The Hitler Youth: Origins and Development 1922-1945

by Hannsjoachim Wolfgang Koch

H. W. Koch, himself a former Hitler Youth brings a unique sensitivity and perspective to the history of one of the most fascinating vehicles for Nazi thought and propaganda. He traces the Hitler Youth movement from its antecedents in nineteenth-century German romanticism and pre-1914 youth culture, through the World War I radicaliztion of German youth, to its ultimate exploitation by the Nazi party.

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction

380 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Hanns Joachim Wolfgang Koch is a historian. He was a news editor for Radio Free Europe from 1952 until 1956 News editor at Radio Free Europe. 1961-1965. He earned his doctorate at Keele University in 1965. Since 1970 he has taught at the University of York.

Reviews

[Steven Godin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating stuff — and one of the most detailed books on any subject I've read.

[Katherine Addison · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a nutshell, this book is about the way in which Hitler and the NSDAP exploited--and betrayed--the energy and idealism of German youth for their own benefit. Koch was himself a Hitler Youth--and a survivor of the Volkssturm--and his occasional, bitterly sarcastic, personal comments are some of the book's most enlightening moments on the thoughts and experience of the boys themselves. (I wish he had brought himself to talk a little more about his own experience, but that wasn't the book he was writing, and I respect that.) He shows very clearly how National Socialism, both vehemently anti-intellectual and lacking an ideology that was even coherent, much less capable of standing up to debate, substituted physical activity for thought. Although Koch never says so explicitly, it's clear that Führer-worship (which Kershaw showed to be endemic and pervasive in German culture under the Third Reich) made up the deficit. And although Koch argues that the Nazis' ideological programming of the Hitler Youth was less than successful, he does not omit the evidence that children absorbed the "correct" attitudes towards, for instance, Jews and Poles. And toward the necessity of fighting to the last "man."

I also wish that the BDM (Bund Deutscher Mädchen) and the experience of girls were not as clearly an afterthought to Koch's book as he admits they were to the Nazi regime. More reasons to try to find the (very few) books written about women in the Third Reich.

And I shall end with a Nazi word problem, as cited by Koch:

"A mentally-handicapped person costs the public 4 Reichsmark per day, a cripple 5.50 Reichsmark and a convicted criminal 3 Reichsmark. Cautious estimates state that within the boundaries of the German Reich 300,000 persons are being cared for in public mental institutions. How many marriage loans at 1,000 Reichsmark per couple could annually be financed from the funds allocated to institutions?"(A. Dorner, ed., Mathematik im Dienst der nationalpolitischen Erziehung, Frankfurt 1936, qtd in Koch 174)

[Bryn Grover · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good history of the Hitler Youth and included some post-war repercussions and follow up with youth groups and social causes. I well remember living in West Germany while groups like the Baader-Meinhoff gang, Red Army Faction, and others were doing their thing. It includes some interesting pictures and it does touch on some alternative/anti-Hitler youth groups and their unsuccessful organizations including the capture and beheading of the Scholls White Rose kids who were caught distributing leaflets. Perhaps the most interesting aspect for me was the reaction of the former HJ folks as young adults when talks of re-arming West Germany began. They'd had enough. Worth a read if you're into WW2 history and want to get a look at the education and training of what would have been the future leaders of the Third Reich had it survived longer.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say that this book was not the most enjoyable to read from a stylistic standpoint.  That said, it certainly had a variety of worthwhile and interesting information and is quite relevant in discussing the problems of radicalizing boy scouts organizations and the way that totalitarian regimes (including leftist ones) seek to gain control of efforts to propagandize and motivate young people.  This book is a dry academic tome written by a German academic (and translated into a very stilted sort of English) for an academic audience, one that does not demand sensational conclusions but is willing to be impressed by the author's obvious study of various archival information about the people who were trying to lead Hitler's Youth from its founding, largely in order to improve their own positions in the Nazi hierarchy and use the Hitler Youth as a way of feeding ideologically radicalized men into the SS and German Army.  There are definitely some poignant aspects to this book as well when one reflects upon the young boys who were sent to fight on behalf of Germany when the inevitable end came and the men of Germany had been ground up in warfare on the Eastern front.

