FREE ESSAY ON HITLER YOUTH MOVEMENT

HITLER YOUTH MOVEMENT

I thought the most interesting aspect of the Hitler Youth movement was the beginning of it
all, when the numbers were small to when the organization held a lot of power. The years
1933-1938 were the most influential of the youth movement. These years determined what
the organization would become and how much power they would hold.
When Hitler came into power as the German Chancellor in 1933, the Hitler youth was not
nearly close to an idea of what it was to become. Around this time, The Hitler Youth
Organization numbered around one hundred thousand. Until two months later when Hitler was
given dictatorial powers, which meant the state, was behind the Hitler Youth now.
Immediately Hitler ordered that either organizations join the Nazi's or disband. If the
organizations chose to join the Hitler Youth Movement were under the power of Baldur Von
Schirach who Hitler appointed to be the head of The Youth organization, with only Hitler
to answer to. 
Schirach began quickly by sending the fifty boys into The Reich's Committee of German
Youth Association, and taking the six million members under the authority of the Hitler
youth. So most of the recruitment for the Youth Movement was forced. Some groups did join
willing though, but groups like The Catholic Youth Organization held out for as long as
three years.
Schirach soon organized Hitler's Youth Movement into a precise running machine. He set up
age brackets as well as a Hitlers youth for girls called the BDM(Bund Deutcher
Madel{League of German Girls}). The age brackets for boys started at ten to fourteen were
the boys were in the jungvolk, and the boys from fourteen to eighteen were in the
HJ(Hitler Jugend{Youth}). The girls had their age brackets as well the young girls from
ten to fourteen were in the Jungmadel, and the girls from fourteen to eighteen were in
the actual BDM.
The youth organization was based on competition on what ever they did boys or girls. The
boys and girls did not participate together though, they did do very much of the same
things. The boys played War games, and often started brawls, which was not discouraged
because the Nazi's believed it was toughing up the youth. 
The only problem Schirach was running into was that he could not find enough qualified
people to be Youth leaders. Schirach could not fill the positions because the youth
movement was growing so fast. In just one year the population burst from one hundred
thousand to 3.5 million. To solve the problem Schirach came up with
Reichsfuhrer(leadership) schools. These schools were actually three-week cram courses,
that although brought down the level of education for the youth movement, they were
accepted because of lack of people. 
In 1934 Schirach declared it to be The Year of Training, and told the youth that they
were not just a group of kids marching in together, they are all individual soldiers with
their own ideas, to motivate the kids. The kids learned vocational training, and in
October were sent to the country to harvest the crops. This was to show them the value of
hard manual labor, and how it pays off.
1935 was The Year of Physical Training, the Hitler youth had rigorous sport competitions
and gladiator like fitness standards. Hitler felt that his youth should have more of a
strong character and look more physically healthy, than to be well educated in the
classroom. Hitler wanted his youth to feel that they are better than others are, and be
proud to be Germans. While also being able to lay down their lives for their country.
When in the classroom the teachers taught their curriculum to emphasize Nazi themes and
history. In every classroom hung a portrait of Hitler and some of the students even
prayed to him. The curriculum even included how to spot a Jew, and if there was a Jew in
the classroom the teacher would bring him to the front of the class and use a pointer to
point out these features.
As the years progressed the Youth movement started accepting younger children and made
the programs more physical. By 1936 for Hitler's birthday, his present would be to have
every child over ten in the movement. If anyone would hold out his or her parents would
be punished or even sent to jail. This birthday present made the youth organization grow
to about 6 million. 
When 1938 came around Hitler expanded Germanys borders to include Austria and some of
Czechoslovakia. Which made the youth movement grow to its highest point of 8.7 million
children? At the end of the year, the children truly learned what they were in for, in
one of Hitler's speeches. He said that they were to know and to think nothing other than
German, and that from age ten on they will be apart of some type of Hitler's
organizations, and they will never be free again as long as they live.(The History
Place,www.historyplace.com)