Sometimes officials tried to calm down the raging youth with prohibitive measures. Thus, in January 1930, the city mayor of Hannover and former Minister of War Gustav Noske (Social Democrat) forbade schoolchildren from joining the Hitler Youth. His example was followed in other lands of the country. However, it was impossible to cope with the Hitler Youth with such measures. The Nazis used the reputation of people's fighters persecuted by the authorities to promote propaganda and attract new members to the youth organization. The brown activists who were punished presented themselves as “victims” who suffered for the truth. As soon as the authorities banned any Hitler Youth cell, it was revived under a different name, for example, “Friends of Nature” or “Young People’s Philatelists.” Fantasy knew no bounds. In Kiel, for example, a group of butcher shop apprentices marched through the streets in their blood-stained aprons when the authorities banned the wearing of the Hitler Youth uniform. “The enemies trembled at the appearance of this group. They knew that everyone had a huge knife under their apron,” recalled one of the eyewitnesses
The Hitler Youth took part in the election campaign everywhere. They distributed leaflets and brochures, pasted up posters and wrote slogans on the walls. Many parents were worried about the health of their children, since their participation in campaign work on the street was unsafe. From 1931 to the end of January 1933, more than 20 members of the Hitler Youth were killed in clashes while performing “official duty in the name of the Fuhrer” (it should be noted here that young men from pro-communist youth associations also died).
Members of the Hitler Youth. 1933
The name of the Hitler Youth from Berlin, who fell at the hands of the “red youth” in the Moabit area, quickly became known - Herbert Norkus. At one time, his widowed father, as a result of the economic crisis, was forced to sell a small grocery store. Soon he joined the NSDAP. On the morning of January 24, 1932, fifteen-year-old Herbert and his comrades were handing out leaflets to passersby. They were attacked by a group of the same teenagers from a communist organization. Members of the Hitler Youth began to run, but the pursuers caught up with Norkus and stabbed him several times. The young man died from loss of blood. The killers fled.
The Nazis turned the funeral ceremony at the Plötzensee cemetery into a propaganda event. Pastor Wenzl, who served at the funeral, said in his farewell speech that “Herbert Norkus is an example for all German youth.” The then Nazi Gauleiter of Berlin, Joseph Goebbels, called on those gathered for vengeance:
“No one will take away from us the hope that the day of revenge will come. And then those who talk about humanity and love for one’s neighbor, but killed our comrade without trial, will know the strength of the new Germany. Then they will beg for mercy. It’s too late. The new Germany demands redemption."
Funeral of a Hitler Youth member
During the NSDAP congresses, Hitler Youth Day was held. During this day, party rallies were held at Frankenstadion, which is located on the territory of the NSDAP congresses.
Ernst Röhm walks around the ranks of Hitler Youth during a parade in Dortmund 07/08/1933
The leadership of the Hitler Youth tried by any means to attract young people. Solemn processions, propaganda marches and parades, war games, sports competitions, hiking trips, youth rallies, and international meetings with members of fascist youth associations in Italy and other countries were organized. Living together made the Hitler Youth very attractive to young people. Regular pilgrimages were held to Braunau am Inn, Hitler's birthplace. Any young man could find something interesting for himself in the activities of the Hitler Youth: art or folk crafts, aircraft modeling, journalism, music, sports, etc.
Members of the Hitler Youth learn to navigate the terrain. 1936
In addition to paramilitary actions, evenings were organized on Sundays, where small groups of the Hitler Youth gathered to develop plans for further actions and listen to propaganda radio broadcasts. On the other hand, the young man, who was not a member of the Hitler Youth, seemed to separate himself from his comrades who were.
A poster promoting joining the Hitler Youth (the inscription at the bottom is “All ten-year-olds are in the Hitler Youth”, at the top is “Youth Serve the Fuhrer”)
Participation in the Hitler Youth began at the age of 10. Every year on March 15th, every boy who had reached the age of ten was required to register at the Imperial Youth Headquarters. After a thorough examination of the child and his family, with special attention paid to his "racial purity", he was considered "free from shame." To be accepted, it was necessary to pass the so-called "Boy Test" and a medical examination. This was followed by a solemn ceremony of admission to the younger age group - Jungfolk.
