All language subtitles for m.m.n.g.i.w.s01e08.1080p.web.h264-cbfm_track3_[eng]

[theme music]

NARRATOR: Hitler Youth leader
Baldur von Schirach, not wanting

to be left out of the war,
received Hitler's permission

to volunteer for the army.

Artur Axmann, who had
headed the Hitlerjugend,

or HJ Social Affairs
Department, replaced him.

The war brought a
sense of urgency

to The daily activities
of the Hitler Youth.

Victory in the war
became the new mission.

HJ boys enthusiastically
sprang into action,

serving first as special
postmen delivering

draft notices in
their neighborhoods

along with monthly ration cards.

They also went door to door
collecting scrap metals

and other needed war materials.

Girls also enthusiastically
participated,

although they were
assigned duties

in keeping with
the Nazi viewpoint

on the role of females.

An old German slogan popular
even during the Nazi era,

summed it up.

It translated as "children,
church, and kitchen."

The primary role of young
females in Nazi Germany

was to give birth to
healthy, racially pure boys.

All women's organizations
were regarded

as auxiliaries that ranked
below their male counterparts.

BDM girls were assigned to
help care for wounded soldiers

in hospitals, to help
in kindergartens,

and to assist households
with large families.

They also stood on railway
platforms, offering

encouragement and
refreshments to army troops

departing for the front.

Following the rapid German
victory over Poland,

girls from the land service
were assigned to the acquired

territory in Northern Poland.

There, they assisted in the
massive Nazi repopulation

program in which native Poles
were forced from their homes

and farms by Himmler's SS troops
to make way for ethnic Germans.

Hitler Youth assisted
in this operation

by watching over
Polish families as they

were evicted from their homes.

They made sure the families only
took a few basic possessions.

Everything else of value was
left behind for the Germans.

Hitler considered
the war in the East

to be a war of annihilation in
which those considered racially

inferior, the Slavs and
Jews, would be forcibly

resettled or destroyed.

Masses of unwanted humanity were
forced into the Southeastern

portion of Poland.

In this part of Poland,
ghettos sprang up along

with slave labor
camps and, eventually,

the extermination camps.

Following the Nazi invasion
of the Soviet Union,

ethnic Germans began arriving
into Poland from areas

of Russia and Central Europe.

Hitler Youth were
utilized to help resettle

and nazify the new arrivals.

Many of them did not
even speak German.

Children of the new
arrivals were also

subject to mandatory
participation in the HJ.

In August 1940,
British air raids

began against Berlin
in retaliation for

the German bombing of London.

Hitler Youth boys had been
functioning as air raid wardens

and anti-aircraft or
flak gun assistants

in Berlin and other cities
since the outbreak of war.

They now saw their first action.

America's entry into the
war in December of 1941

resulted in a massive influx
of air power into England.

The first 1,000-bomber
raid occurred

in May 1942 against Cologne.

In that same month, the newly
created Wehrertuchtigungslager,

or WELS, translated as
Defense Strengthening Camps,

went into operation in Germany.

These camps provided three
weeks of mandatory war training

for all boys aged 16 to
18 under the supervision

of the Wehrmacht or army.

They learned how to handle
German infantry weapons,

including various
pistols, machine

guns, hand grenades,
and Panzerfausts,

or German bazookas.

By the beginning of
1943, Hitler's armies

were stretched to the limit
as they battled the combined

forces of the Soviet
Union, United States,

England, and other allies.

By this time, most
able-bodied German men

were in the armed services.

As a result, starting
on January 26, 1943,

anti-aircraft batteries
were officially manned

solely by Hitler Youth boys.

At first, they were stationed
at flak guns near their homes.

But as the overall
situation deteriorated,

they were transferred
all over Germany.

The younger boys were assigned
to operate searchlights

and assist with communications,
often riding their bicycles

as dispatch riders.

Following each bombing
raid, Hitler Youths

assisted in neighborhood
cleanup and helped

relocate bombed out civilians.

They knocked on doors
looking for unused rooms in

undamaged houses or apartments.

Occupants refusing to
let in the new tenants

were reported to
the local police

and could likely expect
a visit from the Gestapo.

The year 1943 marked
the military turning

point for Hitler's Reich.

In January, the German
6th Army was destroyed

by the Soviets at Stalingrad.

In May, the last German
strongholds in North Africa

fell to the Allies.

In July, the massive German
counter-attack against

the Soviets at Kursk failed.

The Allies invaded Italy.

An Allied front in Northern
Europe was anticipated.

Amid a dwindling
supply of manpower,

the existence of an
entire generation

of ideologically
pure boys, raised

as Nazis, eager to
fight for the fatherland

and even die for the f hrer,
could not be ignored.

