Hitler Youth Membership: 1934

Figure 1.--More than a million additionasl children joined the Hitler Youth in 1934. This was an official HJ photograph. The basck can be viewed by placing your cursor on the image. The back of the picture reads in German: "März 1934" (handwritten). That means March 1934. The seal in German (clockwise): "Fähnlein Gneisenau. Jungbann Friesland Wittmund. Stamm II. ( and horizontal across) : DJ i.d.HJ". Fähnlein Gneisenau is the name of the Hitler Jugend ensign (branch), named after the Prussian General von Gneisenau, who helped Fieldmarshall Blücher and the Duke of Wellington defeat Napoleon at Waterloo. Jungbann Friesland Wittmund means Cub Pack (like in the boy scouts) Friesland Wittmund. Wittmund is a city in East Friesland (next to the Dutch border in northwestern Germany). Stamm II is Tribe II. DJ i.d.HJ stands for Deutsche Jugend in der Hitlerjugend (German Youth (junior or cub division) in the Hitler Youth).

The Hitler Youth became a mass orgamization after the NAZIs seized power in 1933. More than a million additional children were added to the organization in 1934. The membership reached 3,577,565 children. We suspect that as a result of the Night of the Long Knives (June 1934) and the Reichwehr's commitment to the regime that many military and conservative families had their children join the HJ. While it might seem that such egregious use pf political violence might give parents second thoughts. It obviously did not. Hitler's supression of the SA may have gained the support of many parents. Most SA families presumably had their children in the HJ. And given what happened to their leaders they presumbably did not want to draw attention to themselvds by pulling their children out of the HJ. Notice the dark caps and chin straps. Apparently the winter uniform had not yet been adopted. Note than many boys appear to be wearing long stockings.