Children of the Hitler era

Author: (German) Gudrun Knopp
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: "They will no longer have freedom for the rest of their lives," the sinister and terrifying threat issued by Hitler in 1938 became the fate of millions of German men and women. This dictator laid out specific plans for "his youth" to achieve "integration": at age 10, join the Hitler Youth League; at 14, join the Hitler Youth; then join the Nazi Party, followed by youth labor service and military conscription. During the war, this generation of young men made futile sacrifices, while young women contributed on the front lines in field hospitals or at home. This book is a comprehensive introduction to the Hitler Youth movement and other youth organizations used by the Nazi Third Reich to instill Nazi ideology in German young people. The Third Reich firmly controlled a generation of German youth through these organizations, subjecting them to spiritual oppression and exploitation. Even today, some former members of Nazi youth organizations cannot forget the disgraceful roles they played during those dark times. Hitler's design to unify Germany brought the entire German society under Nazi rule. Young people of that era were subjected to comprehensive state control from childhood and were indoctrinated with the idea of joining the Nazi Party to defend the homeland. Millions of German young people were misled by Hitler's theories of expanding living space and racism and joined the Nazi Youth League, while a small number of young people who resisted Nazi rule were expelled from Germany and suffered various forms of persecution. The unconditional surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945, shattered the illusions of many young people about Nazism overnight. The author of this book wrote it based on interviews with nearly 1,000 former members of the Hitler Youth, capturing their descriptions of the terrible and painful past. This book is a century-themed novel of German history, telling the story of "the future of the nation" standing on a truck or riding on the special train of the former state railway—only those selected were allowed to walk.