Hitler Youth

Also known as HJ

youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany

AI overview

The Hitler Youth was an organization run by Nazi Germany that enrolled young people and indoctrinated them with Nazi ideology and military training. It matters historically because it demonstrates how totalitarian regimes systematically used youth organizations to control children and prepare them for service to the state.

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Image: Bundesarchiv Bild 119-5592-14A, Gruppe von HJ-Jungen Recolored.jpg

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Article

The Hitler Youth (German: Hitlerjugend [ˈhɪtlɐˌjuːɡn̩t] , often abbreviated as HJ, [haːˈjɔt] ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name Hitler-Jugend, Bund deutscher Arbeiterjugend ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was the sole official boys' youth organisation in Germany (although the League of German Girls was a wing of it) and it was partially a paramilitary organisation. It was composed of the Hitler Youth proper for male youths aged 14 to 18, and the German Youngsters in the Hitler Youth (Deutsches Jungvolk in der Hitlerjugend or "DJ", also "DJV") for younger boys aged 10 to 13.

With the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945, the organisation de facto ceased to exist. On 10 October 1945, the Hitler Youth and its subordinate units were outlawed by the Allied Control Council along with other Nazi Party organisations. Under Section 86 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Hitler Youth is an "unconstitutional organisation" and the distribution or public use of its symbols, except for educational or research purposes, is illegal.