Peter Becker (Hitler Youth Member): We were indoctrinated in very subtle fashion, so that by the time that I was 15, I had become a Nazi without ever really being aware that I was one. That is, I didn't know how I'd become one. I knew that I was one. I had become convinced that Hitler was the savior of Germany.
Narrator: Beginning in the early 1930s, through the end of the war in 1945, Nazis in Germany started indoctrinating millions of children with Nazi ideas through groups like the Hitler Youth. The Hitler Youth was the Nazi-organized youth movement that was designed to shape the beliefs, actions, and thinking of young Germans, from ages 10 to 18. After Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, the Hitler Youth and other similar groups had an important role to play in the Nazis plan to reshape German society. The Nazis used youth groups to teach loyalty to Adolf Hitler, hatred of Jews, and to prepare young people for war. The groups were split into different sections — the boys’ group was called the Hitler Youth, and the girls’ group was called the League of German Girls. Jews were banned from joining these organizations. The Nazis used propaganda and social events to create a sense of community and belonging. Members swore oaths to Hitler on his birthday and marched in uniforms and sang songs. The Nazi Party viewed youth as the foundation of a new world and essential to the survival of German society. The Hitler Youth trained boys as future fighters and soldiers for the Nazi cause. They practiced military drills and learned to handle weapons. The League of German Girls prepared girls to be future wives and mothers. Girls learned skills like cooking and nursing. This regular exposure to Nazi ideology weakened the influence of parents, teachers, religious figures, and other voices of authority. Membership in the Hitler Youth increased from 30% of German youth ages 10-18 in 1933, to 65% in 1937, before it became mandatory in 1939. However, some youth refused to participate. Some German young people even formed youth resistance groups at the real risk of being arrested and imprisoned in concentration camps. The Nazi’s efforts to shape young people’s beliefs, actions, and lives, was so strong, that in the years after the war ended, young Germans were required to undergo training and education in democracy designed to counter the effects of twelve years of Nazi propaganda and indoctrination.
Peter Becker (Hitler Youth Member): It is painful to think about some of these things and then to recall them and to be aware of how frail civilization is and how human beings are capable of committing enormous atrocities.
