Nazi Policies Towards the Young Flashcards
Describe the Aims of Nazi Policies Towards the Young
-Nazi policies were not meant to be what was best for the young but were aimed to strengthen Germany and the Nazi Party.
-The Nazis believed that boys and girls were equal, but different. They had different strengths to offer Germany.
-Hitler knew German adults were not Nazi supporters, but he reasoned if young Germans supported the Nazi Party, this would secure the future of his ‘Thousand Year Reich’.
-Nazi propaganda often encouraged young people to see Hitler as a father figure.
Describe Nazi Beliefs About the Young
-Nazis believed all young Germans should be brought up to be proud Germans who support a strong, independent Germany.
-They should also be brought up to be supporters of the Nazi Party who believed in Nazi policy.
-Boys should be brought up to be strong, healthy, to do productive work for the German economy and fight in the German army.
-Girls should be brought up to be strong and healthy, so that they would be strong wives and healthy, fertile mothers.
Describe the Scale of the Nazi Youth Movement
-The Nazi Party had set up youth sections for boys and girls in the 1920s but these were small in comparison to other groups.
-In 1932, Protestant youth group membership was around 600,000 boys and girls whereas the Nazi groups had 100,000.
-However, by 1933, Nazi Youth group membership had grown to over 2 million, by 1935 it was 4 million and in 1939, it was just under 9 million.
Describe the Growth in Nazi Youth Group Membership
-In 1933, Hitler banned almost all youth groups apart from Nazi groups. Pressure was put on young people to join Nazi youth groups.
-From 1936, all sports facilities for young people were taken over by the Hitler Youth. If young people wanted to use the facilities, they has to join the Hitler Youth.
-In March 1939, it was made compulsory for all young Germans to join Nazi Youth groups from age 10. Only unwanted minority groups, like Jews, were omitted.
Describe the Nazi Youth Groups Available for Boys
-Nazi youth groups were strictly segregated, with separate groups for boys and girls.
-6 to 10 year olds were in the Pimpfe (Little Fellows).
-10 to 14 year olds were in the Deutsche Jungvolk (German Young People).
-14 to 18 year olds were in the Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth).
Describe Political Training in the Hitler Youth
-Members had to swear an oath of loyalty to the Fuhrer.
-They had to attend residential courses where they were told about Nazi ideas.
-Hitler Youth members had to report anyone, even parents, who were disloyal to the Nazis.
-The Hitler Youth leader, Baldur von Schirach, set out a schedule of lessons for every year group of the Hitler Youth to learn.
-Lessons included ‘The Evil of the Jews’ and ‘German Heroes’.
Describe Physical Training in the Hitler Youth
-There were regular camping and hiking exercises.
-The Hitler Youth ran regional and national sports competitions.
Describe Military Training in the Hitler Youth
-Members practised skills useful to troops, such as map-reading and signalling.
-By 1938, 1.2 million boys in the Hitler Youth were being trained in small-arms shooting.
-There were special military divisions of the Hitler Youth for specialist training.
-Naval Hitler Youth had 45,000 members, the Motor sector had 60,000 and the Flying section had 74,000.
Describe Character Training in the Hitler Youth
-Activities stressed the need for comradeship and loyalty, but also competition and ruthlessness.
-Boys entering the Jungvolk would swear an oath in which they would give promise to give their life for Hitler.
-Members might be drilled by SA instructors, plunged into ice-cold water to toughen them up or forced to undergo lengthy exercises in wintry weather.
-Those who made errors or who disobeyed orders could be subjected to harsh punishments. This built loyal young people, even in hardship.
Describe the Nazi Youth Groups Available for Girls
-10 to 14 year olds belonged to the Jungmadel (Young Maidens).
-14 to 21 year olds were in the Bund Deutscher Madel, or BDM (League of German Maidens).
Describe Political and Physical Training in the League of German Maidens
-Just like for boys, political training included rallies and oaths of allegiance.
-Physical and character training consisted of camping and marching.
Describe Domestic Training in the League of German Maidens
-Girls were trained to cook, iron, make beds, sew and generally to prepare to be a housewife.
-Girls were taught the importance of racial hygiene. Girls were told to keep the German race pure, they should only marry Aryan men.
Describe the Extent to Which Nazi Policies Towards the Young Succeeded
-Some young people were enthusiastic and committed Hitler Youth members.
-However, some were less keen. They did not enjoy being forced to do activities they did not enjoy or believe in.
-Many German adult also had reservations. They believed they were being undermined by Nazi youth groups, as the groups taught that loyalty should lie with the state and not with family.
Describe Education for the Young Before the Nazi Regime
-In 1933, all children in Germany went to school until the age of 14. After that, attendance at school was voluntary.
-Boys and girls went to separate schools.
-Most schools were controlled by local councils, though some were run by the Church.
Describe Nazi Beliefs About Education
-Hitler believed that even if some adults did not believe in Nazi ideas, if children were taught from a young age to believe, they would follow him, no matter what.
-In 1934, Bernhaud Rust was made Education Minister. Rust saw schools as a way of controlling the views of young people.
Describe Nazi Control of Teachers
-In April 1933, the Nazis passed a law giving them the power to sack teachers and headteachers they didn’t approve of. In Prussia, Rust sacked over 180 secondary headteachers.
-All teachers had to swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler and had to join the Nazi Teachers’ League.
-The Nazi Teachers’ League ran political education courses for teachers, setting out the Nazi ideas teachers should support.
-By 1939, over 200,000 teachers had attended the courses.
Describe Nazi Changes to Teaching
-Teachers taught students to do the Nazi salute.
-They started and ended each lesson with the children saying ‘Heil Hitler’.
-Nazi posters and flags decorated classrooms.
Describe Nazi Control of the Curriculum
-From 1935, all new textbooks had to be approved by the Nazis. New history books, for example, explained the Treaty of Versailles as a ‘stab in the back’.
-Pupils gathered together in school halls to listen to major political speeches on the radio.
-Traditional subjects, such as maths, were changed to make them more useful to the kind of society Nazis wanted, or to make them vehicles for Nazi ideas.
Describe Nazi Changes to the Curriculum
-New subjects were added, such as race studies. Children were taught how to classify racial groups and were told the Aryan race was superior.
The amount of time for PE and sports was doubled to create strong workers, soldiers and healthy mothers. By 1939, they took up about one sixth of lesson time.
-Domestic science, including cookery and needle work, became compulsory for girls to make them better housewives.
-Mein Kampf became a compulsory school text.
