Hitler Youth Publications

Figure 1.--Here an older HJ boy is working with some younger chikldren. Perhaps this is a drawing lesson. It came from the 1943 volume of "Jugem: Euhr Welt". This was the last issue of this NAZI series. When the War began to go against the NAZIs, publishing non-essebntiasl materials quickly declined. The swastika on the boy's arm band has been digitally obsvured in compliance with German law.

Hitler Youth Leader Bauder von Schirach stated that, "It was my task to educate the youth in the aims, ideology and directives of the NSDAP, and beyond this to direct and to shape them." [Nizkor Project, 3302-PS.] The Hitler Youth to accomplish this had an elaborate propaganda apparatus which published numerous periodicals, ranging from a daily press service to monthly magazines. Through liaison agents the Hitler Youth Propaganda Office had permanent contact with Dr. Goebbels' Propaganda Office of the NSDAP and with the Ministry of People's Enlightenment and Propaganda. [Nizkor Project, 3349-PS.] The Hitler Youth organization published a series of magazines including Youth and Homeland, The Young World, The German Girl and Girls Your World. Another magazine, Will and Power, was produced for HJ leaders and female guardians. Some of the publications were about youth in general. Othes focused on the boys or girls' program.

Hilter Jungen

Here are some of the publications we know of that deal with the boys' program.

Jungen: Euhr Welt (1938-43)

NAZI authorities published an yearbook for boys. It was entitled Jungen: Eure Welt, meaning Boys: Your World. The first volume appeared in 1938 and it was published annually thriugh 1943. There was no 1944 vilume as by that time the Worls War had begun to affect the domestic economy. I don't think the conotation was that the world belonged to Germany, but more the world in which the boys lived, but perhaps our German readers will give a more authoritative interpretation. The sub-title was The Year Book of the German Boy, but earlier editions identified it as the yearbook of Hitler Youth boys. There was a comparable series for girls. The articles were topics which appealed to boys. There are articles on current events, politics, the war, arts and crafts, games, sports, wildlife and similar topics. Much of the book is devoted to the military, even before Workd War II broke out. boys preparing for military service through the Hitler Youth program. We are not sure what the press run was and if this was abook boys purchased or was more likely to be read in libraries. It was published by the NAZI Central Publishing House. The book is heavily illustrated with both photographs and illustrations.

(Die) Junge Kameradschaft (1935)

Die Junge Kameradschaft seems to be a heavily illustrated HJ yearbook, perhapa apredecesor to Jungen: Euhr Welt which first appeared in 1938. The tirle would translate as "The Comradship of Boys". Comradship was an important element in the success of the HJ. Many adults looking back on theor HJ experience mention this. It was a large format 7-1/2 x 10-1/2 inch, 396 page, by the Zeitgeschichte Verlag in Berlin, Germany. There were articles on a wide range of topics. There were severa; articles and photographs about the HJ progeam, including "Ten Years of the Hitler Youth" and "Herbert Norkus" (a NAZI boy martyr). Some of the other articles were: "Fahnenweihe" (I'm not sure what this was), "Arbeitsdienst" (NAZI youth labor program), "German Land Year" (a rural youth labor program), "Deutschlandlager" (I'm not sure what this was), "Modern War Machines", "Air War", "Air Raid Protection", "The Reichsautobahn System", "Runic Characters", "Ancestral Records", "Race and Revolution", "History of National Socialism", "Olympics", "Zeltlager der Hitlerjugend", "Hochland", "Motorcycling", "Sail flying", "The Marine HJ", "Television", "The HJ Home", and much more.

(Der) Führer und die deutche Jugend (1935)

An HBC contributor serving in the U.S. Army in Germany after World War II acquired a book commemorating the 1935 NAZI Nurrenberg Ralley. The NAZIs held their annual party rally in Nurrenberg, a city with many medieval buildings and viewed by many Germans as harening back to Germany's ancestral roots. It was at the 1935 rally that the classic propoganda film, Triumph of the Will was made. One chapter of the book deals with the Hitler Youth participation in the rally.

Jungzug 2

Jungzug 2 translates as Youth Plsatoon 2. It was abook about the younger or Cub section of the Hitkler Youth. The boys were called Pimpf. The book has 60 black and white photographs. Pages on seven sword words. There are stories and experiences. The book seems to emphasize the trouble boys get ingo when unsupervised and shows the positive, character building program of the Hitler Youth. The author was Alfr W. and it was published by Lowes Verlag in 1937.

Bund Deutscher Mädel

Here are some of the publications we know of thzat deal with the girls' program.

Mädel an's Werk

Hrsg. v. d. Reichswaltg d. NS.-Lehrerbundes. - Berlin: Braun 1938.

