Adolf Hitler's Propaganda On Youth

Germany’s darkest history all started with the rise of a new Furher named Adolf Hitler. He used his power to infuse insidious propaganda ideas into Germany’s Youth. He believed, as do all communist and socialist, that if you own the youth, you own the future. During Hitler’s rein, he infused his propaganda into the youth of Germany through games, school, movies, radio, songs, poems, and extracurricular activities. One way propaganda was infused into the youth was through games. Nazis filled children’s enthusiasm for both their war effort and genocide party by creating cheerful looking but dangerous board games. Nazi power derived from disturbing design. Manufactures applied symbols of anti- Semitism and death to all the toys, along with other
household furnishings, from Christmas ornaments to light bulbs. These games would have children compete to conquer allied lands. Some of these games would show Jews to be horrible creatures who were full of greed. Some of the boards were shaped as swastikas while others were games at which taught kids to die for their Furher. According to a Holocaust Museum director “The real evil is to make it seem normal.” That statement is terrifying but true. Germany’s Youth was constantly surrounded by propaganda. The main way propaganda was spread was through the school system. The children were indoctrinated from birth. Teachers were told to heavily emphasize the importance of “racial purity”. The Aryan race, the racial pure, were the most important. Special schools were set up to teach the Aryan race. All children were taught Eugenics, which is the teaching of superior race. A whole new Nazi curriculum in schools depended on the teachers passing it on. Every teacher had to be finalized by Nazi officials. During all school holidays teachers attended classes where the Nazi curriculum was taught. 97% of Germany’s teachers joined the Nazi Teachers’ Association. They had to be careful about what they said because children were told to inform the authorities if a teacher said something that did not fit with the Nazi’s curriculum. All of the subjects went through a major series of changes to fit what the Nazis wanted to convey to the children. History was based on the triumphs of Germany. The German defeat in 1918 was changed to show that the defeat was because of Jewish and Marxist spies. Biology became a study of Eugenics to ‘prove’ that the Nazi belief in racial purity was truly real. The teaching of racial purity started at the age of six. Hitler had once said that “no boy or girl should leave school without complete knowledge of the necessity and meaning of blood purity.” Younger children were taught about the issues of heredity. Young adults were taught about the serious importance of selecting the right “mate” when marrying and having children. Geography taught the youth about the land Germany had taken in 1919 and the need for Germany to have more land. This would influence them to later take land for their Fuher. Science had military tactics added to it. The Youth were taught how to shoot a gun, military advance science, bridge building, and the impact of poisonous gases. Hitler recalled his old school days which shows were maybe his crooked days started. “When I recall my teachers at school, I realize that half of them were abnormal. . . . We pupils of old Austria were brought up to respect old people and women. But on our professors we had no mercy; they were our natural enemies. The majority of them were somewhat mentally deranged, and quite a few ended their days as honest-to-God lunatics! . . . I was in particular bad odor with the teachers. I showed not the slightest aptitude for foreign languages - though I might have, had not the teacher been a congenital idiot. I could not bear the sight of him”- Adolf Hitler.

Hitler also did not forget to infuse his propaganda into the children’s favorite past time; movies and radio.
Hitler had movies created that bluntly stated goals while other subtly stated them through entertainment. Movies were one of the Nazis greatest weapons. The films seemed to be harmless to the public. They seemed to be a tribute to the great Fuher and his beliefs. However, they were propaganda filled films that contained dangerous ideas. The best way to describe Hitler’s propaganda is through a chocolate candy. It seems to be harmless on the outside but the filling on the inside is disgusting and revolting. “From the child’s primer down to the last newspaper, every theatre and every movie house, every advertising pillar and every billboard must be pressed into the service subjected of this one great mission,” –Adolf Hitler. Another way he indoctrinated the youth was through radio. At the end of the day the whole family would sit around and listen to the radio. Sounds like a pretty picture right? Sadly, in Germany this is not such a pretty picture. A special radio was created so it could only be tuned into Nazi approved stations. Once Adolf Hitler said, “All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach. ” He truly believed in his propaganda and how influential it was to Germany’s
youth.
The Nazis also used songs and poems to infuse their teachings into the children. A student in Nazi occupied Germany recalls his days in school. “In the songs we sang, in the poems we recited, everything was bright, shiny and clear, the sun and earth were ours. Tomorrow so, too, would be the whole world.” The Nazis took control of the entertainment system so they could further imply their beliefs onto Germany’s youth. Songs and poems were easy to remember and fun to recite so, therefore, Nazis also indoctrinated them for their purposes. Usually, the younger students were the ones to learn the songs and poems while the older students were involved in the main study of Eugenics.
Sadly, the main indoctrination of Germany’s youth occurred through after school activities.
In 1939, Hitler put the Boy Scouts on his Verboten List. The Verboten List included any group that would teach kids how to think on their own. If the youth would start to think on their own they would have refuted Hitler’s plan. Therefore, A few years later Hitler officially banned all other groups except Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth). The boys would specialize in war training and labor work while the girls would learn to raise future soldiers. Hitler trained the girls to be war bearing humans. They were taught to have kids by the plenty and raise them all to be soldiers for the Furher. “The boys and girls lose their freedom from birth. They will never be free again.” –Adolph Hitler. However, the most disturbing thing Hitler said was in his 1935 speech to the Hitler Youth. The speech itself seems harmless and that’s exactly why it’s disturbing. “My German youth, after a year, I can greet you here again. You are here today in this place, a cross section of what is around us in the whole of Germany. We know that you German boys and girls are taking on everything we hope for from Germany. We want to be one people, and you, my youth, are to be this people. We want to see no more class divisions: you must not let this grow up amongst you. We want to see one nation one day, and you must train for it. We want our people to be obedient, and you must practice obedience. We want our people to
love peace, but also to be brave. You must be peace-loving and so you must be peace-loving and courageous at the same time. We want our people to remain strong. It will be hard, and you must steel yourselves for it in your youth. You must learn to suffer privation without crumbling once. Whatever we create today, whatever we do, we will die, but Germany will live on in you. When there is nothing left of us, then you must hold in your fists the flags that we hoisted out of nothing. I know this cannot be otherwise because you are the flesh of our flesh, and the blood of our blood. In your young heads burns the same spirit that rules us. You cannot be other than united with us. When the great columns of our movement march triumphantly through Germany today, I know you will join the columns. We know before us Germany lies, in us Germany burns, and behind us Germany follows.” – Adolf Hitler. Deception was Hitler’s greatest tool. Even though what he was saying in his 1935 speech seems to be harmless and encouraging, it is dark and very dangerous. Hitler put up a façade to hide what was really going on in the background.
Hitler and his loyal followers indoctrinated the youth of Germany for their own purposes. They used every system and tool you could possibly think of for their plan. His plan included the change of school system all the way to the simple house decorations. Propaganda surrounded the youth every second of every day. Sadly, his plan worked; he successfully indoctrinated Germany’s youth.