Member of the Hitler Youth. 09.1934
The ceremony was held on the Fuhrer's birthday (April 20), in the presence of high party leadership. The transition to the next age group also took place with solemnity and pomp.
In the Hitler Youth, the most important attention was paid to such topics as racial theory, population policy, German history and political regional studies. In the foreground were the “Mastering Race” and policy towards the Jews, in history - the biography of Hitler, the history of the NSDAP, political regional studies, and the greatest attention was paid to the countries of fascism.
Hitler Youth Member ID
Emblem of the Hitler Youth organization
Flag of the Hitler Youth
But much more important than mental education was physical education. Competitions were the basis of sports development. Since 1935, Reich sports competitions began to be held annually. Competitions were held in athletics, hand-to-hand combat and team sports.
1936 Hitler Youth football team
Since 1937, shooting from firearms was introduced.
Eleven-year-old members of the Hitler Youth practice rifle shooting
Every hour of the Hitler Youth was busy to the limit, and the youth barely had time for their families. Most parents did not object to this routine.
Member of the Hitler Youth with a drum. 1936
A Hitler Youth accordionist performs in front of an audience
Member of the Hitler Youth on probation in the Kriegsmarine
On December 1, 1936, with the adoption of the Hitler Youth Law (Gesetz über die Hitler-Jugend), and then on March 25, 1939, with the adoption of the Youth Service (Jugenddienstpflicht), previously formally voluntary participation in the movement became mandatory. With the assumption of office by the head of the organization, Baldur von Schirach, the Hitler Youth became part of the NSDAP.
Application for joining the Hitler Youth 1938
Robert Ley, Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach and Propaganda Ministry Secretary Karl Hanke inspect a Hitler Youth detachment
Robert Ley, Franz Xavier Schwarz and Baldur von Schirach test the knowledge of student members of the Hitler Youth
After Baldur von Schirach, this post was taken by A. Axman. The organization was dissolved after the defeat of the Third Reich.
Hitler Youth rally 02/13/1939 at the Berlin Sports Palace. From right to left: Leader of the national women's organization Gertrud Scholz-Klink, Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler, Rudolf Hess, youth leader and Gauleiter of Vienna Baldur von Schirach, regional leader of the Hitler Youth Arthur Axmann, Colonel Rudolf von Alvensleben, Himmler's adjutant.
Hitler, giving a speech in Reichenberg (a city in the Czech Sudetenland annexed to Germany, now Liberec) at the beginning of 1938, spoke as follows about the fate of German youth:
These young people - they learn nothing other than to think in German, act in German. And when these boys and girls come to our organizations at the age of ten and often only there receive and feel fresh air for the first time, after four years they end up from the Jungvolk in the Hitler Youth, where we leave them for another four years, and then we send them to other hands of old parents and school teachers, but we are immediately accepted into the party or the Workers' Front, into the SA or SS, into the NSKK, etc. And if they stay there for one and a half or two years and do not become complete National Socialists, then they will be drafted into “Labor service” and will be polished for six to seven months with the help of some symbol - a German shovel. And what remains in six or seven months of class consciousness or class arrogance will be taken over by the Wehrmacht in the next two years. And when they return in two, or three, or four years, we will immediately take them into the SA, SS, etc., so that they will under no circumstances return to their old ways. And they will never be free again - for the rest of their lives.
Hitler Youth. 1938
Hitler Youth camp in the mountains 08/22/1938.
Miscellaneous
The organization was dissolved after the defeat of the Third Reich.
A Hitler Youth delegation visited Japan in August-September 1938
The Hitler Youth delegation arrived in Yokohama on the passenger ship Gneisenau on August 16, 1938. As they arrived, they shouted “Dai Nippon banzai” (大日本万歳! Long live Great Japan!)
