Hitler Youth Membership: Annual Roles

Figure 1.--Here we see an unidentified group of German boys, most of whom are wearing Deutsches Jungvolk (DJ) uniforms. The DJ was the junior boys' division of the HJ. The boys look to be about 10-14 yeats of azge, the age for DJ membership. We happen to know the age of one of the boys, Gunter Wagner, who is in the second row, middle of the picture, and not wearing a uniform (one of the few in ordinary student clothes). We believe the photograph was taken in Bochum, Westphalia where Gunter grew up. He was 14 years old at the time the photo was taken. We at first thought this was a school class, but after thinking it over now believe it was not. There is too great an age gap for the boys to be in a single class. And we never see this many boys wearing their DJ/HJ uniforms in class portraits. And finally the building in the background looks more like a comfortable middle-class home than a school. (Our German readers may be able to help nhere.) The fancy glass work in the door in particular does not seem right for a school. This leads us gto the question of what the group here is. Perhaps readers may have some thoughts. We suspect that this is a DJ unit meeting after school. Some of the boys may have already finished school or are about to finish school. (Many German boys did so at age 13-14 years of age.) Perhaps this was taken at their unit meeting. (Inside photography was more complicated.) Perhaps the man is a teacher with NAZI sympsthies or the father of one of the boys. One of their primary concerns in 1936 would have been to recruit boys who had not yet joined the DJ/HJ. Perhaps the boys not wearing uniforms are new recruits. It was in 1936 that the first law was passed requiring boys and girls to join the HJ at age 10 years. Put your cursor on the image to see the rest of the group.

The Hitler Youth grew from a group with a handful of boys to a mass organization, the most important uniformed youth froup in Europe. Hitler from an early stage placed considerable importance to recruiting youjng people. Few other German politicans saw this as important. And he knew how he wanted them organized. He wrote, "The weak must be chiselled away. I want young men and women who can suffer pain. A young German must be as swift as a greyhound, as tough as leather, and as hard as Krupp's steel." No youth group so thoroughly suceeded in their stated purpose. Had the NAZIs suceeded, the Aryan elite of Europe would have been raised and trained through the Hitler Youth to rule over Slavic heliots in the East. Membership increased began with about 1,000 (1923) and skyrocked to 2.3 million when the NAZIs seized power (1933). A further junp to 5.4 milliom occured when membership was made compulsory (1936). Membership exceeded 8 million youth during the first full year of the War (1940). Very detailed statistics are available on the growth of the NAZI Party youth organizations, principally the Hitler Youth, as the NAZIs were such good record keepers. There are no precise records after the outbreak of the War, but even if collected they would be lsargely meaningless. The HJ members were gradually deployed into a range of efforts supporting the war effort. So even if they were theoiretically HJ members, they were no longer engaged in youth group activities.

Seizing Power

1923: 1,200. Almost all of the first HJ members were teenage boys located in Munich. Some were involved in the Beer Hall Putch.

1924: 2,400. Note that there was no drop off in HJ membership after the abortive Beer Hall Putch, although the numbers remainmed small.

1925: 5,000.

1926: 6,000.

1927: 8,000.

1928: 10,000.

1929: 13,000. Throughout the 1920s, HJ membership suggests that the NAZI Party was growing, but continued to be a small fringe party, albeit beginning to dominate that portion of the political spectrum. The membership at this stage would have been almost entirely teenage boys, mostly mid- and older-teenagers.

1930: 26,000. The American Wall Street Crash (October 1929) led to greatly increased NAZI political support. The HJ numbers are still relatively small, but doubled in 1930. This mean that the HJ had grown from a relatively minor group, to an increasingly important part of the German youth movement. Important changes were made which would later lead to huge expansion of the organization. The Deutsches Jungvolk, a junior division for boys aged 10-14 years was established. The Bund Deutscher Mädel (League of German Girls--BDM) was created as a separate unit for girls from 10-18 years.

