Soldiers of 12th SS Division "Hitler Youth"
After Receiving Awards for Bravery
Image: Public Domain
Many of the German soldiers Framingham men encountered in 1944 and 1945 were young --16,17,18 and 19 years old.Some of them belonged to fanatical Waffen SS units like the notorious 1st SS "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" Panzer Division,the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend" ("Hitler Youth") and the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich." All of these units have a history of documented atrocities and war crimes.
A Young SS trooper
Image: rarehistoricalphotos.com
As the Allies approached Germany,resistance stiffened even while the Allied strategic bombing campaign was pulverizing German cities and the Red Army steamroller crashed in from the east.Battles in the Hurtgen Forest,the city of Aachen,along the West Wall/Siegfried Line and in the Bulge/Ardennes were brutal and unforgiving.In spite of facing an adversary (the Allies) that was well provisioned with modern equipment and ample supplies,had control of the air and the sea lines of communication,and was becoming increasingly adept at coalition (with allies) warfare,the Germans fought on.
The question remains -- Why did the Germans fight so hard in a losing cause? In order to fully comprehend this historical reality,it is important to explore the upbringing of these soldiers,most who came of age in a highly structured, omnipresent,dictatorial regime.So,what was the underlying National Socialist Workers Party (NSDAP, "Nazi") strategy for the development and sustainment of the "Thousand Year Reich?"Let's take a look.
Many have some understanding of the German grand strategy and its seemingly disparate components.Few appreciate the totality of the effort and its impact on Germany's citizens -- both young and old.The central theme of the strategy was the creation of a "national community," or Volksgemeinschaft,with a new Fuhrer who was pivotal to its rapid growth and long term health.The Third Reich’s primary objectives were to establish and normalize the Führerpinzip (the “Leader Principle"),expand the “racially superior” Volksgemeinschaft (the “People’s Community”), and create Lebensraum (“Living Space”) for this “exceptional” community to grow and flourish.
The Fuhrer reviewing Hitler Youth at a Party Rally
Image: Heinrich Hoffmann/Ullstein bild
The Führerpinzip required Germans to accept that Hitler had all of the solutions to Germany’s problems.His proclamations and decisions were to be considered correct and to be fully executed by all elements of German society.Those challenging these new norms were considered to be betraying Hitler and, therefore,Germany.
Soldiers Swearing Allegiance to Hitler-not the German Constitution
Image: Süddeutsche Zeitung
"The Fuhrer Oath"
Source: The US Holocaust Memorial Museum
The main entrance to the Auschwitz Camp complex
"Work Makes You Free"
Image: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The concept of Lebensraum, or “living space,”served as a critical component in the Nazi world view.It drove both its military strategy and racial policy.This space,secured and dominated by the racially superior Volk,would require the displacement of people considered inferior (such as Slavs and Jews).This racial and cultural territory was considered to be the “East.”
The 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa)
Image: Imperial War Museum
Only under National Socialism could Germans unify under “Ein Reich, ein Volk, ein Führer” (“One empire, one people,one leader”) and proceed with the task of combating its enemies: Socialists, Bolsheviks, Jews, and those “defeatists” who had “stabbed the German Army in the back” during World War I.
Image: Carl Werner, Reichenbach i.V.
Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Public Enlightenment & Propaganda
Image: Bengt von zur Muehlen/Yad Vashem Photo Archive
Joseph Goebbels was the driving force behind the sophisticated propaganda program that cascaded from Germany's strategic objectives.Goebbels used all the weapons in his arsenal to develop the "Cult of Hitler," boost morale,shape public opinion and behavior and fully indoctrinate Germany’s youth.
"The Nazi Party tried to extend its influence over all aspects of German society.The Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls were developed as Nazi Party youth groups to introduce children and juveniles to Nazi ideology and policy.These youth groups also prepared Germany’s young people for war."
