A thirteen year old boy manned a machine gun against advancing Allied tanks on the Rhineland frontier, while his mates passed the ammunition. An execution squad composed of 14-16 year olds shot Polish civilian hostages. A monument was erected to a boy still living, commemorating the fact that he denounced his father loyally to the Fuehrer, (the father was executed for treason). Herbert Norkus, the Hitler Youth martyr, is the Horst Wessel of most of Germany’s young today. Seven years of Nazi indoctrination, at a most susceptible age, in the Hitler Youth has done its work. The Hitler Youth is not a Boy Scout or Girl Guide organization. It is in no respect comparable to any organization for young people known to the Western World. It is a compulsory Nazi formation, which has consciously sought to breed hate, treachery and cruelty into the mind and soul of every German child. It is, in the true sense of the word, education for death. Under no circumstances should the Hitler Youth be taken lightly or be considered a negligible factor from an operational or occupation point of view.
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Some 12 to 14 million youths are organized into the four branches of the Hitler Youth : (a) Hitler Youth proper (boys from 14 to 18), (b) German Young Folk (Boys 10 to 14), (c) League of German Girls (girls from 14 to 18), (d) Young Girls (girls fr0m 10 to 14).
A rough estimate on the, basis of overall figures available would place between 3.000.000 and 30500.000 into each branch. Of this number, 30.000 serve as fully-paid, full-time leaders.
Approximately 1.000 male and 1.000 female Banne
The emphasis of the following Basic Handbook and appended Order of Battle tables is on the 14-18 year old male group, the Hitler Youth proper, the primary potential source of disaffection and the primary source of replacements for the Wehrmacht.
The above figures not only indicate the vast scope of the Hitler Youth in German life today, but demonstrate the role which it plays in Germany’s actual and potential military strength.
Both the SS and the Wehrmacht have long since appreciate this. From mere liaison with the Hitler Youth, their relationship with the HJ (Hitlerjugend) has passed through the stage of supervision and has finally resulted in complete domination. The Hitler Youth has become a Wehrmacht replacement pool, a manpower reservoir for auxiliary war services, and a means of strengthening the increasingly pernicious hold on the German people of the most ruthless of all Nazi organizations, the SS.
A few courageous young Germans, risking their lives in order to salvage their minds, spirits and perhaps their country, have sought to escape from the tentacles of the Hitler Youth, and some underground cells composed of such young people are known to exist.
But it must not be forgotten that every young German has been schooled by Nazi teachers, and that this “Junior Army” is ready to take the field either individually, in small groups, on a larger, more organized scale, or as saboteurs, informers and even franc-tireurs in defense of Nazism, its fanatical creed.
Part 1 : Historical Background & Development
1. Die Jugendbewegung, the German Youth Movement.
The growth and success of the HJ organizations cannot be properly appreciated without some reference to the earlier history of the Deutsche Jugendbewegung, German Youth Movement. Since the end of the last century, the latter gave young people an opportunity to express themselves and to carry on various activities in organizations of their own. Young people of both sexes joined Jugendgemeinschaften, Youth Communities, and formed groups of Wandervögel, Young Hikers, which had no political programs, but were animated by youth’s determination to express itself unfettered by the older generation.
Their activities included hiking, camping and evening meetings for lectures and discussions; much emphasis was placed on the rediscovering and singing of old German folk songs. The Meissner Formula, a proclamation made by a Youth Rally in 1913, shaped a general policy of “Inner Freedom”, a reaction against the complacency and restrictions of German middle-class life, its prejudices and bourgeois mind.
After the First World War the youth movement developed at an accelerated pace and reached its peak in the twenties when many new groups sprang up, and the Bündische Jugend, League of Youth, partly took the place of the original Jugendbewegung. At this point many political parties, among them the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, NSDAP, National Socialist Workers’ Party, began to form their own youth organizations, and it is estimated that in the late 1920s four million German boys and girls belonged to the young people’s sections of various political and non-political factions, some 80.000 being members of the original Bündische Jugend, League of Youth. The Nazis were regarded as outsiders by virtually all, other youth formations.