Crowds of Japanese greet the Hitler Youth delegation at a train station in Tokyo
A delegation of the Hitler Youth marches along one of the streets of Tokyo
Japanese girls greet the Germans
Gala dinner at the German Embassy on the first day of the Hitler Youth delegation's stay in Japan, August 16, 1938
Members of the Hitler Youth meet with Japanese leaders on September 5, 1938
The Hitler Youth delegation at Edo Castle during a symbolic meeting ceremony with Emperor Hirohito
A Hitler Youth delegation visiting Meiji Shrine in September 1938
A Shinto priest leading a Hitler Youth delegation visits Yasukuni
Group photo of members of the Hitler Youth delegation and Japanese officers during a visit to Japan
Japanese women in the Hitler Youth
Fragments of events with the participation of the German delegation
Commemorative badges
Frau Lampshaded by Ilse Koch. In 1937, at the Buchenwald concentration camp, Ilse became notorious for her cruelty towards prisoners. The prisoners said that she often walked around the camp, dispensing lashes to everyone she met in striped clothes. Sometimes Ilse took a hungry, ferocious shepherd dog with her and set it on pregnant women or exhausted prisoners; she was delighted with the horror experienced by the prisoners. It is not surprising that behind her back they called her the bitch of Buchenwald.
Frau Koch was inventive and constantly came up with new tortures, for example, she regularly sent prisoners to be torn to pieces by two Himalayan bears in a regular zoo. But this lady's true passion was tattoos. She ordered the male prisoners to undress and examined their bodies. She wasn't interested in those who didn't have tattoos, but if she saw an exotic pattern on someone's body, her eyes lit up, because it meant that there was another victim in front of her. Ilse was later nicknamed Frau Lampshaded. She used the tanned skins of murdered men to create a variety of household utensils, of which she was extremely proud. She found the skin of gypsies and Russian prisoners of war with tattoos on the chest and back most suitable for crafts. This made it possible to make things very decorative. Ilsa especially liked lampshades.
One of the prisoners, the Jew Albert Grenovsky, who was forced to work in the Buchenwald pathology laboratory, said after the war that prisoners selected by Ilse with a tattoo were taken to the dispensary. There they were killed using lethal injections. There was only one reliable way to avoid being lampshaded by the bitch - disfigure your skin or die in a gas chamber. To some, this seemed like a good thing. Bodies of artistic value were taken to the pathology laboratory, where they were treated with alcohol and carefully skinned. Then it was dried, lubricated with vegetable oil and packaged in special bags. Meanwhile, Ilse improved her skills. She began to create gloves, tablecloths and even openwork underwear from human skin. I saw the tattoo that adorned Ilse’s panties on the back of one of the gypsies from my block,” said Albert Grenovsky.
Apparently, the savage entertainment of Ilse Koch became fashionable among her colleagues in other concentration camps, which multiplied in the Nazi empire like mushrooms after rain. It was her pleasure to correspond with the wives of other camp commandants and give them detailed instructions on how to turn human skin into exotic book bindings, lampshades, gloves or tablecloths.
The topic of prostitution in Germany during World War II has always been taboo; only in the 90s did German publications begin to cover this layer of history. This is hard to believe, because as soon as they came to power, the National Socialists began by adding a paragraph to the Criminal Code, according to which disturbing a citizen with a depraved proposal could land him behind bars. In Hamburg alone, about one and a half thousand women accused of prostitution were detained in six months. They were caught on the streets, sent to camps and subjected to forced sterilization. Those women who sold their bodies, combining prostitution with government assignments, were somewhat more fortunate. We are talking here primarily about the notorious “Kitty Salon”, glorified in the painting of the same name by Tinto Brass. (19 photos)
1. In the 19th century in Germany, the creation of brothels was encouraged to avoid numerous diseases. Men, accustomed to the availability of the female body, did not deny themselves their habits and did not consider it immoral to pick up a prostitute. The tradition continued under Nazism, therefore, in connection with numerous cases of rape, homosexuality and diseases of soldiers, on September 9, 1939, Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick issued a decree on the creation of brothels in the occupied territories.
