Hitler Youth: Photography


Figure 1.--We note a number of family portrait with the children wearing their Hitler Youth uniforms. We notice relative few more intimate portraits like this on with a DJ boy and his mother . We are guessing he is 10 years old and just joined the DJ and was anxious to have his portrait taken. His mother seems very proud.

HBU looks on photographs as small historical documents, a moment in time frozen for prosperity. Photographs are especially valuable if we know who the individuals are and a little about their fmily. Unfortunately this is often not the case. Even so, the photographic record does I think provide valuable insights into the Hitler Youth. Here we are especially interested in two aspects of the HJ. First we are interested in how the HJ was preceived with German families. There are quite a number of personal accounts. But because of the associations involved with the NAZIs, it is not always possible to take personal accounts at face value. Family attitudes are especially interesting because part of the purpose of the HJ was to break down family allegiences and cement loyalty to the Party and Führer. Second we are interested in the camraderie fostered by the HJ, a powerful force for youth, especially teenagers. Readers may have other ideas about insights ht can be garnered fom the available photograohic record.

Historical Documents

HBU looks on photographs as small historical documents, a moment in time frozen for prosperity. Photographs are especially valuable if we know who the individuals are and a little about their fmily. Unfortunately this is often not the case. Even so, the photographic record does I think provide valuable insights into the Hitler Youth. Of course assessing these photogrphs is highly subjective. We may be right or wrong about out assessment, but we load these pages hopeing that readers will offer their insights.

Photography Types

In assessing Hitler Youth photographs, a destinction needs to be made between the photographs takken at home and the photographs taken at HJ events. The home photographs include both snap shots and studio portraits. We are less sure about the phoyographs at HJ evets. Some of these were official HJ photographs. Others may have been snapshots taken by the boys. This may hve been relatively limited because of the cost of cameras and photo finishing.

Interesting Aspects

Here we are especially interested in two aspects of the HJ. We are interested in family attitudes toward the HJ and the camaraderie and group dynamics among the HJ memmbers themselves. Available photographs provide some insights into both topics, although intrepreting the photogrphs is a challenge and highly subjective. There may be more interesting aspects that can be explored in these photographs. Here we would be interested in any insights readers can offer.







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Created: 6:07 PM 6/6/2007
Last updated: 7:22 PM 6/6/2007