This book is over 250 pages long and is divided into various topical chapters about the Hitler Youth and its activities and especially the leadership squabbles involved in its operation from its start in 1922 to the end of World War II.  The author begins with illustrations and a preface that notes the fragmentary state of archival information about the Hitler Youth.  After that the author discusses the traditions of youth movements devoted to political causes in German history (1) as well as the beginnings of the Hitler Youth in postwar Germany (2).  This leads to a discussion of the reformation (3) and birth of the Hitler Youth (4) as an adjunct to efforts by the SS and Nazi party to govern Germany.  There is then a discussion of dominance (5) of the organization by Nazi elites as well as the ideology that these leaders sought to inculcate in children (6).  There is a discussion of the literature (7) and education (8) efforts that were not very well organized as well as some discussion of the role of middle class elites (9) in youth leadership and the thorny problem of dissent (10) towards Nazi ideology from within the Hitler Youth.  Finally, the author provides a discussion of what happened during World War II (11) and its aftermath (12) for the Hitler Youth, before a glossary and abbreviations, diagrams, reference notes and sources, bibliography, newspapers and periodicals, and index close the volume.

Although this book is very serious in its tone, there are definitely some moments of humor as well, such as when the author comments upon the way that youth leaders could sometimes be fifty year old men dressed comically and pretending to be young, something one sees when it comes to youth movements on the part of the left in the United States and other Western countries.  I would have appreciated this book a lot more if it had sought to convey what it meant to be a member of the Hitler Youth as well as a look at the motivation of the children themselves in joining the organization, as there are a great many people who after the war claimed to do so in order to gain more food rations.  That said, this is still an interesting book that has insights into the way that Youth brigades work in a highly politicized environment.  As we live in very politicized times, there is certainly some worth in hearing about this sort of matter and understanding how it is that we can better understand the ways that children are viewed by dictators and would-be dictators and not appreciated on their own terms.

[Christopher · Rating 1 out of 5]

It took me 40 minutes to read 7 pages and on multiple occasions I almost fell asleep. The book jumped from topic to topic and it is extremely hard to follow. I am contemplating on wether I should continue reading the book or not.

[Matthew Eyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once Hitler grasped just how useful an army in waiting of supremely fit, ideologically charged teenagers would be, he turned up regularly to receive the boys unconditional adulation And then from the retreat from Moscow onwards, how they died in their thousands for him. The gaps left in civilian jobs by this meant the next tranche of Hitler Youth working for nothing. Slowly they realised he had sold them an empty dream And of course, in his final bunker cowering days, who did AH blame? Why the German people themselves. Somehow, to use a modern phrase they had not wanted it enough Perhaps an organisation based on bullying, within a country lead by Bullies was never likely to succeed...

[gloria ★ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very informative look into how Germany's youth were impacted by Nazi indoctrination and how some of them died for their cause.

[Donald Schopflocher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed discussion of the Hitler Youth, much more comprehensive than Susan Bartoletti’s Hitler Youth, though without the first person perspectives of the youth themselves.

[Reinhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insider's look ate the Hitler Youth. A great book to get insight into how the Nazi thought and how they administered programs. The book covers the prior history of youth movements in Germany. The Nazi's didn't invent Youth Groups for the purpose of indoctrination, but they maximized their use.

The Hitler Youth began as a party movement and ended as a mandatory national program. Through the years there was conflict with other departments, as is common throughout the Third Reich. The Nazi's idealized struggle above all else and it even shows up in administrative governance. It is easy to think of Nazi Germany as a top down pyramid with Hitler at the pinnacle, but that only tells part of the story. This books supports the theory that Hitler was viewed more as a deity than a dictator. He made pronouncement from on high that absolutely must be adhered to, but where he was silent, a struggle was let loos until it became necessary to make a ruling. Senior Nazis spent most of the energy trying to out 'work towards the Fuhrer." Obedience was not the objective. Compliance was not the standard. The expectation was total loyalty.

The book also capture the ideology in a hands on way. The emphasis on training the body and dismissal of intellectual pursuits. The ideal of racial purity through struggle drenches all aspects of the Hitler Youth. The tactical approaches used are also discussed in this work. The Literature, the Education, the selection of elites and leadership. The HJ (Hitler Youth) is a microcosm of the Third Reich.

Recommend this book if you already have an outline of the history of the period to hang these details on. Sometimes the books gets a little lost in detail. Often quotes are strung tougher with minimal exposition. The writing is not lucid, but function. It reads very much like a translation.

[Benemint · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't too helpful for my project.