The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was the sole official boys' youth organisation in Germany and it was partially a paramilitary organisation. It was composed of the Hitler Youth proper for male youths aged 14 to 18, and the
German Youngsters in the Hitler Youth ( or "DJ", also "DJV") for younger boys aged 10 to 14.
With the
surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945, the organisation ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' ceased to exist. On 10 October 1945, the Hitler Youth and its subordinate units were outlawed by the
Allied Control Council along with other Nazi Party organisations. Under
Section 86 of the
Criminal Code
A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might ...
of the
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
, the Hitler Youth is an "unconstitutional organisation" and the distribution or public use of its symbols, except for educational or research purposes,
is illegal.
Origins
In 1922, the Munich-based
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
established its official youth organisation called . It was announced on 8 March 1922 in the , and its inaugural meeting took place on 13 May the same year. Another youth group was established in 1922 as the . Based in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
,
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, it served to train and recruit future members of the (SA), the main paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party at that time.
![Bundesarchiv Bild 147-0510, Berlin, Lustgarten, Kundgebung der HJ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Bundesarchiv_Bild_147-0510%2C_Berlin%2C_Lustgarten%2C_Kundgebung_der_HJ.jpg)
One reason the Hitler Youth so easily developed was that regimented organisations, often focused on politics, for young people and particularly adolescent boys were a familiar concept to German society in the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
. Numerous
youth movements
The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted otherwise.
...
existed across Germany prior to and especially after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. They were created for various purposes. Some were religious and others were ideological, but the more prominent ones were formed for political reasons, like the Young Conservatives and the Young Protestants. Once Hitler came onto the revolutionary scene, the transition from seemingly innocuous youth movements to political entities focused on Hitler was swift.
Following the abortive
Beer Hall Putsch
The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party ( or NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and othe ...
(in November 1923), Nazi youth groups ostensibly disbanded, but many elements simply went underground, operating clandestinely in small units under assumed names. In April 1924, the was renamed (Greater German Youth Movement). On 4 July 1926, the was officially renamed (Hitler Youth League of German Worker Youth). This event took place a year after the Nazi Party was reorganised. The architect of the re-organisation was
Kurt Gruber
Kurt Gruber (21 October 1904 in Syrau, Vogtland – 24 December 1943 in Dresden) was a Nazi politician and from 1926 to 1931 the first chairman of the Hitler Youth (''Hitler-Jugend'' or HJ).
Career
After the failed Beerhall Putsch in 1923, man ...
, a law student from
Plauen
Plauen (; Czech language, Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the larges ...
in Saxony.
After a short power struggle with a rival organisation—
Gerhard Roßbach
Gerhard Roßbach (28 February 1893 – 30 August 1967), also spelt Rossbach, was a German ''Freikorps'' leader and organizer of nationalist groups after World War I. He is generally credited with inventing the brown uniforms of the Nazi Party ...
's —Gruber prevailed and his "Greater German Youth Movement" became the Nazi Party's official youth organisation. In July 1926, it was renamed ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") and, for the first time, it officially became an integral part of the SA. The name was taken up on the suggestion of
Hans Severus Ziegler
Hans Severus Ziegler (13 October 1893 – 1 May 1978) was a German publicist, theater manager, teacher and Nazi Party official. A leading cultural director under the Nazis, he was closely associated with the censorship and cultural co-ordinatio ...
. By 1930, the (HJ) had enlisted over 25,000 boys aged 14 and upward. They also set up a junior branch, the (DJ), for boys aged 10 to 14. Girls from 10 to 18 were given their own parallel organisation, the
League of German Girls
The League of German Girls or the Band of German Maidens (german: Bund Deutscher Mädel, abbreviated as BDM) was the girls' wing of the Nazi Party youth movement, the Hitler Youth. It was the only legal female youth organization in Nazi Germany. ...
(BDM).
In April 1932,
Chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
Heinrich Brüning
Heinrich Aloysius Maria Elisabeth Brüning (; 26 November 1885 – 30 March 1970) was a German Centre Party politician and academic, who served as the chancellor of Germany during the Weimar Republic from 1930 to 1932.
