Nazi Youth
Germany was forever changed when Adolf Hitler came to power. His ideals for Germany were far different than anything the world had seen before. He was able to achieve great support for his ideas within the country, mostly so by the German youth. Hitler went to great lengths to mold the youth of Germany, including altering the educational system. The youth, however, made some radical changes of their own. This proposes a question about Hitler and the German youth, which is: To what extent did Hitler alter the education of the German youth such that he was able to have Nazi sentiment in the youth? Hitler did whatever he could within his realm of power to have the youth follow him and his beliefs the racial purity of the Germans. The Nazi regime went to great lengths to promote the ideology of Hitler. The school system was altered to the point of making it a propaganda tool for the Third Reich. Hitler believed that "the highest task of education was to consist of the preservation, care and development of the best racial elements". Another belief of Hitler was "that whoever had the youth had the future". Hitler took this very seriously and he knew he had to start with the educational process. Education had a great importance to the Nazi youth and was believed to be too important to be left to the schools alone. During the nineteenth century it was discovered that children 's literature and textbooks could be used in ways to alter the beliefs of the children. Usually these resources were used to promote positive ideals in children, but the Nazi 's used it to produce racism in the youth of Germany. Textbooks that were produced focused not on the individual and promoting individuality, but the nation. Youths were to be produced who were "strong, prepared for sacrifice, and willing to undertake its responsibilities towards the national community '". Hitler wanted to have followers who did not care about themselves and their lives, but that of the
Bibliography: History. 1984, Vol. 17 Issue 4, pp 331 and 339.