To account for front-line brothels and prostitutes, the military department created a special ministry. The cheerful Frau were considered civil servants, had a decent salary, insurance, and enjoyed benefits. The fruits of the propaganda work of Goebbels’s department cannot be discounted: the German man in the street, who had a son or brother during the war, treated the Wehrmacht with reverence, and even among the prostitutes, along with professionals, there were, as they say, many who went to serve front-line soldiers from patriotic motives.
2. The highest quality service was expected in the hospitals of the Luftwaffe, Goering’s favorite brainchild, where it was envisaged that there would be one full-time Frau for every 20 pilots or 50 technicians from the ground support staff. According to strictly followed rules of conduct, a prostitute met the pilot in clothes, with neat makeup; Immaculately clean underwear, like bedding, had to be changed for each “iron falcon”.
4. It is curious that soldiers of the satellite armies were denied access to German sex establishments. The Reich fed them, armed them, equipped them, but sharing their frau with the Italians, Hungarians, Slovaks, Spaniards, Bulgarians, etc. was considered too much. Only the Hungarians were able to organize for themselves a semblance of field brothels, the rest managed as best they could. The German soldier had a legal limit of visits to the brothel - five to six times a month. In addition, the commander could personally issue a coupon to the person who distinguished himself as an incentive or, on the contrary, punish him with deprivation for misconduct.
6. An hour was allotted for the visit, during which the client had to register a coupon, where the girl’s name, surname and registration number were entered (the soldier was instructed to keep the coupon for 2 months - for every fireman), receive hygiene products (a bar of soap, a towel and three condoms) , wash (according to the regulations, you had to wash twice), and only after that was allowed to the body.
Barter flourished in the units: womanizers exchanged coupons from those who loved food more than sex for marmalade, schnapps, and cigarettes. Some daredevils resorted to tricks and, using other people's coupons, made their way into the sergeants' brothels, where the girls were better, and some even penetrated into the officers' brothels, risking ten days if caught.
8. Having capitulated on June 22, 1940, France provided its numerous brothels to the German occupiers. And in the second half of July, two orders arrived to suppress street prostitution and create brothels for the Wehrmacht.
The Nazis confiscated the brothels they liked, recruited management and staff, adhering to the criteria of Aryan racial purity. Officers were prohibited from visiting these establishments; special hotels were created for them. Thus, the Wehrmacht command wanted to stop sodomy and the spread of venereal diseases in the army; increase the soldier's motivation and resilience; stop intimate relationships on the side, for fear of espionage and the birth of defectives; and saturate it with sex to stop the sex crimes that are shaking the ranks of the army.
9. Only foreigners worked in these brothels - mostly Polish and French. At the end of 1944, the number of civilians exceeded 7.5 million. Among them were also our compatriots. For pennies, raising the economy of warring Germany, living in closed settlements, they had the opportunity to shop with a coupon in a brothel, which was encouraged by the employer.
11. To visit the brothel, the prisoner had to make an application and buy the so-called Sprungkarte worth 2 Reichsmarks. For comparison, a pack of 20 cigarettes in the canteen cost 3 Reichsmarks. Jews were prohibited from visiting the brothel. Weak after a day of work, the prisoners did not willingly go to the brothels provided to them by Himmler. Some for moral reasons, others for material ones, a brothel voucher could be profitably exchanged for food.
September 13, 2013, 11:30Racial theory in Nazi Germany included the cult of a biologically healthy female body, the cult of childbirth and the multiplication of the nation. Thus, the very meaning of communication between a man and a woman was deprived of all romance, giving way to physiological expediency. There is an opinion that the “Aryan” standard of beauty is boring, monotonous and joyless - a muscular blond with a fixed lower jaw and a “snow queen” devoid of any piquancy.
National socialist propaganda used interest in the chastely naked human body to demonstrate the Aryan ideal of beauty and to educate a physically developed person. Marriage itself was not considered an end in itself; it served the highest task - the increase and preservation of the German nation. The personal lives of two people had to be consciously placed in the service of the state.