1931: 63,700. HJ membership more than doubled in 1931, again reflecting the growth of the Party's political support. Hitler in 1931 appointed Baldur von Schirach NAZI Youth Leader Hitler with a SA rank of Gruppenführer. We are not sure what Hitle saw iun him, but he proved to be a very effective youthreader, more bdcause of his organizing skills than any personal chsrisma.

1932: 107,956 Chancellor Heinrich Brüning banned the HJ to curtail the escalating political violence (April 1932). he ban did not last long. The violence, however, was a factor in Brüning's fall from power. He was replaced as chancellor by Franz von Papen who thought that the best approach was to appease Hitler and the NAZIs. He lifted the ban (June 1932).

Governing Years

Membership in the HJ skyrockleted after the NAZI's seized power (January 1933). Membership expanded about 20 times in this first year of NAZI rule. This not only reflected increasing support for the Party and and access to Government resources, but the incorportation of many youth groups in to the HJ. Hitler promoted von Schirach from Party youth leader to the first Reichsjugendführer (Reich Youth Leader). Schirach set about turning the HJ into a mass organization, pouring his energy and newly available government funds into the effort. Most other youth groups were either abolished or merged with the HJ, their previous social, political, and religious afiliations ended. This was the fastest way of expanding the HJ as the boys did not have to be recruited. The HJ expanded significantly agin in 1934. The Hitler Youth became a mass organmization after the NAZIs seized power in early 1933. The growth was not as explosice as in 1933, but still more than a million additional children were added to the organization in 1934. The membership reached 3,577,565 children. We suspect that as a result of the Night of the Long Knives and the Reichwehr's commitment to the regime that many military and conservative families had their children join the HJ. The HJ grew in 1935, but not spectacularly. We are not sure why. We suspect that this represents the appriimate proportion of Germans who were either enthusuasticaly pro-NAZI or swayed by what they saw the Germans doing in Germany. This does not mean that they necesarily approved of police state rule and actions against Jews that are so associated with the NAZIs. Surely that was part, but not all of it. Other achievements or apparent chievements was reducing unemployment and and recllaiming the Rhineland. Some may have been impressed with remilitarization, announced after the Sarlnd Plebecite. The HJ membership nin 1935 represented about half of the age cohort of boys 10-18 years of age as ell as an increasing number of girl. Apparently about half of Germany would need more compulsion to allow or permit their children to join the Hitler Youth. After 3 yers of expansion it ws now well-orhganized mss organization that could easily accept the approximately half of German youth that had not yet joined on their own volition.

1933: 2,292,041. Membership in the HJ skyrockleted after the NAZI's seized power (January 1933). Membership expanded about 20 times in this first year of NAZI rule. This not only reflected increasing support for the Party and and access to Government resources, but the incorportation of many youth groups in to the HJ. Hitler promoted von Schirach from Party youth leader to the first Reichsjugendführer (Reich Youth Leader). Schirach set about turning the HJ into a mass organization, pouring his energy and newly available government funds into the effort. Most other youth groups were either abolished or merged with the HJ, their previous social, political, and religious afiliations ended. This was the fastest way of expanding the HJ as the boys did not have to be recruited. Another factor was the DJ, the junior division. Until 1933, the HJ was mostly teemagers, often older teenagers. In the public mind thet were strongly associated with the SA, NAZI Stormtrooper street ruffians. The uniform even looked like the SA uniform. The HJ was originally a SA unit. With power the HJ acquired more legitimacy. Parents were more willing to allow their younger children to join. The same was true of girls who began to join the BDM in large numbers for the first time.

1934: 3,577.565: The Hitler Youth became a mass organmization after the NAZIs seized power in early 1933. The growth was not as explosice as in 1933, but still more than a million additional children were added to the organization in 1934. The membership reached 3,577,565 children. We suspect that as a result of the Night of the Long Knives and the Reichwehr's commitment to the regime that many military and conservative families had their children join the HJ. While it might seem that such egregious use pf political violence might give parents second thoughts. It obviously did not. Hitler's supression of the SA may have gained the support of many parents. Most SA families presumably had their children in the HJ. And given what happened to their leaders they presumbably did not want to draw attention o themselvds by pullking their children out of the HJ.

