Youth under Nazi Germany

Youth Under Nazi Germany

Why did the Nazis target youth?

Hitler took great trouble to make sure that young people were loyal to him and to the Nazi party.

Why? Because they were the future of his Nazi policies. He wanted young people to believe in the superiority of the Aryan (the Master race). He wanted young men to value discipline, sacrifice and obedience. He needed all young people to see him as a father figure and to show him unquestioned loyalty. The young were targeted because they were easily influenced.

What methods did the Nazis adopt in schools and youth movements?

In schools, they:

• Rewrote text books to paint a good picture of the Nazis.
• The teaching of school subjects changed to indoctrinate pupils. Every subject concentrated on putting across Nazi ideas. For example, biology lessons were devoted to studying the differences between the races, explaining the greatness of the Aryan race. History was distorted to celebrate great German victories and all disasters were blamed on the Communists and the Jews.
• PE and boxing was prominent because physical strength would be important in the army
• Girls learnt about motherhood.
• Teachers were vetted. They had to belong to the German Teachers League and were made to put…