All language subtitles for Hitler Youth [S01E01] - The Nazi Child Army

ARTILLERY FIRE

EXPLOSION

Berlin, April 1945:
the last days of the Third Reich.

Some of the Fuhrer's last defenders
were adolescents,

not yet 15 years old.

Their only goal was to protect
their leader, Adolf Hitler.

Up against the Soviets,
they had no chance of winning.

But only a few years earlier,

they had sworn to give their lives
for Hitler.

They would stand by their promise
and see it through to the end.

Who were these boy soldiers?

How did the regime
win their absolute loyalty?

Some of these boys
are still alive today.

They know what it meant to grow up
during the Nazi era.

How did these boys get caught up
in the darkness of Nazism?

They were the future of the regime,
its showcase...

and its cannon fodder.

The Hitler Youth began with
the Nazi Party, in the 1920s.

Germany was traumatised by defeat
in the First World War.

The Treaty of Versailles
required Germany to pay reparations

and cost it part of its territory.

Germans saw the treaty
as a humiliation.

One man determined to overthrow it:
Adolf Hitler.

After failing in a coup attempt
in 1923,

he hoped to win power
through the popular vote.

To help wage the campaign
and hang posters,

the Party called upon its militia,
the SA,

and on apprentices
and high school students.

The young militants made up
the Nazi Party youth wing,

known as the Hitlerjugend
the Hitler Youth.

There was still only a handful
of them, aged 14 to 18.

In 1920s Germany, almost every
political party and trade union

had its own youth movement.

There were Young Communists,
Young Catholics...

All were inspired by the example
of the Boy Scout movement,

founded in England in 1907,

and all offered outdoor activities.

Like the other movements,

the Hitler Youth offered activities
for boys without class distinction.

For many of them, it was more than
they could have hoped for.

As in the Scouts, the compulsory
uniforms hid social differences.

Like the Nazi Party itself,

the Hitler Youth movement
rapidly gained ground.

At the start of the 1930s,

Hitler was not convinced
that these youngsters,

all too young too vote,

were of any real use to him.

But in 1932,

over 70,000 boys
packed a stadium in Potsdam

to greet Hitler.

On that day, Hitler realised
that these youngsters

were the future of his movement.

He confided to his inner circle,

"We older ones are used up.
But my magnificent youngsters!

"What material! With them,
I can make a new world."

CRACKLE OF FIREWORKS

In 1933, the Great Depression
helped carry Hitler to power.

The new German chancellor
began bringing Germany to heel.

Democracy was dead.
The opposition parties were banned.

Hitler wanted to transform the
country with an extreme nationalism

focused entirely on its leader.

To draw the nine million German
children into the ranks of the Party

and transform them into Nazis, Hitler
would use both threat and seduction.

As of 1933, the youth organisations
of all rival political parties

were dissolved and incorporated
into the Hitler Youth

or the League of German Girls.

To attract the remaining young
people, Hitler relied on seduction.

The Nazi youth movement
took over all the summer camps,

which had been the highlight of the
year for every youth organisation.

Far away from parents, in a setting
that appeared adventurous and free,

it was easier to indoctrinate
the children.

A holiday spirit and group activities

held out the promise
of a happy future.

Supervised by leaders
barely older than themselves,

most children loved it.

The numbers skyrocketed.
In twelve months,

Hitler Youth membership
went from a hundred thousand

to over two million.

As long as you were not Jewish
or a political opponent,

life could be quite pleasant
under the Third Reich.

There were boys and girls
in the Nazi youth movement,

but it was the boys who were
most important to Hitler.

They were the ones he was counting on
to see his plans through.

They were the future soldiers
of his empire,

and a special program awaited them.

Their activities imitated war.

They learned to use a compass
and a map to cross enemy territory,

to camouflage themselves,
and to make covert approaches.

They were fascinated by these
"adventure games".

Their escapades were filmed
like made-in-Germany westerns.

The films were screened in cinemas,

where they were widely viewed
and attracted new recruits.

Hitler had written in Mein Kampf
that a healthy individual

with a basic education
but strong willpower

was more valuable than
an intellectual weakling.

The king of sports was fighting.

Not every boy was cut out for this.
The weak were humiliated.

