Hitler Youth: Chronology--Occupation (1945- )

Figure 1.--

The Western Allies reached the Reich in late 1944. First cities in areas of France annexed to Germany like Metz fell and then cities in Germany proper west of the Rhine fell. The Allies crossed the Rhine (March 1945). The Soviets entered Rast Prussia (late 1944) and crossed the Oder for the climatic battle of Berlin (April 1945). The NAZIs surrendered (May 8, 1945). This meant that a youth organization of over 7 million children ceased to exist. Germany was divided into four occupation zones (American, British, French, and Soviet). The reaction of the children varied. Some children, mostly boys resisted the occupation. This reaction, however, seems limited for an organization that had so effectely steeled millions of boys for war. We do not yet have much information on this, but it is a topic we want to consider.

Conquest of the Reich (1944-45)

Hitler with massive allied armies poised on the German eastern and western frontiers authorized Himler to form the Volkssturm (November 1944). Boys and old men were inducted to shore up Germany's crumbling defenses. The Soviets in the east gathered their forces for an all out attack on Berlin. The Western Allies had reducded the Bulge and solved their supply contraints (February 1945). Hitler prepared for the Allied on-slaught by issuing the "Nero Order" (March 19). For Germans that were still under the illusion that Hitler had any real interest in the the welfare of the German people, these actions make clear his total lack of concern. Hitler issued a series of orders designed to destroy the infrasture of Germany, creating a virtual wasteland. The Americans and British began to cross the Rhine, a forbidable challenge, but made easier by the capture of the Remagen Bridge in tact (March 7). The Allies rushed accross the Rhine and a few weeks later at many other sites with landing craft and pontoon bridges. This was followed by Operation Varsity a massive paratroop drop on the German side of the Rhine (March 24). Within weeks the Ruhr, Germany's industrial heartland was surround and huge numbers of Germans soldiers surrendered in the Ruhr pocket. Tghe Rhine was the last significant geographic barrier. Allied forces then began a race accross Germany toward the Russians pressing west.

Occupation

The NAZIs surrendered (May 8, 1945). Germany was divided into four occupation zones (American, British, French, and Soviet). The United States along with Britain and France oversaw an occupation with changed the nature of West German society. Most Germans readily admitted their country's responsibility for the War and ther honredous acts of the NAZI regime. The Allies instituted a thorough going denazification process, a process which continues to this day in Germany. The Allies also attacked the militarism of the old Prussian junker class which the united German state was built around in 1870. The Allies completely dismantled the NAZI regime and during military occupation reconstructed an entirely new political structure. In some ways the process was simplified by the NAZIs who although opposed to democracy had gone a great way toward the breaking down of class barriers and weakening the power of the Prussian junkers. The Germans were not without a tradition of democracy and parlimentary politics. Given the NAZIs success in dominating the German people and the thorouness of that domination, it seems perhaps surprising how readily the Germans adopted democracy. Perhaps the totality of the NAZI defeat and the spector of Soviet totalitarianism looming accross the border were major factors. What ever the reasons, the German took to political democracy and free-market economics. A relationship with America was forged in the Berlin Airlift (1948) and four decades of resistance to the Soviers and Warsaw pact. The results by all practical measures have been an overwealming success. Germany today is one of the most prosperous and democratic societies in the world. Germany unlike Japan was also occupied by the Soviet Union. The Soviet occupation policies in eastern Germany were very different than those persued in the wetern occupation zone. Austria was separated from Germany after the War and occupied by the Soviets and Western Allies.

Hitler Youth Boys

NAZI Germany's defeat meant that a youth organization of over 7 million children ceased to exist. Occupation authorities ordered the disolution of all NAZI Party organizations and this included the Hitler Youth. This affected all boys 10 years old and over. Germany cities lay ponded into rubble. An estimate 50 million people had been killed in terrible war that Hitler and the NAZIs had launched. Many were civilians killed by Germany in a horific racial war. As a result, Germany and Germans were reviled by the other people of Europe for not only launching the War, but for the horific attrocities Germany perpetrated throughout Europe. Millions of German fathers and brothers had been killed or were being held in POW camps. This mean that millions German children were left without guidance but without the family bread earner. The German economy had been destoyed in the relentless Allied stratrgic bombing campaign. Thus many German children lacked the basic necessities of life such as food, water, and a place to sleep. This was their major concerns, especially children in the cities where most of the damage was done. Theses basic matters were now the overriding concerns. Children living among the ruins used survival basic skills to obtain food. They became efficient scavengers. They had to scourge for food and coal for hrating when winter came. This was aarticular problem for children without their fathers. Many children had to resort to stealing. And of course American soldiers had a lot of what the children wanted, especially food, candy, and cigatrettes. Some of the children begged and others stole. The relation between German children and occupation soldiers varied. Here there were several factors involved. One was thec age of the children, Thise children who had not been indoctrinated by the Hitler Youth, the schools, and their parents were most likely to approach the soldiers, many of whom took to the kids. Here age and the family they came from were factors. The occupation zones were also a factor. Children were less likely to approach the Soviet troops. There were, however, unpleasant encounters throughout Germany. The reaction of the children varied. Some children, mostly boys resisted the occupation. Some Hitler Youth boys participated in the NAZI Resistance This reaction, however, seems limited for an organization that had so effectely steeled millions of boys for war. We do not yet have much information on this, but it is a topic we want to consider. A Canadian reader writes, "My father served in the Canadian Queen's Own Rifles and was in Europe until he was "de-mobbed" 61 years next month. He told me the story of how shortly after the end of the war, ( he was stationed in Germany) he was pelted with stones by a bunch of HJ lads-probably pimpfs in the JungVolk." [Thompson] Hitler Youth boys engaged in sabatoge and armed attacks in the early months of the occupation. And some of the boys involved were shot. These armed actions soon disipated and either friendy interest or solem ignoring became the most prevalent reactions. Occupation authorities reinstated compulsory school attendance, in part to get children off the streets (October 1945). germany's vaunted education system had deteriorated during the NAZI years. And in the final years many children had been evacuated from the cities and received only the most basic education in their evacuation sites. It was not unusual to see 16 and 17-year-olds sitting in classes for younger children.

Sources

Thompson, James. E-mail message, January, 28, 2007.