Antique, with its ideal perfection of forms, was chosen as the standard of beauty. The sculptors of the Third Reich - Joseph Thorach and Arno Brecker - strategically embodied the image of a superman in their monuments. Superhumans were simply obliged to resemble ancient gods and goddesses.
Stills from Olympia.
Sepp Hilz. Country Venus
E. Liebermann. By the water. 1941
In a perfect body, the visual arts of National Socialism embodied the idea of “blood” (nation). “Blood” in the ideology of National Socialism was directly connected with “soil” (earth). In this case, we were talking about the symbiosis of people and land, as well as their material and mystical connection. In general, the idea of “blood and soil” was addressed to pagan symbols of fertility, strength and harmony, expressing nature itself in human beauty.
National Socialist art attached great importance to the theme of family, women and motherhood. In the Third Reich, this value triad merged into a single whole, where a woman was exclusively the continuer of the family, the bearer of family virtues and the keeper of the home.
As Hitler said: “German women want to be wives and mothers, they do not want to be comrades, as the Reds call for. Women have no desire to work in factories, in bureaus, in parliament. A good home, a beloved husband and happy children are closer to her heart.”
National Socialist fine art formed the image of a German woman exclusively as a mother and keeper of the family hearth, depicting her with children, in the circle of her family, busy with housework.
The National Socialists did not recognize any equality of women in public life - they were assigned only the traditional roles of mother and friend. "Their place is in the kitchen and bedroom." After coming to power, the Nazis began to view women's desire for professional, political or academic careers as unnatural. Already in the spring of 1933, the systematic liberation of the state apparatus from the women employed in it began. Not only female employees of institutions were fired, but also married female doctors, because the Nazis declared caring for the health of the nation such a responsible task that it could not be entrusted to a woman. In 1936, married women who worked as judges or lawyers were released from office, since their husbands could support them. The number of female teachers sharply decreased, and in women's schools, home economics and handicrafts became the main academic subjects. Already in 1934, there were only 1,500 female students left at German universities.
The regime pursued a more differentiated policy towards women employed in production and the service sector. The Nazis did not touch either the 4 million women who worked as “domestic helpers” or the large group of saleswomen whose working hours were not fully paid. On the contrary, these occupations were declared “typically feminine.” The work of girls was encouraged in every possible way. From January 1939, labor service became mandatory for all unmarried women under 25 years of age. They were mainly sent to the village or as servants to mothers with many children.
L. Shmutzler "Village girls returning from the fields"
Gender relations in the Hitlerite state were influenced by numerous public organizations. Some of them included women together with men, others were created specifically for women, girls and girls.
The most widespread and influential among them were the Union of German Girls (BDM), the Imperial Women's Youth Labor Service (Women's RAD) and the National Socialist Women's Organization (NSF). They covered a significant part of the female population of Germany: more than 3 million girls and young women were members of the BDM at the same time, 1 million young German women went through labor camps, the NSF had 6 million participants.
In accordance with the National Socialist ideology, the League of German Girls set as its task the education of strong and courageous women who would become comrades to the political soldiers of the Reich (raised in the Hitler Youth) and, having become wives and mothers, organizing their family life in accordance with the National Socialist worldview, will raise a proud and seasoned generation. The exemplary German woman complements the German man. Their unity means the racial revival of the people. The Union of German Girls instilled racial consciousness: a real German girl should be the guardian of the purity of blood and the people and raise his sons as heroes. Since 1936, all girls of the German Reich were required to be members of the Union of German Girls. The only exceptions were girls of Jewish origin and other “non-Aryans”.
The standard uniform of the Union of German Girls is a dark blue skirt, white blouse and black tie with a leather clip. Girls were prohibited from wearing high heels and silk stockings. Rings and wristwatches were allowed as jewelry.
The worldview, norms of behavior and lifestyle acquired in Nazi organizations influenced the way of thinking and actions of many representatives of the older generation of modern Germany for a long time.
