Rise Of Hitler Youth In The 1930's

According to my Grandfather, who was a member of Hitler Youth but not by choice, it was a violent movement. He lived in Potsdam, Germany (a small suburb right outside of Berlin), where Hitler’s high ranking officers lived. My Grandfather was forced to be a member of Hitler Youth even though he did not agree with the choices of Hitler. He said he remembered seeing Nazis coming down his street in big, black, expensive cars, patrolling the streets. There was a lovely, elderly Jewish lady that lived next door that would bake cookies for my grandfather and his five brothers. He remembers watching them take her away, but as she fought for her life, she was executed in the street. This was a very violent time period, making Hitler Youth just as violent. Hitler Youth started as a youth movement, but was later greatly changed. …show more content…
It was created in the 1920’s, and by 1933 had already a hundred thousand members (“Hitler Youth movement-History Learning site”). As a result of most of the other youth movements being destroyed, Hitler Youth quickly grew, and by 1936 had about four million members (“Hitler Youth movement-History Learning site”). In 1936, Hitler Youth had a rival organization called “Greater German Youth” created by Gerhard Robachs and this was a short power struggle for Hitler Youth (“Hitler Youth movement-History Learning site”). It was taking future members of Hitler Youth because some people joined Greater German Youth instead. Other people, although, avoided joining Hitler Youth by paying subscriptions but that was soon not an option anymore (“Hitler Youth Wikipedia”). My Grandfather unfortunately didn’t have the money to pay these