1935: 3,943,303. The HJ grew in 1935, but not spectacularly. We are not sure why. We suspect that this represents the appriimate proportion of Germans who were either enthusuasticaly pro-NAZI or swayed by what they saw the Germans doing in Germany. This does not mean that they necesarily approved of police state rule and actions against Jews that are so associated with the NAZIs. Surely that was part. The infamous Niremberg Laws were passed in 1935. But it was not all of it. Other achievements or apparent chievements was reducing unemployment and and recllaiming the Rhineland. Some may have been impressed with remilitarization, announced after the Sarlnd Plebecite. The HJ membership nin 1935 represented about half of the age cohort of boys 10-18 years of age as ell as an increasing number of girl. Apparently about half of Germany would need more compulsion to allow or permit their children to join the Hitler Youth. After 3 yers of expansion it ws now well-orhganized mss organization that could easily accept the approximately half of German youth that had not yet joined on their own volition.

1936: 5,437,601. Membership increased about 50 percent from a greatly expanded base. This was no longer a voluntary expansion. The NAZIs promulgated the first Hitler Youth Law was in 1936 (December 1936). This essentially made membership compulsory, but did not explicityl say so. Given the NAZI system, they did not necesarily have to be pecific. This essentially began the conscription of German youth into a NAZI Party organization. Nor did the Law establish any penalties for non-complince. This law also effectively ended the Catholic Youth Organization which had managed to hold out for 3 years amid constant Nazi harassment. Parents who interfered with their children from joining the Hitler Youth were subject to heavy prison sentences. Based on the law the HJ proceeded on the basis that all children both boys and girls should enter the HJ at age 10. This largely eliminated the gender differential. Until 1936, more boys had joined than girls. Note that after the HJ was made mandatory in late-1936 that about 1.5 million addition children joined the HJ in 1936. It seems likely that these were children from families that were not particularly supportive of the NAZIs and willing to resist within the narrow areas that the regime permitted. It may be a useful indicator of actual political attitudes within Germany. .

1937: 5.879.955. The HJ membership did not increase greatly in 1937. We are not sure why there was no significant increases, especially after the Hitler Youth law was passed at the end of 1936. Apparently most of the available children had joined in 1936. Further increases in HJ membership would come as a result of Hitler's aggresive foreign policy, brining more Germans into the expanding Reich.

1938: 7.031.226. More than 1.1 million new members joined the HJ in 1938. We suspect that many of these were Austrian children as a result of the Anscluss. A small number was added when as a result of the Munich Accords, the Sudetenland was annexed to the Reich.

1939: 7.728.259. The Second Hitler Youth Law was promulgated in 1939. The law is notable for the much greater detail defining membership in the HJ. The Law begins by declaring that "Service in the Hitler Youth is honorary service to the German people." The Law explicity states that German children must join the Hitler Youth at age 10 and serve through age 18 yerars. Penalties are privided for guardians who do not comply, including confinement. The new Law also gives officials the authority to require participation. Hiler Launched World War II with the invasion of Poland (September 1939). Eastern Polaned was annexed to the Reich. This meant the German and Arryanized Polish populations could be recruited to the HJ and the Whermacht.

War Years

1940: est. 8 million. Hitler launched World War II (September 1939). We do not yet have membership data for the War years. We note one estimate of 8 million members in 1940. Yhis was presumably the peak membership. After this military conscription siphoned many older teenagers out of the HJ. One observer believes that the outbreak of the War largely diverted the regime's attention, even the HJ ledership. [Massaquoi] Most of the Reich's teenagers were already HJ members. Successes in the West meant more areas annexed to the Recich. The small increase may be more due to areas of Poland and France annexed to the Reich. On the otherhand, Hitler's preparations for Barbarossa meant a massive buildup of the Whermacht. At the times included youths as young as 18 years of age. This meant that military conscription ws pulling older teenagers out of the HJ. Artur Axmann replaced Reichsjugendführer Schirach who wanted to improve his NAZI credentials with military service. Axmann began the transformation of the HJ from a youth group to an auxilery unit to support the war effort on the home front. At first these services were limited, but gradually as the War continued and began to go against Germany, increased in importance. We notice HJ boys involved in farm work.

