''Reichsjugendführer'' ("National Youth Leader") was the highest paramilitary rank of the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth ( , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. 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 th ...

. On 30 October 1931, Hitler appointed

Baldur von Schirach Baldur Benedikt von Schirach (; 9 May 1907 – 8 August 1974) was a German politician who was the leader of the Hitler Youth from 1931 to 1940. From 1940 to 1945, he was the '' Gauleiter'' (district leader) and '' Reichsstatthalter'' (Reich gov ...

as the Reich Youth Leader of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. In 1933, after the Nazi seizure of state power, all youth organizations in Germany were brought under Schirach's control and he was designated the ''Jugendführer des Deutschen Reiches'' on 17 June. When Schirach was named ''

Gauleiter A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party, rank in ...

'' of the ''

Reichsgau Vienna The Reichsgau Vienna (German: ''Reichsgau Wien'') was an administrative division of Nazi Germany based in Vienna, Austria. It existed between 1938 and 1945. Parts of Lower Austria were annexed to establish Greater Vienna, which then became the big ...

'' on 8 August 1940,

Artur Axmann Artur Axmann (18 February 1913 – 24 October 1996) was the Germans, 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 equi ...

succeeded him as ''Reichsjugendführer''. Axmann had served as Schirach's deputy since 1 May 1940.

List

Post-war

With the surrender of Nazi Germany, the Hitler Youth was disbanded by Allied authorities as part of the

denazification Denazification () 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 removing those who had been Nazi Par ...

process. Both Schirach and Axmann were condemned as war criminals by the leading Allied Powers after the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in Europe, in particular for the role the two played in corrupting the minds of children. Schirach was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Axmann received only a 39-month prison sentence in May 1949. Later, in 1958, a

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

court fined Axman 35,000

mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

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.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reichsjugendfuhrer Nazi paramilitary ranks Hitler Youth