler
Youths’ political views as they were being told these ideas by authority figures. Also,
through the diminishment of academics, this creates a lack of an ability for people to think
for themselves and an unwillingness to provoke questions about the Nazis. (Kater, 2004)
These sources highly corroborate each other, as they both suggest a link between education
and the indoctrination of children into Nazi ideology, especially anti-Semitism. Through
these methods, the Hitler youths’ political views were influenced, but was else was changed
to benefit the Nazi Regime.
Jasper Gifford 10D Mrs Graham

The Hitler Youth was a front to train children to join the military. One of the main goals of
the Nazi party was the remilitarization of Germany and the strengthening of its army after
the treaty of Versailles (Hitler Youth, 2014.) They achieved this partly due to the
indoctrination of children into the army from a young age. They did this through heavily
military like training through the Hitler Youth. Activities in the Hitler Youth consisted of
lessons for things such as weaponry, semaphore (the practise of flag signalling) and hiking,
all of which are not stereotypical boys-scouts’ activities. At the age of 14 when they are
moved to main division of the Hitler Youth, they received further militaristic training. This all
accumulates at the age of 18 when they were either drafted into the military or forced to
serve in the Reich Labour Service. (Hitler Youth, 2014.) By training them like this from the
age of 10, it implicitly implants into their minds that they are soldiers. Also, this paired with
they heavy nationalistic views they were being fed, it teaches them that they should be
soldiers as it is the right thing for Germany. According to historian Michael Kater,
militarization was the hallmark of the Hitler Youth. Kater states that the Hitler Youth were
made to believe that these kinds of activities were normal. The Hitler Youth would routinely
play a series of “war games” that the children were very enthusiastic about. They also
regularly had mandatory overnight tent-stays that had a heavy militaristic inspiration.
(Kater, 2004) All of these factors lead to the fact that the Hitler Youth were being trained for
war, even going to the lengths to have military inspired overnight tent stays to get them
acclimatized to the idea of staying in a tent during military service. These sources highly
corroborate each other as they both suggest ways they the Hitler Youth were being trained.
The idea that they were being trained for the military is also furthered by this quote from
Armed Forces Minister for the Nazi Regime, Werner von Blomberg : ”Service in the
Wehrmacht is the last and highest step in the general educational process of any young
German, from the home to the school, to the HJ and the Labour service.”

The youth of Germany from 1933 to 1945 were manipulated to a great extent by the Nazi
Regime through the indoctrination of their political views and preparation to become
soldiers for the Military The boy-scouts like Hitler Youth were appealing to young children.
There are many ways to influence children, whether it is through education or through
mandatory activities. The Nazi regime used highly effective methods to manipulate children.
Jasper Gifford 10D Mrs Graham

References
Hitler Youth. (2014). In Gale In Context Online Collection. Detroit, MI: Gale. Retrieved from
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/RUGLOD813825132/SUIC?
u=uq_joseph&sid=SUIC&xid=25aeb898
Hitler Youth. (2019). Retrieved 3 November 2019, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_Youth
Kater, M. (2004). Hitler Youth. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Life for young people in Nazi Germany - CCEA - Revision 1 - GCSE History - BBC Bitesize.
(2019). Retrieved 30 October 2019, from
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z897pbk/revision/1
Wiener, J. (2019). A Student in a Nazi School — United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Retrieved 30 October 2019, from https://www.ushmm.org/remember/holocaust-
reflections-testimonies/echoes-of-memory/a-student-in-a-nazi-school