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Did the children in Britain have to join a youth group?
By the age of 10, little boys joined Hitler Youth or Hitler Jugend.
All youth age 14 or older in Germany were required by Hitler to be enrolled Hitler Youth. Joseph Ratzinger was conscripted but refused to attend meetings.
Hitler banned other youth parties/organisations and ensured throughout the German school system there was phyiscal and verbal pressure to join from fellow peers.
This task fell to Reich Youth Leaders Baldur Von Schirach ( founder of the HJ or Hitler Jugend) and later Artur Axmann, an SS Officer who wanted ( and succeeded) in using the HJ as a feed ramp for SS officer candidates. Von Schirach survived the war, I am not sure about Herr Axmann- contributing to well, War crimes by youngsters does not look good.
All youth in Germany were automatically enrolled in Hitler's youth group. Benedict rarely attended meetings and dropped out.
The intent was to breed "perfect" little Germans. The Nazis tried to inbreed hatred while instilling national "pride" in children. This was an attempt to conform the children and was really only brainwashing them. Hitler youth were used by the Nazis to spy on and report enemies of the state.
In 1936, it became all but compulsory to join the Hitler Youth. Youths could avoid doing any active service if they paid their subscription but this became all but impossible after 1939.
You could be any religion except Jewish. Most Germans are Catholics or Lutherans.
Hitler wanted to spread his antisemitic ideas, but he had to get the whole German population to believe him. Hitler realized that if he targeted the youth with his ideals then they would grow up with his deals and he could build a generation that had antiseptic views. Making the young people join the Hitler Youth is a form of indoctrination. This basically means to teach a one-sided or biased ideal. So why teach the children? The point of teaching children is because they are less resistant to change. You can relate with your own life. When you were a toddler did you ever question your parents? For example, if a mother told her child not to talk to strangers the child would accept this and not talk to strangers. But if a mother told a teenager not to talk to strangers, the teenager would ask the mother why and be more defiant in following the mother's command. Young people do not need reasoning behind why they should do something because their minds are not developed enough, and Hitler saw the young people as a jackpot in helping spread his views. If you start indoctrinating the youth you will create a generation that will grow up with these ideals and teach their own kids their ideals. Had Hitler succeeded there would have been several generations of people would had anti-semetic views in Germany.
One source describes an enrollment of 9 million by the end of the war. (There is a lot more information about the Hitler Youth at the related link.) My Mother-in-law said she was inducted into the Hitler Youth during the war at about age 14. She said it was mandatory for all teens to join it. (see related link)
Even though Hitler did not win the WW2, he had a lot of help from Hitler Youth (HJ). Hitler youth gained massive support from the future generation and the PARENTS. Propaganda poster made Hitler youth look fun ( which it actually was) and also taught kids on how to behave. Hitler was thinking long-term as he was using HJ to indoctrinate (brain-wash) the youth so they will support him in the future. However, since Hitler lost the war, HJ was abolished. Hitler gained over a MILLION support from HJ. This gave Hitler the confident invade other countries and break the treaty of Versailles's law.