In 1925 the Hitler Youth was officially recognized by the Nazi Party and became a junior branch of the SA. In 1931 the Defendant Schirach was appointed Reich Youth Leader of the NSDAP with the rank of SA Gruppenführer. I refer to Document 1458-PS. In June 1933 the Defendant Schirach was appointed Youth Leader of the German Reich. I refer to the same document, 1458-PS. In that same month, on orders of the Defendant Schirach, the Nazi conspirators destroyed or took over all other youth organizations. This was accomplished by force in the first instance. The Defendant Schirach, by decree dated 22 June, 1933—I refer to Document 2229-PS—dissolved the Reich Committee of the German Youth Associations and took over their property. By similar decrees, all of which are set forth in the document book, all the youth organizations of Germany were destroyed. Then the Nazi conspirators made membership in the Hitler Jugend compulsory. I refer to Document 1392-PS.
The Hitler Jugend from its inception had been a formation of the Nazi Party. By virtue of the 1936 Youth Law, making membership compulsory, it became an agency of the Reich Government while still retaining its position as a formation of the Nazi Party. This is set forth in Document 1392-PS. By 1940 membership in the Hitler Jugend was over seven million. I refer you to Document 2435-PS. Through the Hitler Jugend the Nazi conspirators imbued the youth with Nazi ideology. The master race doctrine and anti-Semitism, including physical attack on the Jews, were systematically taught in the training program. I refer you to Document 2436-PS. The Hitler Jugend indoctrinated the youth with the idea that war is a noble activity. I refer to Document 1458-PS. One of the most important functions of the Hitler Jugend was to prepare the youth for membership in the Party and its formations. The Hitler Jugend was the agency used for extensive pre-military and military training of youth. I refer to Document 1850-PS. In addition to general military training, special training was given in special formations. These included flying units, naval units, motorized units, signal units, et cetera.
The full details with the accompanying documents of the methods used by the Nazi conspirators in reshaping the educational system and supplementing it with the Hitler Jugend so as to educate the German youth to be amenable to the Nazi will and prepare youth for war are set forth in the document book which has been offered, and in the accompanying briefs.
Now I would like to direct your attention to the weapon of propaganda that was used during this period, and for this purpose I offer United States Exhibit Number E with the accompanying brief. This document book and the briefs which accompany it. . . .
THE PRESIDENT: Have any copies of these documents been provided for the Defense Counsel?
COL. STOREY: I understand, Sir, they have been sent to the Defendants’ Information Center. I may say, Sir, that with tomorrow we will have them in advance to everybody, including the Court and the Defense Counsel.
THE PRESIDENT: Very well.
MAJOR WALLIS: This document book and the accompanying brief is entitled “Propaganda Censorship and Supervision of Cultural Activities.”
During this period one of the strongest weapons of the conspirators was propaganda. From the outset they appreciated the urgency of the task of inculcating the German masses with the National Socialist principles and ideology. The early utterances of Hitler and his fellow conspirators evidenced full recognition of the fact that their power could endure only if it rested on general acceptance of their political and social views.
Immediately following their accession to power, the Nazi conspirators instituted a determined program for wholesale organization of the masses by seizing control of all vehicles of public expression. The wide-spread use of propaganda by the powerful machine thus created became a key device in establishing control over all phases of the German economy, public and private. They conceived that the proper function of propaganda was to prepare the ground psychologically for political action and military aggression and to guarantee popular support of a system which was based on a permanent and steadily intensified application of terror and aggression both in the sphere of domestic politics and foreign relations.