Children and war
World War II
Militarised youth organisations were a prominent feature of the 20th century. In Italy, there were the fascist Figli della Lupa (Children of the Wolf), Balilla and Vanguard, in Spain the Flechas (Arrows) of the Falange. However, the most notorious was the Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend).
It was founded in Germany in 1922, well before the Nazis came to power in 1933. By the outbreak of World War II six years later, virtually every German boy between the ages of 10 and 18 was a member, some 8.9 million in all. One of them was 14-year-old Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI.
If parents objected, they were told that their son was only on loan to them – he was actually the property of the German people.
‘Blood and honour’
The belt buckles worn by the Hitler Youth carried the stern motto ‘Blood and honour’ and their creed was one of pure Führer worship: ‘The Reich is the object of our struggle. It is the beginning and the amen.’ Their belief in group solidarity echoed that of the Spartans, of whom Adolf Hitler was a great admirer. One Hitler Youth maxim ran: ‘Anything that undermines our unity must go to the pyre.’
In addition to the inculcation of Nazi doctrine, the Hitler Youth placed great emphasis on military-style training. By 1938, when German re-armament was in full swing, each of the principal branches of the Hitler Youth paralleled the Third Reich’s armed forces. It was intended that all members of the organisation should feel as comfortable with guns in their hands as pens.
Something for the girls
Boys who showed particular promise became Hitler Youth leaders and candidates for the 31 political academies – 28 for boys and 3 for members of the Hitler Youth’s female equivalent, the League of German Girls (Bund Deutscher Mädel, or BDM). This ratio reflects the relative lack of interest the Reich had in girls, other than as brood mares to produce more members of the ‘master’ race.
However, it should be said that members of the BDM tended to be better educated than their non-BDM counterparts, and quite a few of them learned trades. The SS Women’s Corps – founded by Heinrich Himmler in 1942 and consisting of nurses, telephone and radio operators, secretaries and drivers – was populated by BDM graduates.
Death throes
The Hitler Youth leaders became part of the Nazi élite. In the later years of World War II, the rank and file played an important part in air raid precautions, protecting Germany’s cities from Allied bombers by serving in the fire service or rescue squads and manning anti-aircraft batteries.
They graduated naturally into the mainstream of Nazi activity, including the Waffen (armed) SS. The 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend gained a fearsome reputation, not least in Normandy in 1944, despite the fact that, in some battalions, over 65% of the soldiers were under the age of 18.
Less battle-hardened were the many teenage defenders of Berlin in April 1945 during the death throes of the Third Reich. Many of them fought in the Volkssturm (People’s Militia), the German equivalent of the Home Guard in Britain; some 5,000 died.
The Hitler Youth was disbanded by the Allies after the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Resistance
In contrast, many wartime teenagers risked their lives by joining the resistance movements against Nazism, which sprang up throughout occupied Europe.
Typical was 15-year-old Hortense Daman, a Belgian member of the BAP (Belgian Army of Partisans). She was recruited in 1942, joining her parents and brother who were already in the Resistance. Hortense worked as a courier – carrying, first, messages and then weapons concealed in her bicycle basket. In 1944, she was arrested, tortured and eventually sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, along with her mother. Both survived to be reunited with their family in June 1945.
