“The future of the German nation depends on its youth, and the German youth shall have to be prepared for its future duties. * * *
“The German youth besides being reared within the family and school, shall be educated physically, intellectually and morally in the spirit of National Socialism to serve the people and community, through the Hitler Youth.” (1392-PS)
On May 1, 1938 Hitler said in a speech to the youth:
“Since the victory of the Movement, under whose banner you stand, there has been completed within our people the unification of heart (innere Einigung) of the Germans. And as wages for this work of ours Providence has given us Greater Germany (Grossdeutschland). This unification is no gift of chance, it is the result of a systematic education of our people by the National Socialist Movement. . . . . And this education begins with the individual at an age when he is not already burdened with preconceived ideas. The youth is the stone which is to go to the building of our new Reich! You are Greater Germany! In you is being formed the community of the German people. Before the single leader there stands a Reich, before the single Reich stands a people, and before the single people stands German youth! When I see you my faith in the future of Germany has no bounds, nothing can shake it. For I know that you will fulfill all that we hope of you. So I greet you today on this 1st of May in our new great Germany: for you are our spring. In you will and shall be completed that for which generations and centuries have striven, Germany!” (2454-PS)
(2) The Nazi conspirators destroyed or took over all other youth organizations. The first Nazi youth League (Nationalsocialistischen Jugendbund) was organized in 1922. In 1925 the Hitler Youth was officially recognized by the Nazi Party and became a Junior Branch of the SA. In 1931 Baldur von Schirach was appointed Reichs Youth Leader of the NSDAP with the rank of SA Gruppenfuehrer. (1458-PS)
When the Nazi conspirators came to power the Hitler Jugend was a minor organization among many youth associations in Germany. At the end of 1932 it had only 107,956 members—less than 5 percent of the total youth population of Germany (2435-PS). Schirach was appointed “Jugendfuehrer des Deutschen Reichs” (Youth Leader of the German Reich), in June 1933. In this position he was directly responsible to Hitler for the education and training of the German youth outside of the home and school in accordance with the ideology of the Nazi Party. (1458-PS)
In June of 1933 on orders of Schirach, an armed band of Hitler youths occupied by force the headquarters of the Reich Committee of The German Youth Associations and took over all files and personnel records of the youth leagues represented by the Committee. By the same method the offices and property (including all youth hostels in Germany) of the Reich Association for German Youth Hostels was seized, and a Nazi representative of Schirach put in charge (1458-PS). By decree dated 22 June 1933 Schirach dissolved the Grossdeutsches Bund and all of its affiliated organizations and took over their property; he dissolved The Reich Committee of The German Youth Associations, and required all other youth organizations to make a complete report of all organizational information, including names of all officers and members and inventory of all funds and property (2229-PS). The Youth Associations of all political parties and of all labor organizations were dissolved by decree of Schirach. By virtue of these decrees all youth organizations except those sponsored by the Catholic and Protestant Churches were abolished or incorporated in the Hitler Jugend (1458-PS; 2260-PS). The Nazi-appointed Reichsbishop Mueller entered into an agreement with Schirach which transferred all members of the Evangelical Youth to the Hitler Jugend and provided that the Hitler Jugend alone would provide the state political and physical education of the Protestant youth. By the end of 1933 only the Catholic Youth organization remained untouched. (1458-PS)
The Concordat entered into with the Holy See on July 20, 1933 provided for the continuance of the Catholic Youth Association (2655-PS). Contrary to the provisions of the Concordat, the Nazi conspirators immediately set out to smash the Catholic Youth organization and to force all young people into the Hitler Youth. Ten days after the signing of the Concordat, Schirach issued an order forbidding simultaneous membership in the Hitler Jugend and the Catholic Youth League (2456-PS). In 1934 Schirach wrote, “The denominational youth league (Catholic Youth Association) has no right to exist in our time.” (1458-PS). A year later Catholic youth associations were forbidden to wear uniforms, to assemble publicly, to wear insignia, or to engage in outdoor sport activity (1482-PS). Additional pressure was exerted on the Catholic Youth by the requirement of membership in the Hitler Youth as a prerequisite of public employment (2451-PS; 2900-PS). Finally, in 1937, Schirach announced:
“The struggle for the unification of the German Youth is finished. I considered it as my duty to conduct it in a hard and uncompromising manner. Many might not have realized why we went through so much trouble for the sake of the youth. And yet the National Socialist German Workers Party, whose trustee I felt I always was and always will be, this party considered the struggle for the youth as the decisive element for the future of the German nation.” (2306-PS)
(3) The Nazi conspirators made membership in the Hitler Jugend compulsory. The Hitler Youth Law of 1936 provided that “All of the German Youth in the Reich is organized within the Hitler Youth.” (1392-PS). Executive decrees later implemented this law by the establishment of severe penalties against anyone who deterred a youth from service in the Hitler Jugend, and confirmed the policy of excluding Jews from membership.