Nazi Youth Policies and Education Assessment

1.

The Nazis wanted t0 control the young people because the young people were the future of Germany. Hitler, as stated in source 31, said he could make a new world with the children by controlling them and making them support the Nazis. If the children all supported the Nazis and followed them, they'd do the same thing to the next generation that the current Nazis were doing to them: raise them as Nazis, carrying on the Nazi legacy. Also, children were much easier to convince of something than adults were, so the Nazis targeted children's minds so that they will guarantee future support.

The means by which the Nazis established this control were to start early and consistently brainwash the children with Nazi ideals. The curriculum consisted entirely of Nazi concepts and ideals, and all subjects had a Nazi message behind it. For example, source 29 shows a math problem that says the Jews are aliens, and asks the children to find the percentage of "aliens" in Germany. Also, the school taught children that they were special and superior to all other races, being Aryan. Essentially, every aspect of the German education system was based on teaching the children to believe in Nazi ideals and worship Hitler as their leader.

The appeals of the German youth included social events, fun, healthiness, and discipline. The youth groups included a lot of playing and exercise, so the children could have fun and they could become physically fit, which is what the Nazis wanted. Also, they would learn many skills such as camping and living life as a soldier. They were given some free time, which was still devoted to Hitler and the Nazis. The children got to enjoy themselves, become physically fit, and learn useful skills while the Nazis trained them to be "perfect" Germans.

2. However, not all children supported the Nazis. Their support varied at different times, but there was always opposition. Typically, the working class young people didn't support the Nazis, and neither did groups such as the "Swing" movement and the Edelweiss Pirates. The "Swing" movement wasn't an opponent of the Nazis, but they disagreed with the Nazi control of their lives. They were basically rebellious teenagers that enjoyed American and English music and clothes. However, the Edelweiss Pirates acted out more against the Hitler Youth, mocking and sometimes attacking them. They disagreed with the Hitler Youth and its beliefs, and made that clear. When the Hitler Youth grew much stricter and became focused on assisting the war efforts, its popularity decreased, and the popularity of its opposition increased. Clearly, the Hitler Youth didn't gain the support of all of the German youth.

Was Nazi Youth Policy Successful?

1.

Enthusiasm

Source 14.35- The children enjoyed the military life in camps without the danger, and they liked that it all came before traditional school and the parental home

Conformity for Career Reasons

Source 14.35- Children believed that they could find jobs through the persecution of Jews and Marxists.

Source 14.37- Those job openings that the children had expected were being filled by other people only because they were a few years older, and the children were being disappointed and not getting what they had hoped for

Conformity Through Fear

Source 14.36- Many students say that their parents support the Nazis, even when the opposite is true, out of fear that the Nazis will take their parents away.

Source 14.38- The sketch shows a child being taken at gunpoint by some soldiers. This, coming from a youth magazine, would strike fear into the children and make them afraid to oppose the Nazis in any way.

Conformity Through Apathy/Natural Obedience

Source 14.34- The children were brought up to naturally obey and support the Nazis, even though they didn't even know much about their political platform. The "fatherland" was used often to make the children feel they needed to support the Nazis in order to support their homeland.

Nonconformity/Disillusion

Source 14.36- Plenty of children still opposed Hitler and the Nazis, but didn't do so publicly out of fear. They grew tired with the activities of the Hitler Youth, and many stopped attending its events and paying its dues. Many youth violated the Nazi policies and in the working class youth there was a lot of criticism towards the Nazis.

Criticism/Opposition

Source 14.36- The working class youth often criticized the Nazis, and eagerly violated its rules. Many stopped attending Hitler Youth events and stopped paying its dues, as well.

Source 14.37- Children, who are losing their job opportunities to older people, are growing tired of the Nazis' broken promises, lack of freedom, and mindless drilling.

Source 14.39- There were many groups of children from ages 12 to 17 that had a hostile attitude towards the Nazis and the Hitler Youth. They stayed out late at night, and it was suspected that they were responsible for the anti-Nazi graffiti saying things like "Down with Hitler," "Down with Nazi brutality," etc.