The result was the formation
of the 12th SS Panzer Division,

Hitlerjugend.

In 1943, hundreds of thousands
of young German lives

had been lost on
the Eastern front,

with huge casualties in
and around Stalingrad.

According to Hubert Meyer,
who was the chief-of-staff

of the 12th SS
Hitlerjugend Division,

these events led to
extraordinary measures

on the German side, which can
most easily be summed up with

the expression "total war."

The division was to be a symbol
of the willingness of the German

Youth to sacrifice itself and
of its will to achieve victory.

Much like the
strict requirements

needed to be a member of the
first SS, Hitler's Praetorian

Guard Unit, it was stated that
volunteers for the Hitlerjugend

division must be
recruited from those born

during the first half of 1926.

Minimum height for the infantry
soldier was 5 feet 8 inches.

It was 5 feet 6 inches
for Panzer, motorcycle,

and communications units.

By comparison, minimum height
for a first SS Adolf Hitler

trooper was 5 feet 10 inches.

The youth had to
be fit for service

and should have been,
preferably, in possession

of the HJ Achievement Badge.

Once recruited, members had to
attend a pre-military training

period for six weeks.

This training was allowed to
replace national labor service.

The first divisional commander
was SS Oberf hrer Fritz Witt.

When he received
this command, he

was quite young to
command a division

at only 34 years of age.

Because the first SS had
taken so many casualties

fighting the
Russians, it was also

ordered that a
number of officers

and non-commissioned
officers or NCOs

be transferred to
the new unit as well.

Within a few months
after its formation,

the HJ had a total available
strength of 20,540 fanatical

and fiercely loyal soldiers.

HJ leaders, who had been
wounded in other units,

were often sent back to the
HJ to become instructors

to these teenage warriors.

They conducted the training.

Three priorities were
set during training.

The first was physical fitness.

Many, if not all, were
already extremely well fit

due to the hikes,
sports, and games

they played while in the HJ.

Interestingly, the recruits
were not allowed to smoke

and were not issued cigarettes,
but received candy instead.

The second priority was
character development.

Because of the lack of
NCOs, many HJ recruits

were encouraged
to show initiative

and leadership abilities so
that they could become NCOs.

Those that succeeded were
sent for additional training

through a special NCO
course where others would

be chosen as officer cadets.

The third and probably
most important

training priority was
weapons and combat training.

The youthful
soldiers were trained

in firearms in open terrain.

During the HJ's shakedown
training period in Beverloo,

Belgium, many of the
regularly expected training

rules and regulations
were tossed

aside for the new SS troopers.

The battle-hardened
Eastern front

SS and Wehrmacht veterans taught
the new HJ SS panzergrenadiers

all they could.

With the allotted
time, they used

realistic combat scenarios
amalgamated with many live fire

training exercises.

Formality and drill
practices were replaced

by practical combat lessons.

As a result, morale
was at very high

levels in the entire division
throughout their time

in Belgium.

After their training period had
been completed during the spring

of 1943, they were
deemed ready for transfer

to the Western Front.

Shortly before 6 June 1944, the
HJ-SS panzergrenadier division

was moved from its
training camp in Beverloo

to the town of Hasselt,
also in Belgium.

This is where the
HJ-SS Panzer division

was held as a
reserve unit to help

check the anticipated
Allied invasion.

[music playing]

The division was redeployed
to Normandy between the lower

Caen and Orne Rivers.

The division dug in and
made its defenses ready.

They camouflaged their
tanks, artillery,

and anti-aircraft guns.

They had endured nine
months of training

since officially being formed.

They were looking forward to
throwing back the Allied attack.

As one HJ wrote
home, "the Allies

plan to take apart the baby milk
division, as they called us.

But we were not afraid.

Sometimes we even got carried
away a bit and big headed.

We trusted our
officers and NCOs that

had been hardened in battle.

During combat training
with live ammunition,

we had enjoyed seeing them
in the mud together with us."

On 6 June, 1944, the Allies
invaded Normandy, France.

The HJ division
finally had its chance

to prove itself in battle.

They fought for the
fatherland and their f hrer.

With the confusion that
accompanied the paratroop

airdrops and the successive
landings of the Allied forces

from the sea, the
12th SS was ordered

to do reconnaissance duties
in the area of Caen, France.

On 7 June, the HJ
division was ordered

to attack the right flank of
British and Canadian Forces

near the Khan Luc
railroad line and drive

the enemy into the sea.

Close to 20,000 HJ soldiers
were ready for battle.

