Until Germany’s surrender in 1945, boys and
girls from ages 6 to 18 participated in the
following Nazi youth organizations:
Little Fellows (Pimpf):
Boys ages 6–10
participated in mostly outdoor activities such
as hiking and camping.
GermanYoung People (Deutsche
Jungvolk):
Boys ages 10–13 continued
participation in outdoor
activities but with an added
military focus including
marching and navigation. Nazi
views on racial purity and
anti-Semitism were pushed.
Hitler Youth (Hitler Jugend):
Boys ages 14–18 further
advanced their preparation to
be soldiers by doing military
activities. After age 18, boys
were required to join armed
forces.
Young Maidens (Jungmädel):
Girls ages
10–14 were indoctrinated with Nazi ideals as
well as health regimes and how to be good
mothers and housewives.
League of German Girls/Maidens
(Deutscher Mädel):
Girls ages 14–21
continued their health regimes such as
rhythm gymnastics and further prepared for
their roles as the mothers.
After the surrender of the German armed
forces in May 1945, some German boys
fought in guerilla groups known as
“Werewolves.”
The following
year, Allied
occupation
authorities
required young
Germans to
undergo a “de-
Nazification”
process and
training in
democracy
designed to
counter the
effects of twelve years of Nazi propaganda.
The Austrian resistance
The von Trapp family is one depiction of the
resistance in Austria. German troops first entered
Austria on March 12, 1938.
The next day, Austria was incorporated into
Germany in a union known as Anschluss. Anschluss
extended the Nazi anti-Jewish policies to Austria.
Although there was no unified Austrian resistance,
labor movements of the political left including
Socialists and Communists formed their own
resistance unions. Religious groups including
Catholics and Jehovah’s Witnesses also formed
resistance organizations. Even former crown
prince Otto von Hapsburg denounced Nazism and
opposed Anschluss by helping Austrians, including
Jews, flee Austria.
Resistance actions ranged from distribution of
leaflets and collecting donations to attempts to
disrupt war machinery. Communist youth groups
attempted to reach Nazi youth by sending anti-Nazi
letters to young soldiers. Much of this resistance
was met with extreme violence: groups were almost
always broken up by the gestapo and many of
the Communist youth were executed. While the
various forms of Austrian resistance were not strong
enough to overthrow the Nazis, their motives and
actions reveal that not all individuals, such as the
von Trapp family, succumbed to Nazi propaganda.
JANUARY 1942
Senior Nazi officials
met at a villa
outside of Berlin
in what is known
as the Wannsee
Conference. They
dicussed and plan
the “Final Solution,”
a euphemism for the
mass murder of the
Jewish population in
Europe.
MAY 1940
Auschwitz
concentration
camp was
established by
the Nazis.
NOVEMBER 1940
The Warsaw Ghetto
was sealed off. There
were around 400,000
Jewish people inside.
JULY 1941
Germany invaded the Soviet Union.
The Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing
squads) were assigned to kill Jews
behind the front lines. By the spring
of 1943, the Einsatzgruppen had
murdered more than a million Jews.
APRIL – MAY 1943
An order was issued to empty the
Warsaw Ghetto and deport the
inmates to Treblinka. Following
the deportation of some Warsaw
Jews, news leaked back to those
remaining in the Ghetto of mass
killings. A group of about 750
mainly young people decided
that they had nothing to lose
by resisting deportation. Using
weapons smuggled into the
Ghetto, they fired on German
troops who tried to round up
inmates for deportation. They held
out for nearly a month before they
were taken by the Nazis and shot
or sent to death camps.
LATE 1943
With the Russians advancing
from the East, many death
camps were closed and
evidence destroyed.
JANUARY 1945
Many remaining camps were closed and
evidence of their existence destroyed. Those
who had survived the camps so far were
taken on forced death marches.
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
NOVEMBER 1945
Surviving Nazi leaders were put on trial at
Nuremberg.
MAY – JULY 1944
440,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to
Auschwitz.
OCTOBER 1944
The gas chambers at Auschwitz were used
for the last time.
APRIL 1945
Hitler committed suicide.
MAY 1945
Germany surrendered and the war in Europe
was over.
1945
Rescue and Liberation
Resistance
The Camps
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