HITLER'S YOUTH MOVEMENT

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 4954, 11 February 1937, Page 6

HITLER'S YOUTH MOVEMENT

PHYSICAL FITNESS DRIVE. POLITICAL AIMS. In view of the emphasis which is being laid on improvement of the national physique in Britain, an Englishman who has had good opportunities for studying the principles and development of the Nazi Youth Movement in Germany discusses its advantages and weaknesses in an article in a London journal. , In recent years the main care of the Nazi Government in the realm of physical culture has been concentrated on the Hitler Youth Movement; but in forming and perfecting that organisation the Fuhrer capitalised what in the early twenties of the century had already become a widespread aim among the German people, writes K. E. Priestley, in the “Daily Telegraph.”

Herr Hitler discerned the national interest in physical culture and made it serve his purpose as early as 1926. Thus the movement is no new development of Nazi propaganda dating merely from his accession its full development in the new law which enrols all the youth of the Reich within its membership. In 1926 Hitler had two aims. First and foremost he saw the political importance of capturing Germany’s youth. Secondly, he perceived that in so doing he might lead the German reaction against that over-emphasis on academics which had marred the German educational system. Hitler had indeed laid his finger upon a glaring problem. English public schools had long demonstrated that physical education was as important as mental, and many Germans felt that their school system could only gain by appropriating English ideas. But insistence on pure academics was a tyranny with a century of tradition behind it. It proved very difficult to disturb. German schools suffered from an intensely intellectualised atmosphere, and German students in both school and university were overburdened with State examinations. A Necessary Passport. These examinations were the necessary passport to any State employment, and standards were so extraordinarily high that a pass could only be ensured by intense cramming. In 1926 the German system of education was succeeding mainly in producing wrecked minds in wrecked bodies, whilst their possessors must perforce wait until the age of perhaps thirty before they became “fast angestellt”—before, that, they attained the typical German ambition of permanent employment in the service of the State. Hitler’s second aim, therefore, to introduce a healthy physical element into German education was a sound one, though his ideas were by no means unique. He was not without rivals in the field. There were perhaps two dozen youth organisations in Germany in 1926 of varying importance but presenting formidable competition in the aggregate. After the foundation of the Nazi Youth organisation Hitler’s movement immediately entered upon its second stage, the dispatching of all rivals.

This period lasted until the renowned “Machtubernahame” of 1933. The development of the Youth organisation during these years is closely connected with the name of von Schirach. He fostered the new growth so successfully that by 1930 the Hitler Youth was important enough to be banned by the German Government.

One incident of this period furnishes an excellent illustration of the audacity of the Nazi leaders. In spite of the Government ban, von Schirach was determined to display his Youth organisation to the world. With only £lO in his pocket and no financial backing from the then hard-pressed party, he actually succeeded in staging a demonstration of some 2000 members of the Youth organisation in Berlin. Non-Aryans Excepted. After 1933 various Youth organisations were quickly disbanded or suppressed in favour of the Hitler Youth. The strongest resistance was encountered in the movements that had grown up under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church and the Jews, but these, too, have been suppressed in very recent times. There is to-day in Germany but a single •Youth organisation. There is no room for Boy Scouts or other similar organisations of an international character. Hitler’s two original aims are still the guiding light, and the Youth movement has taken a grip on the lives of the young far tighter than Hitler can have anticipated. All persons between the ages of ten and eighteen, both boys and girls, are eligible for membership unless prevented by non-Aryan descent, or by being the offspring of parents who have fallen into disfavour with

the party. For children under the age of ten there is a special organisation similar to that of “Cubs” in relation to Boy Scouts. At the other end, at the age of 18, the German youth naturally graduates to the position of Storm Trooper.

Hitler has enabled /a real demand of the German people to find expression. The average German sees no great fault in the Youth Movement. But it is not without certain welldefined shortcomings. It falls short of English ideals most markedly in the way in which it confuses physical culture with politics. There is more than a hint of danger that its original purpose may be obscured by political needs and that the movement will degenerate into a mere forcing-house of Nazism. The English Viewpoint. To an Englishman the movement represents a conflict, and even a perversion, of ideals. It might have been brilliantly successful as a means for securing improved physique if that had been its only aim. Already it is said to possess nearly 8,000,000 members. Developed by the Nazi genius for organisation, it might have achieved for the youth of a whole nation their ambition to keep fit. It cannot be denied that real opportunities are furnished by it for open-air activities. Twice each month a member of the Hitler Youth attends a rally which involves camp life lasting over a week-end. Every Saturday afternoon sports are organised in which all take part. But whereas the ultimate object of this open-air life might be expected to be a development of individual initiative and self-reliance, the importation of the political element negatives all the ideals which appeal to an Englishman.

The State is in complete control and its final ambition is not to develop independence of mind, but to convert the youth to Nazism. One evening each week, generally Wednesday, the German Youth is expected to attend an indoor gathering at which discussions take place, and sometimes lectures are given. The lectures, however, are not so frequent as might be supposed. The Nazi Party is too clever to waste overmuch time in throwing its ideas so directly at its young members. The political training given by the Hitler Youth Movement is administered by more indirect methods. Insensibly the youth develops Nazi notions and becomes obsessed with his importance as <a unit in the nation’s life. He is not so much instructed in Nazi ideas; rather he assimilates them.

The Youth Movement may become a huge machine for suppressing those very virtues which a health organisation ought to foster. The real effect may be to stereotype Germany’s youth in orde rto realise political ends.

“Voluntary” Membership. The German Government till recently proudly claimed that membership was voluntary. In point of face, compulsion did exist, though not of an official kind, before the new law was passed. Social compulsion was always a stringent force. Parents could scarcely afford to neglect the Hitler Youth as an avenue to success in life for their children. Membership was only voluntary in the same way as subscriptions to the Winter Help Fund are “freiwillig” for the grown-ups. A

man who does not take a full share in the life of the Nazi Party is placed socially and financially in a dubious position. A child who never became a member of the Hitler Youth would miss the first rung in the ladder of life in modern Germany. The question of the relations of the sexes under the movement is one that causes much comment. The movement claims to bring youths and girls together in natural and healthy conditions. They attend the weekly meetings together, and have similar sports. The German girl is encouraged to follow the same pursuits as the boys. Apart from being allowed an evening costume as a luxury, her framing is strictly Spartan. She learns that her duty will be to produce healthy children for the State. Not much importance should be attached to isolated reports of instances of misconduct; evidence is difficult to obtain. But a pure atmosphere is the very first essential in bringing boys and girls into close relationship with each other; and the introduction of politics into the movement is not unlikely to endanger this preliminary requisite. In some directions, however, the young German woman has been the gainer. She has certainly turned her back on artificiality and learnt to despise lip-stick and make-up. The Hitler Youth Organisation exemplifies both the achievements and the defects of the Third Reich. Hitler has given the nation what it demanded; German youth has been given greater opportunity for openair life. But the gift is made in return for the individual’s subservience to the Government.