When girls turned 17, they could also be accepted into the organization "Faith and Beauty" ("Glaube und Schöncheit"), where they remained upon reaching the age of 21. Here girls were taught housekeeping and prepared for motherhood and childcare. But the most memorable event with the participation of "Glaube und Schöncheit" was the sports round dances - girls in identical white short dresses, barefoot, entered the stadium and performed simple but well-coordinated dance movements. The women of the Reich were required to be not only strong, but also feminine.
The Nazis promoted the image of a “real German woman” and a “real German girl” who does not smoke, does not wear makeup, wears white blouses and long skirts, and wears her hair in braids or in a modest bun.
Also, the authorities, in accordance with the “Blood and Soil” principle, tried to introduce “tracht” into the quality of festive clothing - that is, a dress in the national style based on the Bavarian dress.
V. Wilrich. Daughter of a Bavarian peasant. 1938
Such stylized “national clothes” were worn by participants in the grandiose theatrical celebrations that the Nazis loved to organize in stadiums.
Sports and group games occupied a special place. If for boys the emphasis was on strength and endurance, then gymnastic exercises for girls were designed to develop grace, harmony and sense of body in them. Sports exercises were selected taking into account female anatomy and the future role of women.
The Union of German Girls organized camping trips, on which the girls went with full backpacks. At rest stops they lit fires, cooked food and sang songs. Night observations of the full moon with an overnight stay in a haystack were a success.
The image of the Hollywood “vamp”, which was popular in Weimar Germany, was particularly attacked by Nazi propaganda: “War paint is more appropriate for primitive black tribes, but in no case for a German woman or a German girl.” Instead, the image of “natural German female beauty” was promoted. However, it should be noted that these requirements did not apply to German actresses and movie stars.
Portrait of a woman from Tyrol
They perceived the image of the emancipated Berliner of the 20s as a threat to public morality, male dominance in society, and even the future of the Aryan race.
Even before the war, in many public places there were posters “German women do not smoke,” smoking was prohibited in all party premises and in air-raid shelters, and Hitler planned to ban smoking altogether after the victory. At the beginning of 1941, the Reich Association of Hairdressing Establishments adopted a directive that limited the length of women's hairstyles to 10 cm. So hairdressers did not do hairstyles with longer hair and could even shorten hair that was too long if it was not tied up in a modest bun or braided in a braids.
Christmas cover of one of the women's magazines. December 1938
The German press strongly emphasized that the outstanding successes of the magnificent actress and director Leni Riefenstahl or the famous athlete-aviator Hannah Reich are directly related to their deep belief in the ideals of National Socialism. The former actress Emma Goering and the mother of six Magda Goebbels, whose elegant toilets clearly showed German women that a true National Socialist had no need to dress in the modest uniform of the League of German Girls, were also declared role models.
Hannah Reich
Leni Riefenstahl
Magda Goebbels
Emma Goering
German women generally calmly accepted the policies being pursued towards them. The improved well-being of the population also contributed to the loyalty of German women to the new regime. This was also facilitated by the favorable demographic policy of the ruling party in support of the family. The Nazi regime was very interested in increasing the population. If a working woman got married and voluntarily left her job, she was given an interest-free loan of 600 marks. Since 1934, active promotion of the birth rate began: child and family benefits were introduced, medical care was provided to large families at preferential rates. Special schools were opened where pregnant women were prepared for future motherhood.
In any case, Germany became the only large European country in which the birth rate was constantly increasing. If in 1934 just over 1 million babies were born, then in 1939 there were already about 1.5 million children.
In 1938, the order “Mother's Cross” was established - in bronze, silver and gold. The inscription on the back of the cross read: “The child ennobles the mother.” According to the plan of the Ministry of Propaganda, women were to occupy the same place of honor among the people as front-line soldiers. Three degrees of honorary title were established - 3rd degree for 4 children, 2nd for children (silver), 1st for 8 children (gold).
Paradoxically, this anti-feminist regime contributed greatly to improving the real situation of women. It is therefore not surprising that the vast majority of women in Germany adored their Fuhrer. They were largely impressed by A. Rosenberg’s statement that “a woman’s duty is to support the lyrical aspect of life.”