"By the skillful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make a people see even heaven as hell or an extremely wretched life as paradise." - Adolf Hitler
Through the use of the media, and the elimination of opposition, the Third Reich was able to manipulate the German people into global conflict. Everyday people were convinced by Nazi party officials like Adolf Hitler, and Joseph Goebbels (Minister of Propaganda) to blindly obey instructions through every available medium: speeches, rallies, radio, television, leaflets, and posters. People like Melita Maschmann were entranced by the Nazi's promises of prosperity and "couldn't understand why her parents didn't support a great man like Adolf Hitler, who said that a person's money and titles did not matter. All that mattered was whether a person contributed to the well-being of the people" (Bartoletti, 16). When Hitler came into power, he used powerful tools to gain total control of the German people. "Hitler wanted to achieve Gleichschaltung or 'conformity,' in all aspects of German society" (Bartoletti, 32). People who participated in resistance movements like The White Rose, a group that contradicted the Nazi government, were killed, or jailed and their work was destroyed. The Nazis eliminated all voices but their own, gaining nearly complete control of all the information available to the German citizens. With this control, the Nazi's could make lies reality, and use information to their advantage to control the German people. The Nazi regulation of information convinced most Germans to follow Nazi rule. The widespread conformity of Germans, especially the youth, opened the door for top Nazis to completely control the masses.
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Children and teens were perhaps the most entranced by Hitler and the Nazi party, and were recruited and trained to serve through the Hitler Youth. Hitler saw the value of the youth and believed "He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future." (Famous Quotes) The high Nazi command was able to manipulate the needs and desires of young Germans to get them to join the Hitler Youth. Hitler Youth were taught "the spirit, duty,...discipline" (Bartoletti, 44) and the unconditional loyalty of a soldier. They were taught to follow orders without question, and were punished when they doubted leadership. Karl Schnibbe, a Hitler Youth member "disobeyed a direct order...Karl was drummed out of the Hitler Youth for insubordination, and a dismissal letter was placed in his file...the dismissal letter from the Hitler Youth was used against him as proof that he was not a loyal German. It was an accusation that could bring jail or even the death penalty" (Bartoletti, 35). German leadership wanted conformity from German citizens, and by severely punishing anyone who disobeyed, they scared much of Germany, and particularly the youth, into blindly following Nazi German leadership.
After subjecting citizens to training in the Hitler Youth, a small number of powerful Nazi officials could control and manipulate the youth of Germany. By mass manipulation, these youth were groomed to participate in an unparalleled genocide. The Nazi's control of the youth contributed greatly to the Nazi success among the German people, and helped fuel World War II and its atrocities. Hitler and the Nazi Party "rose to power on the shoulders of politically active youth" (Bartoletti 161). |
A 16 year old Hitler Youth soldier captured in the street fighting in Berlin breaks down. Perhaps this photo captures the boy's moment of realization that he, along with many other German youth were manipulated by high ranking Nazis. Many Hitler Youth came to understand this in the years after the War.