28 Canadian tanks were
promptly knocked out of action.

The shocking fanaticism
and reckless bravery

of the Hitler Youth in
battle astounded the British

and Canadians who fought them.

They sprang like
wolves against tanks.

If they were encircled
or outnumbered,

they fought on until
there were no survivors.

Young boys, years away
from their first shave,

had to be shot dead by
Allied soldiers old enough,

in some cases, to
be their fathers.

The fearless, cruel, domineering
youth Hitler had wanted

had now come of age and
arrived on the battlefield

with utter contempt for danger.

This soon resulted in
the near destruction

of the entire division.

The 12th suffered a grave loss
during the early fighting when

their beloved divisional
commander, Fritz Witt,

was killed when
British Naval fire hit

his regional command center.

The new divisional commander
became Kurt "Panzermeyer" Meyer.

At that time, he was the
youngest divisional commander

in the entire German army.

He was only 33.

By the middle of July, the
division had lost 3,000

soldiers and replacements were
becoming more difficult to find.

Many of these youthful soldiers
engaged in suicide missions

that seasoned Wehrmacht
soldiers would have never dared

to attempt, such as allowing
tanks to roll over them

and then detonating a grenade.

Their commanding
officer, Kurt Meyer,

proudly claimed, "I know every
single one of these grenadiers.

The oldest is barely 18.

The boys have not yet learned
how to live, but by god,

they know how to die."

Among the Allied
troops, they became

more hated for their war crimes
than their utter fanaticism.

In the late summer of
1944, the HJ division

shot 64 British and
Canadian prisoners

of war, which led to
the sentence of death

for their commanding officer,
Kurt Meyer, after the war.

Other sources put the number
of POWs killed outright at 164.

Many Allied soldiers came
to hate the young fanatics,

but they also earned
grudging respect.

One Canadian soldier said,
"They're a bad bunch,

but are they ever soldiers."

Over the next four
weeks, the division

managed to halt all Allied
attempts to take Caen,

despite the Allied
superior numbers

and overwhelming air supremacy.

The ferocity of the
combat during this period

equaled or exceeded anything the
German troops had encountered

on the Eastern Front.

Time and again to the
consternation and often sadness

of the attacking Allied troops,
the brave youth of the 12th

SS fought to the bitter end.

Despite their
successes in breaking

up several major
attacks, the division

suffered immense losses.

In the first week
of July 1944, Meyer

ignored orders to hold
the line north of Caen

and withdrew the shattered
remnants of his division

South of the city.

In the fighting from the day
after D-day until 9 July,

the division had lost
4,000 dead with a further

8,000 wounded and missing.

After Caen fell to the British,
the HJ division was withdrawn

from the Normandy front.

The once confident
fresh-faced Nazi youths were

now exhausted and filtered.

It was a sight which presented
a picture of deep human misery

as described by Meyer.

In August, the Germans mounted
a big counter-offensive

toward Avranches but were
pushed back from the North

by the British and Canadians and
by the Americans from the East

into the area around Falaise.

24 German divisions were trapped
inside the Falaise pocket.

A narrow 20-mile gap was
the sole avenue of escape.

The HJ division was sent to keep
the northern edge of this gap

open.

However, Allied air superiority
and massive artillery barrages

smashed the HJ as
well as the Germans

trapped inside the pocket.

Over 5,000 armored
vehicles were destroyed,

with 50,000 Germans
captured, while

20,000 managed to escape,
including the tattered

remnants of the HJ.

As tenacious as they were,
the teenaged soldiers

could not counter
Allied air power

or the massive amounts
of soldiers and materials

of the Allied war effort.

[music playing]

After Falaise gap,
the Hitlerjugend

was given a brief respite
but received virtually

no reinforcements or equipment.

The division was soon
thrown back into battle

and took part in the
fighting withdrawal

to the Franco-Belgian border.

By September 1944,
the division counted

less than 2,000 men without
armor or heavy equipment.

On 6 September, Belgian
partisans captured Kurt Meyer.

In the confusion
of the withdrawal,

the division was unable to
undertake a rescue attempt.

In his place.

SS Obersturmbannf hrer
Hubert Meyer was

given command of the division.

In November 1944, the division
was pulled out of the line

and sent to
Nuremburg in Germany,

where it was to be reformed.

The majority of the
much-needed reinforcements

were transferred Luftwaffe
and Kriegsmarine personnel,

and the reformed
division would never

match the elite status it had
boasted in the spring of 1944.

Late in the month, SS
Obersturmbannf hrer Hugo Kraas

replaced Hubert Meyer,
and the division was

attached to SS
Oberstgruppenf hrer Sepp

Dietrich's 6th SS Panzerarmee.