A political scienti ...
banned the Hitler Youth movement in an attempt to stop widespread political violence. However, in June, Brüning's successor as Chancellor,
Franz von Papen, lifted the ban as a way of appeasing Hitler, the rapidly ascending political star. A further significant expansion drive started in 1933, after
Baldur von Schirach was appointed by Hitler as the first (Reich Youth Leader). All youth organizations were brought under Schirach's control.
Doctrine
![Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1978-013-27, Hitlerjugend, vormilitärische Ausbildung](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1978-013-27%2C_Hitlerjugend%2C_vormilit%C3%A4rische_Ausbildung.jpg)
The members of the Hitler Youth were viewed as ensuring the future of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and they were indoctrinated in Nazi ideology, including racism. The Hitler Youth appropriated many of the activities of the
Boy Scout movement (which was banned in 1935), including camping and hiking. However, over time it changed in content and intention. For example, many activities closely resembled military training, with weapons training, assault course circuits and basic tactics. The aim was to turn the HJ into motivated soldiers. There was greater emphasis on physical ability and military training than on academic study. Sacrifice for the cause was instilled into their training. Former Hitler Youth Franz Jagemann said that the notion "Germany must live" even if the members of the HJ had to die was "hammered" into them.
More than just a way to keep the German nation healthy, sports became a means of indoctrinating and training its youth for combat; this was in keeping with tenets outlined in Hitler's notorious work, . Typical school days for the Hitler Youth included many more hours of sports and physical training than academic pursuits, imbued with drill, physical tests, and trials; all "with the ultimate goal of warfare." An article in a 1936 edition of ''Foreign Affairs'' discusses the appropriation of sports by dictatorial regimes like the Nazis in no uncertain terms:
The Hitler Youth were used to break up church youth groups, spy on religious classes and Bible studies, and interfere with church attendance. Education and training programs for the Hitler Youth were designed to undermine the values of traditional structures of German society. Their training also aimed to remove social and intellectual distinctions between classes, to be replaced and dominated by the political goals of Hitler's totalitarian dictatorship. Besides promoting a doctrine of classlessness, additional training was provided that linked state-identified enemies such as Jews with Germany's previous defeat in the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and societal decline. The Hitler Youth were indoctrinated with the myths of Aryan racial superiority and to view Jews and Slavs as subhumans. As historian Richard Evans observes, "The songs they sang were Nazi songs. The books they read were Nazi books."
Organisation
The Hitler Youth was organised into corps under adult leaders, and the general membership of the HJ consisted of boys aged 14 to 18. The Hitler Youth was organised into local cells on a community level. Such cells had weekly meetings at which various
Nazi doctrines were taught by adult leaders. Regional leaders typically organised rallies and field exercises in which several dozen Hitler Youth cells would participate. The largest gathering usually took place annually at
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, where members from all over Germany would converge for the annual Nazi Party rally. Since the HJ and BDM were considered fully Aryan organizations by Nazi officials, premarital sex was encouraged in their ranks. This did not conform to the general beliefs of the Nazi Party, which viewed premarital sex as undesirable and a potential public health hazard.
The Hitler Youth maintained training academies comparable to preparatory schools, which were designed to nurture future Nazi Party leaders. The Hitler Youth also maintained several corps designed to develop future officers for the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
(Armed Forces). The corps offered specialised foundational training for each of the specific arms for which the member was ultimately destined. The Marine Hitler Youth (Marine-HJ), for example, served as an auxiliary to the . Another branch of the Hitler Youth was the (German Worker Youth – HY). This organisation within the Hitler Youth was a training ground for future labour leaders and technicians. Its symbol was a rising sun with a swastika. A program entitled (Country Service Camp) was designed to teach specifically chosen girls of the BDM high moral character standards within a rural educational setting.
The Hitler Youth had a number of monthly and weekly publications: among them were the (Hitler Youth Newspaper), the (Storm Youth), (Young Front), (News for German Youth), and (Will and Power). Other publications included (Young Germany), (a paper for girls in the BdM), and (Young Villager).
Membership
In 1923, the youth organisation of the Nazi Party had a little over 1,200 members. In 1925, when the Nazi Party was refounded, the membership grew to over 5,000. Five years later, national membership stood at 26,000. By the end of 1932, it was at 107,956. The Nazis came to power in 1933, and the membership of Hitler Youth organisations increased dramatically to 2,300,000 members by the end of that year. Much of this increase came from the forcible takeover of other youth organisations. The sizeable (Evangelical Youth), a Lutheran youth organisation of 600,000 members, was integrated on 18 February 1934. In December 1936, a law declared the Hitler Youth to be the only legally permitted youth organisation in Germany, and stated that "all of the German youth in the Reich is organised within the Hitler Youth".