The Nazis valued only
physical struggle and victory.

Anyone who could not live up to
these expectations was a failure,

and had to be treated as one.

MARCHING SONG

The harassment and humiliation
were so intense

that some boys broke down,
and even committed suicide.

But such incidents were covered up.

Officially, everyone in the Hitler
Youth was a valiant fighter.

Three years after taking over the
youth movements of the other parties,

the regime took over the church
youth movements as well.

The churches were also
excluded from sport

and even from education.

DRUM AND FIFE MUSIC

Young Germans could no longer
belong to sports clubs

or go to summer camps
outside of the Hitler Youth.

Soon one flag flew
on every road in Germany:

that of the Hitler Youth.

Members of the Hitler Youth
were permitted from an early age

to parade through the streets.

They were now the only youngsters
to have this right.

The parades gave the boys
a sense of unity

as they practised marching.

Their step became standardised,
like their thinking.

The Hitler Youth were flattered,
congratulated.

A showpiece of the regime,

they were carried away by
the exhilaration of the parades.

BRASS BAND MARCHING MUSIC

RHYTHMIC DRUMBEATS

The Fuhrer himself would sometimes
attend these gigantic rallies.

TRUMPET FANFARE

The nation of tomorrow
would meet its creator.

MARTIAL MUSIC

BOYS SHOUT 'HEIL'

The sight of Hitler worked the boys
into a frenzy of adulation.

CRIES OF 'HEIL'

Nazi propaganda sold German youth
an agenda:

"You will be someone,
you will be strong,

"you will have a wonderful life."

The young were only too happy
to fall under its spell.

By 1936, there were 5 million to
shout their adoration for the Fuhrer.

At every rally, they sang their hymn.

RHYTHMICAL SINGING

To complete the brainwashing,

the "Heil Hitler" salute
became part of everyday life.

MARCHING FEET

SHOUTS OF 'HEIL'

Repeating "Heil Hitler" mechanically
dozens of times a day,

the Hitler Youth were indoctrinated
with National Socialism.

Ideological control was tightening.

The Nazis controlled everyone
who had any contact with children.

The regime had already
tackled the churches

by confining their activities
to formal worship.

It had tackled parents by removing
children from their influence

during summer camps.

It also drew up
new curricula for schools.

Children were taught to hate
"the Jew" and "the Bolshevist".

Racial laws were brought in.

Patriotic songs were replaced
with hymns of hatred,

repeated so often
that those who learned them

can still recall them 70 years later.

BREAKING GLASS

Being taught to hate
made action easier.

The Hitler Youth joined
the stormtroopers of the SA

in boycotting Jewish shops
and humiliating their owners.

By 1936, Germany had recovered
from the Depression.

Hitler had reduced unemployment
through rearmament

and large-scale public works.

He had made Germany the most
powerful country in Europe.

In the second half of the 1930s,
he went on the offensive.

In 1938 he annexed Austria,

then seized the Sudetenland
from Czechoslovakia.

War was approaching.

Hitler needed the Hitler Youth.

They were the future soldiers
of the Wehrmacht.

Hitler meant to toughen
and train them

to be the warriors he wanted.

DRAMATIC MUSIC

WHISTLES

SHOUTED INSTRUCTIONS

The boys of the Hitler Youth began
to receive true military training.

A competitive spirit
was encouraged at every level.

At age 16, the boys hiked for
20 kilometres with eight-kilo packs.

They learned to master their fear
and how to be warriors.

They were given things they had
dreamed of in the adult world.

They were taught to shoot,
with air rifles for the youngest,

and then firearms.

GUNFIRE

They trained in small boats
to prepare them for the navy.

And those who dreamed
of the air force

could begin their training
with gliders.

With these oversized toys, the boys
of the Hitler Youth played at war.

And it was a serious game.

To obtain unconditional obedience
from this army of boys,

there was one final step: the oath.

DRUM ROLL

At every age,
members of the Hitler Youth

swore loyalty to the Reich
and their Fuhrer.

But at age 10 they swore:

"In the presence of this blood banner
which represents our Fuhrer,

"I swear to devote all my energies
and my strength

"to the saviour of our country,
Adolf Hitler.

