The Hitler Jugend (English: Hitler Youth) was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party in Germany. Established in 1922, the HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung (the SA). The HJ were viewed as future "Aryan supermen" and were indoctrinated in anti-Semitism. One aim was to instill the motivation that would enable HJ members, as soldiers, to fight faithfully for the Third Reich. The HJ put more emphasis on physical and military training than on academic study.
The Bund Deutscher Mädel was the female branch of the Hitler Jugend.
Hitler Jugend in In the Presence of Mine Enemies[]
Time in Hitler Jugend was required of all German youth well into the 21st century, still indoctrinated with the notion of complete obedience to the Greater German Reich and anti-Semitism. However, as several Jews had survived in secret, hiding in plain sight as ordinary German citizens, several Jewish men had relatively fine memories of the Hitler Jugend. Gottlieb Stutzman shared his experiences with his family and friends, specifically the care and attention that he was required to give to the shovel that he was issued as a member of the HJ. (This shovel was a stand-in for a rifle.) Heinrich Gimpel, a secret Jew like Stutzman, remembered his shovel with something like affection.
Hitler Jugend camps were often located next to Bund Deutscher Mädel camps, resulting in occasional pregnancies.
Hitler Jugend in "Shtetl Days"[]
Service in the Hitler Jugend remained compulsory for young German men into the 21st century.
See Also[]
- Freedom Youth Corps, a Confederate analog of the Hitler Jugend in Southern Victory.
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