Mädel, auch im Winter Körperertüchtigung

Breslau: NSDAP., Bund Dt. Mädel in d. HJ., Obergau Schlesien 4 1937.

Mädel im Beruf

Königsberg (Pr.): NSDAP., Bund Dt. Mädel in d. HJ., Obergau Ostland, 1936.

Mädel, dein Beruf!

Krakau: Befehlsstelle Generalgouvernement d. Reichsjugendführg 1941.

Mädel, dein Leben gehört dem Führer!

Königsberg (Pr.): NSDAP., Bund Dt. Mädel in d. HJ., Obergau Ostland 1 1937.

Mädel im Dienst

Berlin: NSDAP., Hitler-Jugend, Reichsjugendführg 1939.

Mädel im Dienst

Jungmädelsport. Hrsg. v. d. Reichsjugendführg. - Potsdam: Voggenreiter 1940.

Mädel im Freizeitlager

Hrsg. im Auftr. d. BDM,-Obergaues Pommern. - Potsdam: Voggenreiter 1936.

Mädel im Gesundheitsdienst

München: Lehmann 1941.

Mädel, komm zum deutschen Schwesterndienst

1938 s. S c h w e s t e r n d i e n s t , Der deutsche.

Mädel, komm zum deutschen Schwesterndienst!

Neustadt a. d. Weinstr.: NSDAP., Gauleitg, Amt f. Volkswohlfahrt 1941.

Mädel machen Werkarbeit

Kiel: NSDAP., Bund Dt. Mädel in d. HJ., Obergau Nordmark (6) 1939.

Mädel im Osteinsatz

Berlin: NSDAP., Hitler-Jugend, Reichsjugendführg 1942.

Mädel im Dritten Reich

Berlin: Freiheitsverl. 1936.

Mädel: eure Welt: Das Jahrbuch der deutschen Mädel

The NAZIs published a similar yearbook for the girls in the Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM), the girls division of the HJ. The title was Mädel: eure Welt: Das Jahrbuch der deutschen Mädel. That would translate as "Girls: Your World". The subtitle translates, "The Yearbook of the German Girl". Like the boys version it was published by the Zentralverlag Franz Eher Nachfolger GmbH in München. I'm not sure if the girls' version was published in the same years as the boys' versions. The boys' version was published over 6 years from 1938-43. We do note that at least on of the covers was similar. We do not yet have information on the contents.

Mädel am Werk

BDM.-Jahrbuch. - Berlin: Dt. Jugendverl.

Mädel am Westwall

Neustadt a. d. Weinstr.: BDM., Obergau Saarpfalz (25) 1940.

Wir deutschen Mädel

BDM.-Jahrbuch. - Berlin: Dt. Jugendverl.

Die Mädelbücherei

Berlin: Junge Generation.

Mädels arbeiten für Deutschland

Hrsg. v. d. Landesstelle Südwestdeutschland d. nat.-soz. Frauenarbeitsdienstes. - Stuttgart: Der Lager-Kamerad 1936.

Modern Access

A reader wrote us asking, "Are there any reprints of HJ magazins available? I remember years ago seeing an article in an old Hitler Jugend magazine on dental health. I would like to reread this article. Can you help?" This raises the question, do German libraries have collections of HJ and other NAZI publications? And are they open to the public? And also and are they indexed > (either through published indexed or digitally on line). A German reader tells us, "You really expect that to see in open access in Germany? This kind of stuff is 'under the counter'-ware and in our library these kind of things are stored in the "poison" cabinet. I am sure it would be politically impossible to put anything of this stuff online (in Germany). And you can't publish it. It is simply forbidden by law. So there are no (legal) reprints." A librarian reports, "In our library we give out publications of that time (1933-1945) into the reading room only. Neighbrhood public libraries in Grmny do not have historic stuff so no items from that era. However our library is better equipped. We have an important historical archive. What you will find in neighborhood libraries are new history books about Nazi times. There is a lot of that." So I understand the situation in Germany, most German libraries have been purged of HJ and other NAZI publications, but that the larger ones have a collection only open to scholars who have to apply to library administrators for access. As far as I know, there is not national law about access to the publications and that each library considers the requests on an individual basis. But I am not yet sure about this. A German reader tells us, "Nazi publications in Germany is a very difficult and akward thing. It brings strong emotions and lots of criticism. And it easily happens that someone who is interested in anything of that times may be labelled a Nazi very soon. You are correct, scholars can work with the original publications. But they have to provide evidence they are working scientificly." As far as I know, no one has ever indexed this material. Another issue here is German publications during the NAZI era, but not actual NAZI Party publications. Here we are speaking about established magazines and newspapers. As the content was controlled by the Propaganda Ministry and contained a lot of NAZI material, we are not sure about public access.