2. Beginnings of the Hitlerjugend
On March 8th, 1922, Hitler, in his own newspaper, the Völkische Beobachter, announced : the establishment of the Jugendbund der NSDAP, Youth League of the Nazi Party, later known as the Jungsturm Adolf Hitler, Youth Shock Troop Adolf Hitler. Other youth groups with National Socialist tendencies also existed, but were not directly affiliated to Hitler’s Jungenbund. Thus the Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterjugend, Nazi Workers Youth, operated in the Rhein and Ruhr regions. In May 1925 the Wandersportverein Vogtland, Hiking Club Vogtland, in Plauen, Saxony, merged with the Munchen Jugendbund in Munich, Bavaria, under the new name of Hitler-Jugend, a term coined by the notorious anti-semite Julius Streichek, the Nazi chieftain of Franconia. This new Nazi organization, culminating in the HJ of today was under the leadership of Kurt Gruber, of the Plauen group.
3. Expansion of HJ into a State Organization
Although the HJ had borrowed much of its technique and some of its symbols from the old Jugendbewegung, from the very first it added a nationalistic and decidedly militaristic note. In 1925 it became a junior branch of the Sturmabteilung SA, Stormtroopers, and directly subordinate to the SA High Command. The movement, in true Nazi fashion was opposed to school, church and home and attracted many youngsters.
In 1928 600 boys gathered at the first national Hitlerjugend Rally at Bad Steben. At the Nuremberg Party Rally of the following year 2.500 boys were present. In 1929 the NS Schülerbund, Nazi Secondary School Boys League, was recognized as an official affiliate of the Hitler Youth Organization. By 1930 the HJ had 900 Ortsgruppen, local groups, in Germany and the DG, Deutsches Jungfolk, German Young Folk, for boys aged 10 to 14 and BDM Bund Deutscher Mädel, League of German Girls, were founded as branches of the HJ.
In 1931 the total membership had expanded to 15.000. Despite the fact that the HJ was temporarily banned by the Republican Government its ranks continued to swell under the leadership of Baldur von Schirach and by 1932 its numbers had risen to 250.000. In the same year, the HJ was separated from the SA, mainly to free it from the ban imposed on the Stormtroopers.
When Hitler took over full Governmental power in 1933, many more boys and girls joined, and all other youth organizations were rapidly prohibited and disbanded, their members being subsequently urged to join the HJ. Considerable opposition was encountered at first from the Catholic and Left Wing Youth Movements, but these. organizations, too, were partly crushed and partly absorbed in ruthless fashion. After the first year of the Nazi regime, the HJ, including its branches, DJ, JM, and BDM, membered two million. One year later this figure had actually doubled, and by the 1st of October 1934, when the HJ was declared Staatsjugend, Government-sponsored Youth Organization, the total amounted to six million of which one and a half million belonged to the HJ proper, the others to its branches.
4. Riechsjugenddienstspflicht, Compulsory Youth Service
The Decree of December 1, 1936, providing for Reichsjugenddiesntpflicht, Compulsory Youth Service, not legalized the existence of the HJ, but also completely destroyed all the remaining youth organizations in Germany. The decree contained three major points :
- (a) All German Youth shall join the HJ
- (b) The mission of the HJ is to train all German Youth physically, mentally and morally for national service in the spirit of National Socialism. School and home are subordinated to the interests of the
State - (c) The Reichsjugendführer, Reich Youth Leader, is entrusted with all phases of the education of German youth and is responsible only to the Führer.
Every child being compelled to serve in the HJ, the Party gained an enormous influence over the youth of the country and an assured supply of recruits for its own ranks. By voluntary application the highest age group may apply for transfer into any NSDAP Gliederungen (formations) e.g. the SA, SS, or NSKK. Only the select are accepted for the NSDAP (Nazi Party proper) itself. An attempt to maintain a Stamn-HJ, Original HJ, as a superimposed structure, including only members of long standing or those who had proved themselves ardent Nazis, resulted in much confusion and had to be abandoned.
