Figure 1.--This photograph was taken in mid-April 1945. The press caption read "Teen-age prisoners: Three 14-year-old Nazi boys were part of a large group of prisoners taken near Berstadt, Germany, by the 4th Armored Division of the U.S. Third army. It was boys like these that Hitler threw into the defense of Berlin firing 'panzerfusts' rockets capable of disabling a tank. They fought with fanatical courage and a great masny were killed." The boys here are two young for the regular Wehrmacht, but are fully uniformed--unlike many Volksstrum boys. Notice how pleased two of the boys are to be taken priosoner and geting something to eat. The third boy seems a bit dubious, but is also enjoying the food. They may have been too young to understand how luckly they were not to be captured by the Soviets. The smiling soldiers behind them would have been aware of that.

This photograph was taken in mid-April 1945. It is not dated, but Berstadt was located just east of the Ruhr Pocket. So it was just at the beginning of the Third Army's drive east through the heart of Germany (mid-April 1945). We see three boy prisoners and older POWs in the background. The press caption read "Teen-age prisoners: Three 14-year-old Nazi boys were part of a large group of prisoners taken near Berstadt, Germany, by the 4th Armored Division of the U.S. Third army. It was boys like these that Hitler threw into the defense of Berlin firing 'panzerfusts' rockets capable of disabling a tank. They fought with fanatical courage and a great masny were killed." The boys here are two young for the regular Wehrmacht, but are fully uniformed--unlike many Volksstrum boys. During the War, American newspapers commonly referred to German soldiers as 'NAZIs or 'NAZI soldiers'. This is a misnomer. Some were certainly NAZIs at heart. The SS was certainly committed NAZIs. The Wehrmscht was more diverse. Some were certainly committed to Hitler and the NAZIs, but many were not. Most were commited to defending their country. Some were anti-NAZIs, drafted into the Wehrmacht. A good example is Pope Benedict. He was over 16 years old and thus inducted into the military. He had no choice in the matter. Sorting out how many of the German soldiers, or the Germany peole as whole, were actually committed NAZIs is impossible to do. Historians debate this issue extensively. It surely varies over time. By the time this photograph was taken the number had fallen substantially. The boys here are a different story from youths like Pope Bendeict that were drafted into the military. At this age, the boys younger than 16 years were not legally obligated to join the Wehrmacht or even the Volkssturm. Unlike many Volksstrum boys, the boys here have full uniforms. And note that the uniforms and boots more or less fit these boys. They were probably in a HJ unit whose leader involved them in the War en masse including the younger boys (but probably not the DJ.) The whole group here seems to be of good spirits. Large group surrenders were much safer than individuals or small groups surrendering. This was probanly just a couple weeks before the NAZI surrender. I suspect most were relieved to be in American rather than Soviet hands and to be getting some bread.

Created: 12:15 AM 2/3/2011
Last updated: 3:33 AM 12/2/2015