By December 1936, Hitler Youth membership had reached over five million. That same month, membership became mandatory for
Aryans under the (Hitler Youth Law). This legal obligation was reaffirmed in March 1939 with the (Youth Service Duty), which conscripted all German youths into the Hitler Youth—even if the parents objected. Parents who refused to allow their children to join were subject to investigation by the authorities. From then on, the vast majority of Germany's teenagers belonged to the Hitler Youth. By 1940, it had eight million members.
Even before membership was made mandatory in 1939, German youth faced strong pressure to join. Students who held out were frequently assigned essays with titles such as "Why am I not in the Hitler Youth?" They were also the subject of frequent taunts from teachers and fellow students, and could even be refused their
diploma—which made it impossible to be admitted to university. A number of employers refused to offer apprenticeships to anyone who was not a member of the Hitler Youth. By 1936, the Hitler Youth had a monopoly on all youth sports facilities in Germany, effectively locking out non-members. Hitler spoke of the regime's ability to make Nazis out of these German youth, exclaiming in 1938:
Over time, a number of boys dropped out due to the regimented nature of the organization. Some of these boys later rejoined after they learned that they could not get a job or enter university without being a member. There were a few members of the Hitler Youth who privately disagreed with Nazi ideologies. For instance,
Hans Scholl
Hans Fritz Scholl (; 22 September 1918 – 22 February 1943) was, along with Alexander Schmorell, one of the two founding members of the White Rose resistance movement in Nazi Germany. The principal author of the resistance movement's ...
—the brother of
Sophie Scholl
Sophia Magdalena Scholl (9 May 1921 – 22 February 1943) was a German student and anti-Nazi political activist, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany.
She was convicted of high treason after having bee ...
and one of the leading figures of the anti-Nazi resistance movement (
White Rose
The White Rose (german: Weiße Rose, ) was a Nonviolence, non-violent, intellectual German resistance to Nazism, resistance group in Nazi Germany which was led by five students (and one professor) at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, ...
)—was also a member of the Hitler Youth.
Despite rare instances of disaffection, overall, the Hitler Youth constituted the single most successful of all the mass movements in the Third Reich.
World War II
![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-G0627-500-001, Auszeichnung des Hitlerjungen Willi Hübner](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-G0627-500-001%2C_Auszeichnung_des_Hitlerjungen_Willi_H%C3%BCbner.jpg)
On 1 May 1940,
Artur Axmann
Artur Axmann (18 February 1913 – 24 October 1996) was the German Nazi national leader (''Reichsjugendführer'') of the Hitler Youth (''Hitlerjugend'') from 1940 to 1945, when the war ended. He was the last living Nazi with a rank equivalent t ...
was appointed deputy to Schirach, whom he succeeded as of the Hitler Youth on 8 August 1940. Axmann began to reform the group into an auxiliary force which could perform war duties. The Hitler Youth became active in German fire brigades and assisted with recovery efforts to German cities affected by Allied
bombing. The Hitler Youth also assisted in such organisations as the Reich postal service, the Reich
railway services, and other government offices; members of the HJ also aided the army and served with
anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
defence crews.
By 1943, Nazi leaders began turning the Hitler Youth into a military reserve to replace manpower which had been depleted due to tremendous military losses. The idea for a
Waffen-SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...
division made up of Hitler Youth members was first proposed by Axmann to
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
in early 1943. The plan for a combat division made up of Hitler Youth members born in 1926 was passed on to Hitler for his approval. Hitler approved the plan in February and
Gottlob Berger
Gottlob Christian Berger (16 July 1896 – 5 January 1975) was a senior German Nazi official who held the rank of '' SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS'' (lieutenant general) and was the chief of the SS Main Office responsible ...
was tasked with recruiting.
