HitlerYouth

=Hitler Youth =



=
The **Hitler Youth** was a [|paramilitary] [|organization] of the [|Nazi Party]. It existed from 1922 to 1945. 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.[|[][|3][|]] The// //[|Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen] (NSRBL), the [|umbrella organization] promoting and coordinating sport activities in Germany during the Nazi period, had the responsibility of overseeing the physical fitness development programs provided to the German youth.[|[][|4][|]]//
 * DOCTRINE:**

//The HJ was originally Munich-based only. In 1923, the organization had a little over one thousand members. In 1925, when the Nazi Party had been refounded, the membership grew to over 5,000. Five years later, national HJ membership stood at 25,000. By the end of 1932 (a few weeks before the Nazis came to power) it was at 107,956. At the end of 1933, the HJ had 2,300,000 members. Much of these increases came from the more or less forcible merger of other youth organizations with the HJ. (The sizable Evangelische Jugend, a Lutheran youth organisation of 600,000 members, was integrated on February 18, 1934).[|[][|7][|]]//
 * MEMBERSHIP:**

//By 1943, Nazi leaders began turning the Hitler Youth into a military reserve to draw manpower which had been depleted due to tremendous military losses. In 1943, the [|12.SS-Panzer-Division Hitlerjugend], under the command of// //SS-[|Brigadeführer] [|Fritz Witt], was formed. The Division was a fully equipped// //[|Waffen-SS]// //[|panzer] [|division], with the majority of the enlisted cadre being drawn from Hitler Youth boys between th////e ages of sixteen and eighteen. The division was deployed during the [|Battle of Normandy] against the British and Canadian forces to the north of [|Caen]. During the following months, the division earned itself a reputation for ferocity and fanaticism. When Witt was killed by allied naval gunfire,// //SS-Brigadeführer [|Kurt Meyer] took over command and became the youngest divisional commander at age 33.// //As German casualties escalated with the combination of [|Operation Bagration] and the [|Lvov-Sandomierz Operation] in the east, and [|Opera]////[|tion Cobra] in the west, members of the Hitlerjugend were [|recruited at ever younger ages]. By 1945, the// //[|Volkssturm] was commonly drafting 12-year-old Hitler Youth members into its ranks. During the [|Battle of Berlin], Axmann's// //Hitler Youth formed a major part of the last line// //of German defense, and were reportedly among the fiercest fighters. Although the city commander, General [|Helmuth Weidling], ordered Axmann to disband the Hitler Youth combat formations; in the confusion, this order was never carried out.//
 * DURING WWII:**[[image:180px-HJemblem3.png width="147" height="244" align="right" caption="Hitler Youth emblem. The motto of the organization was "Blut und Ehre", meaning "Blood and Honour"."]]

//The Hitler Youth was disbanded by Allied authorities as part of the [|Denazification] process. Some HJ members were suspected of war crimes but - as they were children - no serious efforts were made to prosecute these claims. While the HJ was never declared a [|criminal organization], its adult leadership was considered tainted for corrupting the minds of young Germans. Many adult leaders of the HJ were put on trial by Allied authorities, and [|Baldur von Schirach] was sentenced to twenty years in prison. He was, however, convicted of crimes against Hum////anity for his actions as// //Gauleiter// of Vienna, not his leadership of the HJ.
 * AFTER WWII:**

__OTHER WEBSITES TO EXPLORE: __
[|HISTORY PLACE] [|JEWISH LIBRARY] [|WIKIPEDIA-HITLER YOUTH] [|WIKIPEDIA-GERMAN GIRLS LEAGUE]