Hitler Youth Activities: Hiking--Popularity

Figure 1.--Here a DJ group is out oin a hike into the countryside. You can tell they are going to camp because of the blanket rolls they are carrying. Note the single rune HJ banner.

We are not sure how popular these hikes were with the boys. We do not yet have any insights on this. Was this somrhing the boys were required to do or was it something that they enjoyed. It ceratinly got them out of the home and into the fresh air. Some boys would have liked this. The chance to enjoy the countryside would have also appealed to some boys. Other boys might not have enjoyed long marches. Many accounts written by former HJ boys after the War stress that what they got out of their HJ experience was friendship and camaradship. And it is on experiences like hiking and camping where close friendships were often forged. We note in memours complaints about regimentation and repetitive lining up in formations. We do not note complaints about hiking and camping.