2. The sources suggest that the reaction of the young people was, for the most part, positive at first. Many children enthusiastically got involved in the Hitler Youth for the enjoyment of the militaristic living and the potential for future job opportunities. However, as those jobs were denied them and given to older people, and as the Hitler Youth activities and military experience grew old, more and more young people lost support for the Nazi regime and began to turn their backs on it. Some children actively opposed the Nazis and spoke out against them through vandalism such as graffiti.

3. Since most of the sources come from either the German opposition or the police, the origins come from two opposite extremes, but not from a neutral point of view. The material would, of course, have an agenda either strongly supporting or strongly opposing the Nazi regime. Depending on the position of the source's origin, the positives or the negatives about the reaction of the German youth could be exaggerated. Those opposing the Nazis would stretch the truth to make the Nazis look worse, and those supporting them would do the same, but to make them look better. If there were more sources from neutral points of view that had no strong opinion in favor of either side, then those sources would be more reliable in understanding how the German youth reacted to the Nazi youth policy.

4. The Nazi youth policy was rather successful in gaining support from the German youth. It successfully brainwashed many children into supporting the Nazis and sharing its ideals, and it appealed to them through the promise of job opportunites and the excitement of a military life without the danger and without the emphasis on school. Although there was much opposition, it was mostly kept quiet out of fear, and whether or not the youth supported the Nazis, they were afraid to actively oppose them, and therefore the Nazis were successful in preventing the German youth from rising against them.

Nazi Education Policies

1. Identify three important changes made by the Nazis to the education system. Explain the purpose of each change.

A. More Rules and Regulations

The rules were based around making the children support Hitler and the Nazis by forcing them to while brainwashing them so they will on their own. Also, teachers practically had to support the Nazis or else risk losing their job, which meant they will more effectively teach the Nazi ways to the children.

B. Change the Curriculum
Nazi ideas were incorporated into all subjects to plant those ideas into the children's minds and strengthen their support for the Nazis. Also, physical education was stressed, and eventually took up at least 2 hours a day, so that the children will be physically fit and able to fight for Germany.

C. Move Away From Co-Educational Schools

Boys and girls were taught separately so that the girls would learn what traditional women need to know to be a housewife, which is what was in store for them. The boys were taught to be men and serve their country.

2. Give specific examples of how the Nazis tried in schools to develop the spirit of Volksgemeinschaft in the following seven goals:

Anti-intellectualism:
Women were taught only to be housewives and mothers

Children brainwashed to believe Nazi ideals through all subjects

Adolf Hitler Schools lacked many qualities of typical scho0ls

Anti-semitism:

Blamed the Jews for Germany's problems

Taught the children to distrust and profile the Jews

Taught the children that the Jews had always been out to bring Germany down and conspire against it

Indifference to the weak:

Physical education stressed in all schools
Source 14.22 on teaching of history- "the powerless and insignificant have no history"

Nationalism:

In teaching of history- Germany must always show greatness (source 14.22)

Militarism:
Curriculum based on military

Schools had a militaristic environment

Obedience and discipline:
NAPOLAs (National Political Institutes of Education)- military like boarding schools to give the students discipline and military experience

Adolf Hitler Schools- dominated by physical, political, and military training

Hitler Worship:

Comparing Hitler to Jesus

Students had to Hitler salute their teachers daily, and the teachers had to return it with a "Heil Hitler," which the students had to repeat.

3. What methods did the Nazis use to try to ensure schools were teaching correctly? (This is from Friday's in-class work.)

The Nazis ensured that schools were teaching correctly by monitoring them in various ways. First of all, it was almost obligatory for teachers to join the Nationalist Socialist Teachers' League (NSLB) and receive a month of Nazi training. Also, Nazis oversaw classes, and they could arrest the teacher on the spot if they felt it necessary.

4. Write out a statement that explains the main educational aims of the Nazi Education System. (Reference some of the sources.)

