Hitler Youth

The Hitler Youth trained teenage boys through camping, sport, marching, military drills and survival skills. These activities encouraged teamwork and physical fitness, but also obedience and preparation for war. The League of German Girls, or BDM, combined exercise, community service and ideological instruction with domestic skills such as cooking and needlework.

The Hitler Youth was an existing Nazi movement which expanded rapidly after 1933. Baldur von Schirach directed the movement during this period.

The Hitler Youth offered boys camping, sport, uniforms and a sense of belonging alongside drill and preparation for military service. The League of German Girls combined physical activities with domestic training and preparation for motherhood. The contrast reflected the regime’s expectations: boys were future soldiers, while girls were future mothers.

The boys’ organisation for ages 14–18 was called the Hitler Youth, although that name could also refer to the whole movement. The girls’ equivalent was the League of German Maidens, also translated as the League of German Girls. Jewish young people were excluded from Nazi youth organisations: the regime’s promise of belonging did not extend to everyone.