How did young people react to the Nazi regime?

Question 1

What were the aims of Nazi regime towards young people?

Answer 1

• Future soldiers
  (Boys for German army)
• Future mothers
  (Girls for mothers of Aryan race)
• Instilling Nazi ideas
  (loyalty for Nazis)
• Wanted young Germans forming part of the Volksgemeinschaft (national community)

Question 2

How did Nazism affect family life?

Answer 2

• Hitler Youth leaders taught members their first loyalty was to Hitler (not parents or family)
• Divisions in the family
• Nazi ideology was the norm for German youth, so couldn’t understand criticisms of Nazism made by parents’ generation

Question 3

How did Nazis use youth organisations to achieve their aims?

Answer 3

• Hitler Youth (1926)
• League of German Maidens (1930)
• In 1936, all other youth groups were banned
• In 1939, membership of a Nazi youth organisation became compulsory
• Membership looked exciting for boys (uniform, camping trips, singing and sports)

Question 4

How did Nazis use schools to achieve their aims?

Answer 4

• Schools used to indoctrinate young people
• Biology focused on racial theory & Aryan supremacy
• RS voluntary after 1937 (Hitler didn’t want Christian ideas contrasting Nazi ones)
• Geography taught about need for Lebensraum (living space) in the East and need to reclaim lost territory
• History taught about nationalism and antisemitism against “November Criminals” and the Treaty of Versailles
• Girls taught domestic studies and Eugenics

Question 5

What evidence of Nazi opposition was there from young people?

Answer 5

• By 1939, nearly 1 million young Germans still hadn’t joined a Nazi organisation
• Many rebelled against the Nazi discipline + rules and joined Edelweiss Pirates and the Swing movement

Question 6

What was the Hitler Youth like?

Answer 6

• Set up in 1926
• Boys joined 14-18
• Focused on military skills (marching, physical fitness, firing rifles)
• Aimed to produce future soldiers loyal to Hitler

Question 7

What was the League of German maidens like?

Answer 7

• Set up in 1930
• Focused on physical fitness for child-bearing purposes and domestic skills (cooking, cleaning, home management)
• Aimed to produce future child-bearers for the Reich