14. The Explosive Growth of the Hitler Youth
Young people were encouraged and pressured by the Nazis to join the Hitler Youth – and their parents were pressured to sign their children up. Jews were excluded, and Jewish children were enrolled in their own youth groups in the 1930s. As to Aryan kids, between enthusiasm, coercion, and peer pressure, the Nazi youth organization’s ranks exploded. In December, 1936, membership was made mandatory for all Aryan children. By 1937, more than 5,400,000 kids, or 65% of those aged ten to eighteen, were enrolled. In March, 1939, children were conscripted en masse into the Nazi youth organization, regardless of their parents’ objections. Those who failed to comply were threatened with punishment, as the Hitler Youth became Germany’s sole legal youth movement. By 1940, membership had grown to more than 7,200,000, or 82% of kids in the ten to eighteen years old age bracket.
