Figure 1.-- These two German boys, one 10 and the other 14 years old, in Aachen were trained to act as snipers before the NAZIs evacuated the city. Presumably they were Hitler Youth members. I'm not sure to what extent the HJ was involved in their sniper training. They were captured while trying to ambush a group of soldiers.

Many believe that after the NAZIs surrendered (May 1945) that all German resistance suddenly ceased. This was not the case. There were NAZI attempts as resistance and the Allies had to take measures to deal with the resistance from various German groups. The NAZIs in the closing months of the War organizated operations like the "Werewolves" to disrupt the occupation. Most of the Werewolves were Hitler Youth boys. There were incidents of Allied soldiers ambushed by Werewolf boys and incidents between Werewolf partisans and Allied forces in the closing days of the War. American soldiers leaflets detailing plans on how to undermine the occupation through sabotage and other measures. The NAZI resistance efforts proved ineffective. Given the level of support that the NAZIs built up, this seem rather surprising. The NAZI resistance effort failed for a variety of resons. One, the destruction as a result of the War changed the mind-set of many Germans. Two, relevations of NAZI war crimes also had a major impact on German thinking. Three, Germany was so devestated that the Germans were dependant on American food aid. Four, the nature of the Western Allied occupation did not generate resistance nd ill will. Five, the nature of Soviet behavior had the result of making the Americans look more like protectors than occupiers.

Created: 6:11 AM 9/29/2004
Last updated: 11:37 PM 10/21/2011