How Did Young People React to the Nazi Regime? (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE History)

Education and Youth in Nazi Germany - Summary

Nazi Beliefs Towards the Young

• Hitler and the Nazis wanted to create a Third Reich that would last a thousand years

• Hitler was aware that adults in Nazi Germany had mixed opinions of the Nazi Party

  • Adults were more difficult to influence and change than the young

• Control of the youth and future generations would ensure that the Nazi Party would always have public support

• The Nazis had some key beliefs towards the young:

The Hitler Youth and the League of German Maidens

• The Nazis made several changes during the 1930s to boost the membership numbers of the Nazi youth groups:

• There were separate youth groups for boys and girls of different ages:

Types of Nazi Youth Groups

The Hitler Youth

• Baldur von Schirach was the Hitler Youth leader

• Boys aged 14 could join the Hitler Youth 

• At age 18, boys became members of the Nazi Party and worked or joined the armed forces

• Training was split into four distinct areas:

The League of German Maidens

• The Bund Deutscher Mädel or League of German Maidens (BDM) was the female equivalent of the Hitler Youth

• They shared some similarities with the Hitler Youth, but the emphasis was on training girls to be good wives and mothers:

• Activities focused on the ‘three Ks’

  • Kinder (Children)

  • Kirche (Church)

  • Küche (Cooking)

• In 1938, the Nais created a  sub-group of the BDM called the ‘Faith and Beauty Society.’ Its members were girls aged 17-21:

  • The Nazis were concerned that members of the BDM would forget their teachings when they left the group at the age of 18

  • The ‘Faith and Beauty Society’ served as a way for women to receive further education until they were old enough to join the National Socialist Women's League

The Impact of Youth Groups

• Although membership reached nine million by 1939, it did not mean that all members enjoyed being in a Nazi youth group:

Education in Nazi Germany

• Alongside attendance of one of the Nazi youth groups, children were still required to attend school for education

• Hitler knew that control of children’s education would allow him to create a generation of Nazis loyal to him 

• Bernhard Rust was made Education Minister in 1934 and made several changes to teachers and schools

Teachers 

• Those not loyal to the Nazi regime were sacked

  • Rust sacked over 180 teachers in Prussia

• They swore an oath of loyalty to Hitler and joined the Nazi Teachers’ League

  • Membership of the Nazi Party was also compulsory

• They attended political education courses outlining key Nazi ideas

  • Around 200,000 teachers had attended courses by 1939

• Teachers had responsibilities at school to:

  • Teach students the Nazi salute

  • Begin and end each lesson with ‘Heil Hitler’

  • Place posters, Nazi flags and a picture of Hitler in each classroom

Curriculum 

• Boys and girls were educated separately

• The Nazis took control of the curriculum so that they could influence children’s beliefs:

• After 1935, the Nazis had to approve all textbooks

  • All books contained pictures of Hitler

  • Mein Kampf became a compulsory text

  • Events like the First World War were reworded to blame Jewish people and the November Criminals

• Napolas were schools for the most ‘gifted’ and racially pure children:

  • SS members replaced the traditional teachers

  • The emphasis was on sport and physical training

  • Students went on to join the SS or police services

  • By 1939, there were 16 Napolas schools