Source: The US Holocaust Memorial Museum (https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/hitler-youth-2)
Hitler Youth at a 1935 Party Rally
Image: US Holocaust Memorial Museum/Wide World Photo
To be effective, propaganda must be simple,emotional and repeatable – characteristics that Hitler and Goebbels clearly understood.Equally important was to ensure the regime’s messaging was contained in media that also provided German citizens with distractions from the worries and concerns of daily life.Continuous,overly political messaging can lead to wide-spread apathy;entertaining and relaxing programs can mitigate that concern.For example,the Volksempfänger (“people’s receiver”) was welcomed into German homes precisely because these low cost radios were the medium for good entertainment and welcome distractions.Radio programming included operas,classical concerts,light dance music,games,comedy,and popular arts.
The regime’s integrated approach included centralized control of the arts (painting,sculpture, etc.),educational materials, films (such as The Triumph of the Will and The Eternal Jew), books (e.g. Der Giftpilz-The Poisonous Mushroom),radio,the press (newspapers/tabloids/illustrated magazines such as Der Stürmer,Das Reich,Völkischer Beobachter and Signal),music, theater, political festivals/party rallies,newsreels (like Die Deutsche Wochenschau),traveling museum/art exhibits (such as the Degenerate Art Exhibit),and picture posters.Here,Hitler, Goebbels and the Nazi elite were able to cleverly manipulate the fears and weaknesses of each impacted societal group with adeptly targeted and precise,effective messaging.
Propaganda Poster for the Volksempfänger radio Image: Bundesarchiv Koblenz
Der Sturmer newspaper
Image: Public Domain
"You are the Front" 1940-41 poster
Image: "Nazi Posters 1933-1945," Calvin University
Pre/early war propaganda focused on the "cult of personality," creation of a united people and a rejuvenated nation.As the war progressed,the propaganda program shifted to support changing national objectives.On February 18, 1943,Joseph Goebbels delivered a speech in the Berlin Sportpalast (Sports Palace) to an audience of 14,000 hand-picked Germans.In this speech,he announced the country’s new “Total War" posture.This was in response to significant battlefield setbacks in North Africa (El Alamein, Operation Torch) and on the Eastern Front (Stalingrad) and the air and civil defense challenges posed by the Allied Strategic Bombing Campaign.This new footing would now include both full economic and military mobilization.Greater participation and personal sacrifices were asked for/demanded from both male and female citizens to achieve victory in this war of attrition against an overwhelming Allied coalition.
Prior to implementing the Third Reich's “world philosophy,” or Weltanschauung,the regime had to engineer an aggressive economic recovery and champion and fund bold rearmament and military mobilization programs.Eventually,war was determined to be the answer to territorial conquest and access to the foreign economic resources Germany was so critically lacking.
War Production
Image: Bundesarchiv, Bild
In the final analysis,the combination of extreme nationalism,and anti-Semitism,enabled by Hitler’s charisma and supported by an all-encompassing propaganda program,greatly appealed to a population mired in political upheaval,hyper-inflation,high unemployment,crushing WWI reparations and violence in the streets.It is no surprise,therefore,that some of the ideologically,fully indoctrinated German soldiers of 1944-1945 would consider fighting to the last bullet a sacred honor. Others reconsidered their options as the Red Army approached Berlin and the western Allies crossed the Rhine.
Sources
The Imperial War Museum
The US Holocaust Memorial Museum
The US National WWII Museum
Richard J. Evans,The Third Reich at War, 2009
Robert Gellately,The Oxford Illustrated History of the Third Reich, 2018
Max Hastings,Das Reich,The March of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Through France, June 1944, 2013
Cathal J. Nolan, The Allure of Battle, 2017
Richard Overy,Blood and Ruins,The Last Imperial War,1931-1945, 2021
William J. Shirer,The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, 1959
Recommended Videos
https://archive.org/details/TriumphOfTheWillgermanTriumphDesWillens
(The Triumph of the Will)
https://youtu.be/_NsAkHtfieE (Die Deutsche Wochenschau)
https://youtu.be/uu_xiIiKD1s (Party Rally)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRmHOSnehTk (Goebbels: Do You Want Total War?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W9jW2uBMAs (1937 Degenerate Art Exhibit)
Educational Film: National Socialism – Youth (HJ and BDM)(The Hitler Youth and League of German Women)
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