Youth in nazi germany

Youth in nazi germany

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  YOUTH IN NAZIGERMANY
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  CHANGE IN THESCHOOL SYSTEM  Education played a very important part in Nazi Germany in trying to cultivate a loyal following for Hitler and the Nazis. The Nazis were aware that education would create loyal Nazis by the time they reached adulthood. All teachers had to swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler and teach in accordance with Nazi ideas and values. All Jewish teachers were dismissed, as were teachers who refused to support the Nazi Party‟s ideals.  Subjects underwent a major change in schools. History was based on the glory of Germany - a nationalistic approach was compulsory. Biology became a study of the different races to 'prove' that the Nazi belief in racial superiority was a sound belief. "Racial Instruction" started as the age of 6. Hitler himself decreed that "no boy or girl should leave school without complete knowledge of the necessity and meaning of blood purity." Geography taught pupils about the need for Germany to have living space - lebensraum. Science had a military-slant to it. PE became a very important part of the curriculum.  Girls had a different curriculum in some regards as they studied domestic science and eugenics - both of which were to prepare young girls to be the prefect mother and wife.
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  YOUTH ORGANISATIONS  TheHitler Youth catered for 10 to 18 year olds. There were separate organisations for boys and girls. The task of the boys section was to prepare the boys for military service. For girls, the organisation prepared them for motherhood.  Boys aged 6 years joined the Little Fellows. They did mainly outdoor activities such as hiking and rambling .Boys aged 10 - 13 years joined the German Young People / Jungvolk. They did sporting activities which had a more military emphasis . They also learnt about Nazi views on racial purity and anti-semitism (hatred of Jews). Boys aged 14 - 18 years joined the Hitler Youth where they were prepared to be soldiers.  Girls aged 10 years joined the Young Maidens and those aged 14 joined the League of German Maidens where they were taught good health practices as well as how to become good mothers and housewives
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  THE NAZI CULTOF MOTHERHOOD  In order to increase the master race and to fit in with Nazi philosophy, women had a specific role. Discouraged from the workplace, their job was to be mothers, organise the home and produce children for the master race. Their role was referred to as the „Three Ks‟: Kinder, Kirche, Kuche (children, church, cooking).  Many social programs were implemented by Hitler to encourage the growth of a strong German Nazi Volk. One such program was to advocate the virtues of motherhood. Cash incentives were paid for each child born. On the 16th of December 1938 Hitler instituted a new award to honor German Nazi motherhood. The cross of Honor of the German Mother was created in three classes. The Bronze 3rd Class Mother's Nazi Cross was awarded to bearers of 4 children, the Silver 2nd Class Mother's Nazi Cross to bearers of 6 and the Gold 1st Class Mother's Nazi Cross to bearers of 8 or more children.
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   Hitler establisheda Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda headed by Joseph Goebbels. The Ministry's aim was to ensure that the Nazi message was successfully communicated through art, music, theater, films, books, press etc. To ensure that everybody thought in the correct manner, Goebbels set up the Reich Chamber of Commerce. To produce anything that was in these groups, you had to be a member of the Reich Chamber. As a result of this policy, Nazi Germany introduced a system of censorship.  Books that did not match the Nazi ideal was burnt in public . The Nazis also controlled film production. Films released to the public concentrated on certain issues : the Jews; the greatness of Hitler and the way of life for a true Nazi.  Special terms were created by Nazis as euphemisms to hide acts of terror. For example, in the language of the Nazis,Sonderbehandlung (“special treatment”) meant execution, and the term Endlösung (“final solution”) referred to the systematic extermination and mass murder of the Jewish people. THE NAZI ART OF PROPAGANDA German children read an anti-Jewish propaganda book titled DER GIFTPILZ ( "The Poisonous Mushroom").
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  THE HOLOCAUST ANDITS IMPACT ON THE JEWS  The Holocaust is the name given to the murder of millions of Jews by the Nazis. During the Holocaust, concentration camps, such as at Auschwitz-Birkenau and Sobibor , were built to ensure that the mass murders were carried out.  In 1945, when Anglo-American and Soviet troops entered the concentration camps, they discovered piles of corpses and bones —testimony to Nazi mass murder. Soldiers also found thousands of survivors suffering from starvation and disease. After liberation, many Jewish survivors feared to return to their former homes because of the antisemitism that persisted in parts of Europe. With few possibilities for emigration, tens of thousands of homeless Holocaust survivors migrated westward to other European territories liberated by the western Allies where they were housed in hundreds of refugee centers and displaced persons (DP) camps .