Fritz Witt
Fritz Witt (27 May 1908 – 14 June 1944) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era. During World War II, he served with the SS Division Leibstandarte before taking command of the SS Division Hitlerjugend. He was killed in action in June 19 ...
of
SS Division Leibstandarte
The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler or SS Division Leibstandarte, abbreviated as LSSAH, (german: 1. SS-Panzerdivision "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler") began as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard unit, responsible for guarding ...
(LSSAH) was appointed divisional commander.
In 1944, the
12th SS-Panzer-Division ''Hitlerjugend'' was deployed during the
Battle of Normandy
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...
against the British and Canadian forces to the north of
Caen
Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,[Kurt Meyer
Kurt Meyer (23 December 1910 – 23 December 1961) was an SS commander and convicted war criminal of Nazi Germany. He served in the Waffen-SS (the combat branch of the SS) and participated in the Battle of France, Operation Barbarossa, and ot ...]
assumed command and became the divisional commander at age 33.
As German casualties escalated with the combination of
Operation Bagration
Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп ...
and the
Lvov-Sandomierz Operation in the east, and
Operation Cobra
Operation Cobra was the codename for an offensive launched by the United States First Army under Lieutenant General Omar Bradley seven weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Normandy campaign of World War II. The intention was to take adv ...
in the west, members of the Hitlerjugend were
recruited at ever younger ages. By 1945, the 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 defence, and they were reportedly among the fiercest fighters. Although the city commander, General
Helmuth Weidling
Helmuth Otto Ludwig Weidling (2 November 1891 – 17 November 1955) was a German general during World War II. He was the last commander of the Berlin Defence Area during the Battle of Berlin, and led the defence of the city against Soviet forc ...
, ordered Axmann to disband the Hitler Youth combat formations, in the confusion this order was never carried out. The remnants of the youth brigade took heavy casualties from the advancing Russian forces. Only two survived.
Post World War II
![Defendants in the dock at the Nuremberg Trials](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Defendants_in_the_dock_at_the_Nuremberg_Trials.jpg)
The Hitler Youth was disbanded by Allied authorities as part of the
denazification
Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...
process. Some Hitler Youth members were suspected of war crimes but, because they were children, no serious efforts were made to prosecute these claims. While the Hitler Youth was never declared a
criminal organisation
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
, its adult leadership was considered tainted for corrupting the minds of young Germans. Many adult leaders of the Hitler Youth were put on trial by Allied authorities, and Baldur von Schirach was sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, he was convicted of crimes against humanity for his actions as of Vienna, not for his leadership of the Hitler Youth, because
Artur Axmann
Artur Axmann (18 February 1913 – 24 October 1996) was the German Nazi national leader (''Reichsjugendführer'') of the Hitler Youth (''Hitlerjugend'') from 1940 to 1945, when the war ended. He was the last living Nazi with a rank equivalent t ...
had been serving as the functioning leader of the Hitler Youth from 1940 onward. Axmann only received a 39-month prison sentence in May 1949, but he was not found guilty of war crimes. Later, in 1958, a
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
court fined Axman 35,000
mark
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* F ...
s (approximately
£3,000, or US$8,300), about half the value of his property in Berlin. The court found him guilty of indoctrinating German youth with National Socialism until the end of the war, but concluded that he was not guilty of war crimes.
German children born in the 1920s and 1930s became adults during the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
years. Since membership was compulsory after 1936, it was neither surprising nor uncommon that many senior leaders of both
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
and
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
had been members of the Hitler Youth. Little effort was made to
blacklist
Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...
political figures who had been members, since many had little choice in the matter. These German post-war leaders were nonetheless once part of an important institutional element of Nazi Germany. Historian Gerhard Rempel opined that Nazi Germany itself was impossible to conceive without the Hitler Youth, as their members constituted the "social, political, and military resiliency of the Third Reich" and were part of "the incubator that maintained the political system by replenishing the ranks of the dominant party and preventing the growth of mass opposition." Rempel also reports that a large percentage of the boys who served in the HJ slowly came to the realization that "they had worked and slaved for a criminal cause", which they carried for a lifetime. Some of them recalled a "loss of freedom" and claimed that their time in the HJ "had robbed them of a normal childhood." Historian Michael Kater relates how many who once served in the HJ were silent until older age when they became grandparents. While they were eventually able to look back at their place in "a dictatorship which oppressed, maimed, and killed millions", he maintains that an honest appraisal should lead them to conclude that their past contributions to the regime had "damaged their own souls."