1941: The NAZIs promulgated the Third Hitler Youth Law during World War II in 1941. We do not yet have details, but it was apperently designed to limit exemptions granted and to make the compliance for evasion more severe. The conscription age in Germany was 18 years, but not all 18 year olds were at first drafted. Casualties in the early military campaigns hd been relatively light. But preparations for Barbarossa meant that conscription rates increased.

1942: It was what happened in the Soviet Union that changed everything. Barbarossa failed to take Mosciw and the Red Army launched a massive offensive before Moscow (December 1941). It was arguably the most important battle of the War. The Whermacht's losses were enormous in both men and equipment. The Whermacht managed to tabikize the front, but with the losses and the entry of America into the War, the Germans were no longer capable of winning the War. Before Barbarossa, some 18 year olds had been drafted. After Barbarossa, the Whermacht drafted nearly all the available 18-year olds. Hitler's last major offensive into the Caucauses and southern Russia and ending at Stalingrad would be largely conducted by the 18-year old conscript class. After 1942 the only way Germany had of even maintaining the size of the armed forces (because of increasing losses) was to turn to younger teenagers and middle-aged men.

1943: It was no longer possible to accurately calculate the number of HJ members. The older youth and even some younger ones were involved in a rabnge of war work and no longer participating in youth group activities. As the conscription of older HJ members continued and the Allied strategic bombing campaign intensified, it became increasingly difficult for the HJ to function as a youth organization. Rather the HJ ws used to organize young people not conscripted into the military services for a variety of war work. HJ and BDM members assisted the refugees created by the bombing and reverses in the East. The HJ were recruited in civil defense work including the fire brigades and Fliegerabwehrkanone (Flak) units defending German cities. Some were evacuated as part of the Kinderlandverschickung (KLV) program. City children to the country side. The evacuess were supervised by older HJ members even though adult teachers were evacuayed along with the children. Apparently the HJ youth were considered politically more reliable. The HJ also replaced men from the Reich Postal Service, Deutsche Reichsbahn, fire services, and Reich radio service that were conscripted for military service. While they remained theoretically HJ members, the youths involved could no longer participate in normal youth group activities and in many cases school as well. The ultimate contribution to the war effort was the formation of the 12.SS-Panzer-Division Hitlerjugend. Axmann conceived this as a birthday present for the Führer (April 1943). The Division was a superbly equipped Waffen-SS panzer division. Most of the enlisted ranks were recruited from Hitler Youth boys, aged 16-18 years of age. Thee division was deployed to France and played a key role in the defense of Caen after the Allied D-Day landings. The Division was noted for the ferocity and fantaticism against great odds.

1944: Military disaster meant that that vast foreign armies had reached the borders of the Reich. Hitler put Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler in charge of a newly formed Home Guard--the Volkssturm (October 1944). All males between 16-60 not lready in tthe military were conscripted. This meant all the older HJ boys. Many younger HJ boys, however, were organized into fighting units. This was essentially the end of the HJ as a youth organization.

1945: Reichsjugendführer Axmann played his final role during the battle for Berlin (April 1945). He helped organize HJ boys in a fritless effort military effort. Berlin was already in ruins. The NAZIs represented the struggle as an effiort to defend the city. In reality it was an effort to defend Hitler in the Führer bunker. Very young boys were invilved, including some pre-teens. Hitler emerged from the bunker on his birthday to decorate some of the boys.

Sources

Massaquoi, Hans Jürgen. Destined to Witness: Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany (New York: Harper Perennial, 2001).