Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM)
• Prepared for NS-Womanhood.
• During the war they served in civilian defense capacity.
Berlin Victory Parade-1940
Wartime bicycle dispatch rider
Hitler-Jugend (HJ)• Used to train teenage
males for service to country and military-most training has military emphasis.
• Move from HJ to RAD, NSKK, NSFK and eventually to SA, SS or military.
• By end of war HJ actually serving as combat units.
HJ Awards ceremony for valor during air raids of
Hamburg, 1943
HJ on Eastern Front late in war
Iron Cross awardees-March 1945
Annual HJ Camp-late war
HJ captured by U.S. Troops
Hitler awards the Iron Cross to defenders of Berlin just days
before his death
Wehrmacht
• Many soldiers were not members of the NSDAP but they did support Hitler and were an important source of power.
• The army eventually connected their survival to Hitler’s.
Hitler’s Rise• In rise to power, there are potential problems
between SA and Wehrmacht.
• Night of Long Knives relieved some of that tension.
• 1938 Hitler destroyed Army leadership.– Defense Minister Field Marshal Werner von
Blomberg forced to resign (Hitler takes over).– SS framed Army Commander-in-Chief, General
Freiherr Werner von Fritsch.
Transformation of Wehrmacht to Hitler’s Army• Accomplished in part by the destruction of the
“primary group”.
• As casualties mount (especially in Russia), army groups lost cohesion and Esprit de Corps as a “local” group.
• Forced units to become more mixed and “locality” replaced by sense of National Patriotism.
• Swastika again connected party and non-party members.
Traditional German Military Discipline
• Total obedience among troops was politicized by the Nazi’s.
• Harsh discipline caused brutality among troops, as enemy is dehumanized, Hitler is deified.
Other Factors
• Large portion of army had grown up under the Nazi system.
• As war worsened, they look for “mystical” solutions.
• Nazi propaganda forced them to see enemy (especially Soviets) as the end of civilization-forced obedience to the end.
Top Related