Once Nazi Germany was defeated by the Allied Powers, the Hitler Youth—like all NSDAP organisations—was officially abolished by the Allied Control Council on 10 October 1945 and later banned by the German Criminal Code.
Ranks and uniforms
![Hitlerjugend Stahlhelm decals](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Hitlerjugend_Stahlhelm_decals.svg)
(Reich Youth Leader) was the highest rank of the Hitler Youth and was held by the Nazi Party official in command of the entire organization. The rank of was only held by two people during its existence, first by Baldur von Schirach and later by Artur Axmann.
Members' summer uniform consisted of black shorts and a tan shirt with pockets, worn with a rolled black
neckerchief
A neckerchief (from ''neck'' (n.) + ''kerchief''), sometimes called a necker, kerchief or scarf, is a type of neckwear associated with those working or living outdoors, including farm labourers, cowboys and sailors. It is most commonly still see ...
secured with a
woggle
A woggle (or ''neckerchief slide'') is a device to fasten the neckerchief, or scarf, worn as part of the Scout or Girl Guides uniform, originated by a Scout in the 1920s.
Name origin
One story relating to the origin of the word 'woggle' is ...
, usually tucked under the collar. Headgear originally consisted of a
beret
A beret ( or ; ; eu, txapela, ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre.
Mass production of berets began in 19th century France and Spain, and the beret rema ...
, but this was discarded by the HJ in 1934. One flag/symbol used by the HJ was the same as the DJ, a white ''
Sowilo''
rune
Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised ...
on a black background, which symbolised "victory". Another flag used was a red–white–red striped flag with a black swastika in the middle, inside a white shaped diamond. Full members would also receive a knife upon enrolment, with the motto "Blood and Honour" engraved upon it.
Troop colours:
* (): Area and staffs
* (): GeneralHJ
* (): Flyer-HJ ()
* (): Motor HJ ()
* (): Communications-HJ ()
* (): HJ-agriculture service ()
* ():
** NSDAP educational institutions
** HJ-Patrol service (1943): ()
* Navy-HJ ()
* Mounted-HJ: ()
* HJ-mountain walk groups ()
* HJ-fire brigade units: ()
* HJ-field surgeon: ()
* BDM-health service girl ()
* Mountain-HJ: ()
See also
*
National Socialist German Students' League
The National Socialist German Students' Union (German: ''Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund'', abbreviated NSDStB) was founded in 1926 as a division of the Nazi Party with the mission of integrating University-level education and aca ...
*
National Socialist Schoolchildren's League
The National Socialist Schoolchildren's League (Nationalsozialistischer Schülerbund), known under the acronyms NSS and more rarely NSSB, was a Nazi Party organisation for primary school pupils providing a student council and child protection syst ...
*
Hitler Youth Badge
*
Vorwärts! Vorwärts!
Nazi songs are songs and marches created by the Nazi Party. In modern Germany, the public singing or performing of songs exclusively associated with the Nazi Party is now illegal.
Background
There is often confusion between songs written specifica ...
– Anthem of Hitler Youth
*
Opera Nazionale Balilla – Italian Fascist youth movement
*
Great Japan Youth Party
The , later known as the , was a nationalist youth organization in the Empire of Japan modeled after Nazi Germany's Hitler Youth.Sims. Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation, 1868-2000, pp. 21/ref> It was active from 1937 until ...
– Japanese Fascist youth movement
*
Nationale Jeugdstorm – Dutch Fascist youth movement
* ''
Jojo Rabbit
''Jojo Rabbit'' is a 2019 comedy-drama film written and directed by Taika Waititi, adapted from Christine Leunens's 2008 book ''Caging Skies''. Roman Griffin Davis portrays the title character, Johannes "Jojo" Betzler, a ten-year-old Hitler ...
'' – satire film about Hitler Youth
References
Informational notes
Citations
Bibliography
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External links
''Neville Chamberlain writes to the Hitler Youth''on archive.org
{{Authority control
1922 establishments in Germany
1945 disestablishments in Germany
Nazi Party organizations
Youth organizations established in 1922
Organizations disestablished in 1945
Youth in Germany
Articles containing video clips
Youth wings of fascist parties
German Youth Movement