Part 2
Organization
Main branches of the Hitler-Jugend
The Hitler Jugend is organized into four main branches :
- (a) Hitler Jugend (HJ) for boys aged 14 to 18
- (b) Deutsches Jungvolk (DJ) or German Young Folk, for boys aged 10 to 14 who subsequently transfer to the HJ proper
- (c) Bundes Deutscher Mädel (BDM) or League of German Girls, for girls aged 14-18
- (d) Jungmädel (JM) or Young Girls, for girls aged 10 to 14 who subsequently transfer to the BDM proper
The terms HJ and BDM are used very loosely, and require a special note. Strictly speaking HJ refers to (a) above, and BDM to (c) above. In practice, however, HJ is widely used to cover both (a) and (b), and BDM to cover both (c) and (d). Further, the term HJ is used in a third sense, to indicate the whole Youth Movement. For convenience all these meanings have been used in this handbook, as the sense should invariably be clear from the context. Organization of the four branches runs along parallel lines.
The program of the DJ consists of preparatory training for the HJ. Although special training in Sondereinheiten, Specialist Units, is officially limited to members of the HJ proper, specialist units such as Flieger-DJ, Aviation, and Nachrichten-DJ, Signals, have recently been reported in the HJ.
The task of the BDM and JM is the education of girls for companionship, honour and faith. They are to be made conscious of their duty as German girls to become good housewives and to have as many children as possible. A sub-section, Glaube und Schönnheit, Faith and Beauty, organizes women volunteers between the ages of 18 and 21 who aspire to careers in the girls and womens organizations of the Nazi Party and its affiliates, e.g. the NSF, National Socialist Party Women’s Branch, and the NSV, National Socialist Welfare Organization.
6. Die Reichsjugendführung, Reich Youth Directorate
The Reichsjugendführung-RJF, Reich Youth Directorate controls the policy as well as the administration of the whole HJ. It is headed by a Reichsjugendführer, Reich Youth Leader, assisted by an Adjutant and a Stabsführer, Chief of Staff. The Reichsreferentin (BDM) controls the BDM, Bund Deutscher Mädel of German Girls) and the JM Jüngmädel Young Girls, and she is responsible directly to the Reichsjugendführer.
The RJF is divided into five special executive branches :
- Zentralamt
- Auslands und Volkstumsamt
- Kinderlandverschickung
- Kriegsbetreuungsdienst
- AH Schulen
and into six six Hauptämter, Departments. The bureau of the Hauptämter are known as Ärmter, and their sections and sub-sections, as Hauptabteilungen and Abteilungen respectively. All Reichsschulen, National Schools, are controlled by the RJF.
Note : Used in connection with the RJF, the abbreviation HA indicates Hauptamt, Department, in the Gebietsführung it stands for the Hauptabteilung, Executive Section.
7. HJ Gebiete, HJ Regions
The HJ inside Greater Gemany is organized into 43 Gebiete, Regions. With the exception of the Gebiet Sudetenland and the Gebiet Befehlsstelle Böhmen und Möhren, each such region corresponds to a Gau, District of the Nazi Party proper. Each Gebiet is headed by the Gebietsführer, Regional Leader, deputy is his Stabsleiter, Chief of Staff. The Gebietsführer, Regional HQ, is organized into Hauptabteilungen, Executive Sections, abbreviated to HA, and special semi-independent offices. The functions of Hauptabteilung, in general correspond to those of the Hauptämter, Departments, of the RJF :
- HA I – Personnel
- HA II – Pre-military Training and Sports
- HA III – Ideological Training and Cultural Activities
- HA IV – Social Services
- HA V – Buildings and Homes
- HA VI – Legal Matters
Hauptabteilungen are split up into Abteilungen, Sub-sections. The Gebietsführer may appoint a subordinate to perform tasks which are normally the function of a HA or its sub section. Such specially appointed officials are termed, for example :
- Gebietsbeauftrager, Regional Plenipotentiary, fur KLV, Kinderlandsverschickung, Evacuation of Children, or
- Gebietsmusikreferent, Regional Director of Musik, or
- Gebietsarzt, Regional Director, of Medicine).
A Gebietsinspektor may be a general inspector of the HJ within the region, or he be a specialist, e.g. Inspector of Flying, Signals or Camps in charge of specialist units.
Each Gebiet administers and maintains schools and camps. Two or more Gebeitsführerschulen Regional Officer’s School, provide training for the many executive posts required by the Organization. Some Gebiete conduct Special schools, such as music or medical schools or provide other specialist’s courses.