"I am willing and ready to give up
my life for him, so help me God."

They accepted this
without batting an eyelid.

The Nazi youth movement had become
a formidable organisation.

In 1929, it had numbered
around 17,000.

Ten years later, 98 per cent of
all young Germans were part of it,

that is, over 8 million
children and adolescents.

It was a huge organisation,
with its own Reich office.

To convince the last holdouts,
membership became mandatory.

Refusing the call
to join the Hitler Youth

exposed families to heavy fines,
and even arrest.

Those who had reached fighting age
were excited to joined the Wehrmacht,

and even the SS.

And the others would not remain idle.

SHOUTS OF 'HEIL'

ARTILLERY FIRE

On September 1, 1939,
war broke out.

The Wehrmacht invaded Poland,

supposedly in retaliation
for a Polish attack.

Its advance was lightning fast.

EXPLOSION

AIR RAID SIREN

Eight months after Poland, the
Wehrmacht attacked in the west.

In May 1940, it invaded and occupied
the Netherlands, Belgium,

Luxembourg and France.

For the German people, Hitler was
the greatest strategist of all time.

Day after day,
the boys of the Hitler Youth

followed the progress
of the German troops.

They couldn't believe it:

in just six weeks,
the Wehrmacht crushed France.

ANTI-TANK, MACHINE GUN FIRE

Hitler didn't stop.

In June 1941, he unleashed his
offensive against the Soviet Union.

The years of training paid off.

The troops who had been
part of the Hitler Youth

proved to be formidable warriors.

ROAR OF FLAMETHROWER

When they came home on leave,

they were called on to motivate
the soldiers of tomorrow.

As the German army drove east,
special units called Einsatzgruppen,

partly made up of
former Hitler Youth,

followed in their rear.

Their mission:
to kill Jewish civilians.

Salomon Perel was a young German Jew.

He had fled to the East to escape
the anti-Semitism in Germany.

In 1941, he was captured
and questioned

when German units
entered Byelorussia.

Salomon Perel hid his real name

and went by the more German-sounding
Josef Perjell.

Still a minor, he was enrolled in
a Hitler Youth boarding school

in Germany, where he became
a full member of the Hitler Youth.

As the war went on,

so did the physical and ideological
preparation of the Hitler Youth.

Today's lesson:
Aryan racial superiority.

It taught the ideal depth, height
and width of the skull...

the ideal colour of
the eyes and hair,

and the racial categories
of Nazi science.

One day, Salomon Perel
was questioned by his race teacher.

EXPLOSIONS

By the end of 1942,

Germany had lost the initiative
in North Africa

and on the Eastern Front.

MACHINE GUN, ARTILLERY FIRE

Almost all the men of fighting age
had gone to the front.

The Hitler Youth were mobilised
to take their place.

From the age of 14,
they were sent door-to-door

collecting rags, paper, and metals.

They were recruited as postmen,
tram drivers

and unskilled labourers for work
on the road and railways.

They were sent to work in the fields.

Their support for the economy
was indispensable.

While the newsreels
praised their iron will,

in reality the boys suffered
and began to have doubts.

Their "community service"
in factories and mines

was more like hard labour.

OMINOUS CHORD, HOWLING WIND

Early in 1943, the Hitler Youth
were in for a shock.

The so-called "sub-humans"
of the Red Army

had crushed the supermen
of the Wehrmacht.

At Stalingrad, the Axis powers
lost hundreds of thousands of men,

killed, wounded
or taken prisoner.

All talk of a German victory parade
in Red Square

was gone for good.

Germany was also losing the air war.

Long-range British
and American bombers

were attacking Germany's industry
and its cities alike.

WHISTLE OF FALLING BOMBS

The Hitler Youth had wanted
to fight the war,

and now the war had come to them.

Germany was hard hit.

In the rubble, the Hitler Youth
became amateur firefighters

and paramedics.

Indoctrinated by the Nazi regime
for more than ten years,

the Hitler Youth
were promised a dream

but now found themselves
living a nightmare.

And worse was to come.

Nazi Germany's time of conquest
was over.

As the Allies closed in
on every front,

it would be left to these boys
to defend the regime

until the final collapse.

CLATTER OF METAL