The main educational aims of the Nazi Education System was to teach their ways to the children, to teach them to love Hitler from an early age, and to prepare them to serve their country. The Nazis establish a cult of personality around Hitler in the schools by comparing him to Jesus, as in source 14.25. Also, the children are made to honor Hitler by greeting their teacher with Hitler's salute every day, and their teacher has to do the same, after which they all say "Heil Hitler," as stated in source 14.18. Nazi ideals were incorporated into the curriculum, like in source 14.21, which has a math problem that intends to portray that disabled people are a waste of money and space. It says that the money needed to build one insane asylum could build 400 homes, and that the money needed to care for all the disabled people for a day could pay 1,200 wedding loans. These ideas are planted in the children's minds so that they will think like the Nazis and want to build a "perfect" society. Also, militaristic ideals are taught to them so that they will have discipline and be prepared to serve their country in war. For example, source 14.26 shows how important infantry was to Germany's past, and that the "the history of the German people is the history of its infantry."

How did the Depression Help the Nazis?

1a. Source 37:
This source could be used to support either view; it could support that the people supported the Nazis because they were against the issue of unemployment, or it could support that people thought the Nazis were best fit to solve that problem and as it grew, so did their support.

1b. Source 38:

This source clearly supports Goebbels' position, because it was about someone gaining support for the Nazis by seeing the storm troopers' parade. That wasn't about a mutual fear or hatred with the Nazis, but about a positive quality the Nazis had.

1c. Source 39:

This source supports Craig's point of view, because it shows the Nazis opposition to the Treaty of Versailles. This was a dislike that probably all of Germany shared with the Nazis.

1d. Source 40:

This supports Goebbels' position because it shows the size of the Nazi rallies and how much support the Nazis had. It showed a positive trait of the Nazis.

1e. Source 41:

This supports Craig's argument, because it shows the evils of the Communist Party, who were the Nazis' enemies. The Communist Party was a mutual fear and hatred between the Nazis and many people.

1f. Source 43:
This source can easily support both arguments, because it shows both positives about the Nazis and negatives about its opponents. It shows the good things that the Nazi party is promising, while it shows that the other parties are bad and corrupt.

2.
A large part reason for the Nazis' gaining support was opposing the things that the German people also opposed.

• They opposed the Treaty of Versailles, which was the main cause of Germany's crisis apart from the Great Depression
• They attacked the violent Communist Party and its evils, as in source 41
• Also attacked the Weimar system and the democratic leaders for not getting anything done in improving the country
• They feared that traditional German values were in danger

Scale of 1-5 with 5 being you agree fully.
3a. Score: 4 Very few people fully supported the Nazis.
Explain your score:

Although the Nazis had gained a lot of support, that was only after the country fell into the Great Depression, and when the people realized that the system they had hoped for before wasn't working. The people supported the Nazis because they promised to solve the country's problems and they opposed many of the right things.

3b. Score: 5 The key factor was the economic depression. Without it, the Nazis would have remained a minority fringe party.
Explain your score:
The Great Depression is how the Nazis got people to support them, because it's what got people thinking that the democratic Weimar system wasn't working, and they needed a stronger force to take control and bring the country back to prosperity. The Nazis promised to provide this strong leadership and save Germany from its depression.

3c. Score: 2 The politicians of the Weimar Republic were mainly responsible for the rise of the Nazis.
Explain your score:

The politicians of the Weimar Republic were largely responsible for the rise of the Nazis because they were unable to support the country by democratic means, which made the people turn to a more radical solution and support the Nazis, and they also appointed Hitler as chancellor, thinking that would make him adapt their ideals. They were horribly wrong, of course, and once Hitler was chancellor, he was set to take power of Germany. However, many other factors were equally, or even more important than the Weimar Republic politicians. The Great Depression was used to the Nazis advantage to gain support, and Hitler had good leadership qualities. Plus, the Nazis promised to save the country, which is what the people wanted. Naturally, the Nazis' support grew as the people turned to a more radical solution when the democratic alternative failed.