Although the Armed Forces have actually taken over the operation of the Wehrertüchtigungslager, Pre-military Training Camps, the Gebietsführung concerned still administers them. All youth hostels, nominally under the Deutsche Jugendherbergen DJH, or Geman Youth Hostels, an organization carried over from the Republic, are actually under HJ administration and supervision.
Hitlerjugend Gebiete, Befehlsstellen, NSDAP Gau
- (1) – Ostpreussen (formerly Ostland)
(25) – Ostpreussen, Königsberg, Preussen - (2) – Mark Brandenburg
(16) – Mark Brandenburg, Frankfurth a. n. d. Oder - (3) – Berlin
(3) – Berlin, Berlin, C.2 - (4) – Niederschlesien
(21) – Niederschlesien, Breslau I - (5) – Pommern
(26) – Pommern, Stettin II - (6) – Nordmark
(29) – Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel - (7) – Nordsee
(37) – Weser-Ems, Oldenburg a. n. d. Oder - (8) – Niedersachsen
(33) – Süd Hannover-Braunschweig, Hannover - (9) – Westfalen-Nord
(38) – Westfalen-Nord, Münster, Westfalia - (10) – Ruhr-Niederrhein
(6) – Essen, Mülheim, Ruhr - (11) – Köln-Aachen
(11) – Köln-Aachen, Köln - (12) – Moselland (formerly Westmark)
(18) – Moselland, Köblenz, Rhein - (13) – Hessen-Nassau
(10) – Hessen-Nassau, Wiesbaden - (14) – Kurhessen
(13) – Kurhessen, Kassel - (15) – Mittelland
(8) – Halle-Merseburg, Halle, S. - (16) – Sachsen
(27) – Sachsen, Dresden, A.24 - (17) – Thüringen
(34) – Thüringen, Weimar - (18) – Franken
(7) – Franken, Nürnberg - (19) – Hochland
(19) – München-Oberbayern, München - (20) – Württemberg
(42) – Württemberg-Hohenzollern, Stuttgart W. - (21) – Baden
(1) – Baden, Strassburg - (22) – Bayreuth (formerly Bayrische Ostmark)
(2) – Bayreuth, Bayreuth - (23) – Mittelelbe
(14) – Magdeburg-Anhalt, Magdeburg - (24) – Meckenburg
(17) – Mecklenburg, Schwerin - (25) – Westmark (formerly Saarpfalz)
(40) – Westmark, Neustadt a. n. d. Weinstrasse - (26) – Hamburg
(9) – Hamburg, Hamburg I - (27) – Wien
(41) – Wien, Wien VIII/65 - (28) – Niederdonau
(20) – Niederdonau, Wien XIII/89 - (29) – Oberdonau
(22) – Oberdonau, Linz, (Donau) - (30) – Steiermark
(31) – Steiermark, Graz - (31) – Kärnten
(11) – Kärnten, Klagenfurt - (32) – Salzburg (formerly Ostmark)
(28) – Salzburg, Salzburg - (33) – Tirol-Vorarlberg
(35) – Tirol-Vorarlberg, Innsbruck - (34) – Düsseldorf
(5) – Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf-Eller - (35) – Sudetenland
(32) – Sudetenland, Reichenberg-Oberro-Senthal - (36) – Schwaben
(30) – Schwaben, Augsburg - (37) – Danzig-Westpreussen
(4) – Danzig-Westpreussen, Danzig - (38) – Wartheland
(36) – Wartheland, Posen - (39) – Mainfranken
(15) – Mainfranken, Würtzburg - (40) – Oberschlesien
(23) – Oberschlesien, Kattowitz - (41) – Ost-Hannover
(24) – Ost-Hannover, Lüneburg - (42) – Westfalen-Süd
(42) – Westfallen-Süd, Bochum
Gebiet Befehlsstellen
- Befellsst. Böhmen u. Mähren, Prag XIX
- Befellsst. Belgien, Brussels
- Befellsst. Generalgouvernment, Krakau (Cracow)
- Befellsst. Niederlande, Den Haag
- Befellsst. Osten
- Befellsst. Ostland, Riga
Note : Only the Befehlsstelle, Territorial Command HQ, Böhmen und Mähren (Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia) has a legal status of a Gebiet such as those numbered from 1 to 42.
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