Hitler Youth: Activities--War Service the Volkssturm

Figure 1.--As the War turned against the NAZIs, yonger boys and older men were recruited for service. The Volkssturm was established in 1944 as the Soviets and Western Allies poised to plunge into the Fatherland. Some Volkssturm boys had Wehrmacht uniforms. Others were just given armbands. This boy is unidentified.

As the War went against the NAZIs yonger boys and older meant were recruited for service. The Volkssturm was established in 1944 as the Soviets and Western Allies poised to plunge into the Fatherland. The Volkssturm was formed by Himler in October 1944. All boys 16 years and older had to join. Many much younger boys joined voluntarily. Some Volkssturm boys were given Wehrmacht uniforms. Others were just given armbands. This boy is unidentified. He looks to be 14-15 years old.

Individual Boy

As the War went against the NAZIs yonger boys and older meant were recruited for service. This boy is unidentified. We do not know what happened to him and if he survived the War. This boy looks to us to be 14-15 years old. Certainly not older than 16 years. He does not looked worried or concerned about going into the military. In fact he looks rather proud that he has become a soldier to defend the Fartherland. We do not know if he was inducted or joined voluntarily.

Chronology

The Volkssturm was established in 1944 as the Soviets and Western Allies poised to plunge into the Fatherland. The Volkssturm was formed by Himler in October 1944. All boys 16 years and older had to join. Many much younger boys joined voluntarily. This portrait is undated, but because of the boy's youth, we suspect it was taken in late 1944 or very early 1945. By 1945 it was probably becoming quite difficult to get a portrait taken. In addition by this time many parents saw that defeat was inevitable and probably did not want their sons photgraphed in Wehrmacht or Hitler Youth uniforms.

Uniform

Some VVolkssturm boys were given Wehrmacht uniforms. Others were just given armbands. This portrait does not show the uniform very clearly, but looks to be a regular Wehrmacht uniform. We can not see the arm so we do noy know if he had a Vokstrum armband. Given his age, it is likely that he was in the Volkssturm. rather than the regular Wehrmacht, but we can not be sure.

Images

As the Soviets and Westrern Allies overran Germany, many Germans destroyed documents and NAZI buttons and medalians as well as photographs in NAZI organizations like the Hitler Youth and even the Wehrmacht. Thus portraits like this are not common. Today images like this can no be sold on electronic auctions like E-Bay in Austria and Germany as well as France and Ilaly.

Reader Comment

A French reader writes, "What a horror! Perhaps this boy has killed or was killed. Very sad period .... to employ childen in war; nothing can be worse. A society have the obligation to protected his children. France and Germany are now totally different. Thankfully Germany and France are now united. We French now feel very close to Germany. Personaly I feel in Germany as at home. The new generation of French and German feel no real difference between us, only the language can be still a problem. Most young persons learn English. France and Germany are now pacifist countries." A very interesting comment from one of our French readers. HBC notes a variety of points of discussion, albeit on issues other than the Volkssturm. French and German children are being taught that war is the greatest human evil. That has worked wonderfully within Europe as our French reader ponts out in defusing the French-German antagonism. HBC believes that war as the greatest evil while generally true, there are some things worse for children then being drafted into the army--and that is being marched into a gas chamber or even life as an untermench in the NAZI New Order. There are also modern attrocities perpetrated against children. Another interesting point is that since French and German children are learning English, does that mean that when thy get together they speak in English? We also note the comment about pacifism. We wonder how pacifistic the French would be if someone blew up the Eifel Tower?