When Hitler was in power in Germany, he considered teenagers and children to be the future of the Third Reich. The Hitler Youth, an organization that when started was very similar to the Boy Scouts, was a way to indoctrinate the youth of Germany into believing Nazi ideals.
By 1929 the Hitler Youth had been restructured by separating groups according to age and introducing the Bund DeutscherMädel; the League of German Girls.
Aryan girls from the age of ten up to twenty-one attended meetings after school. They were taught cooking, sewing and cleaning as well as Nazi ideals. The elder girls were schooled in motherhood and Nazi propaganda. Exercise, gymnastics and other sports were emphasized for all age groups. They were all expected to dress in uniforms of a white blouse and navy blue skirts. No makeup was allowed, and girls with long hair were required to wear braids either on each side of their heads or wrapped around their heads. Hitler’s book was required reading.
Dr. Jutta Rüdiger, a doctor of psychology, was appointed as head of the organization in 1937 and told the girls:
“The task of our League is to bring young women up to pass on the National Socialist faith and philosophy of life. Girls whose bodies, souls and minds are in harmony, whose physical health and well-balanced natures are incarnations of that beauty which shows that mankind is created by the Almighty… We want to train girls who are proud to think that one day they will choose to share their lives with fighting men. We want girls who believe unreservedly in Germany and the Führer, and will instill that faith into the hearts of their children. Then National Socialism and thus Germany itself will last forever.”
After WWI Germany was in shambles. Hitler gained the confidence of the German people by rebuilding and recreating the country. Members were joining the League of German Girls because they were impressed by Hitler and the camaraderie of the program. Many had schoolgirl crushes on the Führer.
They enjoyed marching in parades, going on trips together, camping in the woods and singing around campfires. Social class was ignored, and the poorest girls were treated the same as those who came from affluent families. Joining gave the girls a sense of pride, and they felt they were doing something important for Germany which made them feel needed.
The League overrode school and parents’ wishes, and some joined to anger their parents or get away from school. They were encouraged to treat anyone who disagreed with the principals of Nazi Germany as the enemy including members of their families. Girls who had once been friends with Jews now looked on them as vermin.
At first, the League was voluntary but if a person did not join they were looked at suspiciously by others. Gradually Hitler banned all other children’s groups and by 1939 joining was obligatory. Colorful posters of fresh-faced young girls were plastered all over towns and cities praising the members and the work they did. Camps were often co-ed, and with the approval of the Nazi party, many girls returned home pregnant to assure the continuation of the Aryan race. Birth control was forbidden, and women were encouraged to have as many babies as possible with or without husbands. Awards were given out to mothers of large families for doing their duty for the Fatherland.
In the mid-1940s when the war started to go badly for the German Army, the girls were taught to fight. They were trained on how to use weapons, trench warfare and to be eagle-eyed snipers. Girls as young as ten were learning how to throw grenades, the art of sabotage and how to set booby traps. Those who participated in the final battles as the Russians overtook Berlin were abused and in a state of shock at the blood and carnage and most never recovered emotionally.
At the end of the war, the League of German Girls was disbanded and made illegal by the Allied Forces.