This unit was forming up for
operation Wacht am Rhein,

a large-scale offensive
to recapture Antwerp

and halt the Allied advance.

The operation opened
on 16 December 1944.

Kampfgruppe Peiper from the
Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler

led the assault, breaking
through the enemy lines.

The HJ, which was to follow
the Kampfgruppe and exploit

the breakthrough,
became bogged down

in traffic jams caused by the
12th Volksgrenadier Division.

When the division
reached the front,

it was met with heavy resistance
from American troops stationed

on the Elsenborn Ridge.

Despite several intense
efforts, the division could not

budge the American defenders.

As a result, the division was
ordered to swing left and follow

the advance line of the
remainder of the Leibstandarte

SS Adolf Hitler.

American defenders
prevented the division

from reaching its objective.

And after the destruction
of Kampfgruppe Peiper,

the advance of Dietrich's
army was halted.

The HJ was shifted south
to take part in the efforts

to capture Bastogne and saw
heavy fighting around the city.

By 18 January 1945,
the HJ, along with all

the German forces,
had been pushed

back to its starting positions.

On 20 January 1945,
6th SS Panzerarmee

was ordered east to Hungary.

Once there, it was to take part
in an offensive to recapture

the Hungarian oil fields.

This would open the
way to Budapest,

where 45,000 men of the 9th SS
Gebirgskorps had been encircled.

The HJ, alongside the LSS-AH as
a part of first SS Panzer Corps,

arrived in Hungary in early
February 1945, only a few days

before the city fell.

The division was thrown
into action against the Gran

Bridgehead, a strong salient
formed by the Soviets

over the Danube near
the town of Gran.

The HJ and the LSS-AH
both fought well,

and by the end of February, the
Bridgehead had been destroyed.

The division next took part
in Operation Fr hlingserwachen

or spring awakening,
the operation to retake

the Hungarian oil fields.

The attack got
underway on 6 March,

1945, in atrocious conditions.

The spring thaw meant
that the German attack was

confined to a few narrow roads.

And after initial
successes, the offensive

was aborted after a Soviet
counterattack threatened

to encircle the German forces.

After the failure of
Fr hlingserwachen,

Hitler lost faith
in the Waffen SS

and ordered that
the honorary cuff

bands issued to the divisions
involved in the attack

be returned.

Outraged at the order,
Dietrich refused

to pass it on to his men.

In mid-March, a heavy
Soviet counterattack

near Stuhlweissenburg split
army group of black in half

and resulted in a general
withdrawal toward Vienna.

The HJ was involved in many
desperate rearguard actions

and, on 13 April,
fell back from Vienna.

Withdrawing through
Odenberg and Hirtenberg,

the division reached
Linz, Austria,

which was the birthplace
of Adolf Hitler,

near the American lines.

On 8 May 1945, the
survivors of the division

surrendered to the
Americans at ends.

In a final act of
defiance, the division

refused to drape their
vehicles with white flags

as the Americans had ordered.

Kraas thanked his
boys for their valor,

loyalty, and comradely spirit.

They had fought until
they could no longer

hold out, long after
their beloved f hrer

had committed suicide.

On 8 May 1945, the
HJ entered captivity.

A total of 9,870
personnel, 328 officers,

1,698 NCOs, and
7,844 soldiers were

going into American POW camps.

The war for the 12th SS
Hitlerjugend Division was over.

While the 12th SS Panzer was
fighting its last battles,

other members of the
Hitler Youth came forward

to fight against the
Allies approaching

Germany from all sides.

In September 1944, Hitler
Youth leader Artur Axmann

proclaimed, "As the
sixth year of war begins,

Adolf Hitler's youth stands
prepared to fight resolutely

and with dedication for
the freedom of their lives

and their future.

We say to them, you must decide
whether you want to be the last

of an unworthy race despised by
future generations or whether

you want to be part of
a new time, marvelous

beyond all imagination."

With the Waffen SS and regular
army now depleted of officers,

Hitler ordered Hitler
Youth boys as young as 15

to be trained as replacements
and sent to the Russian front.

Everyone, both
young and old, would

be thrown into the final
fight to stop the onslaught

of Bolshevik hordes from
the East and Anglo-American

gangsters from the West.

On 25 September, 1944,
anticipating the invasion

of the German fatherland, the
Volkssturm, or people's storm,

was formed under the overall
command of Heinrich Himmler.

Every available
male, aged 16 to 60,

was conscripted
into this new army

and trained to use the
panzerfaust anti-tank weapon.

Objections to using even
younger boys were bypassed.

In the rural area of Germany, HJ
boys practiced guerilla warfare

against invading US troops.

In the forests, the boys stayed
hidden until the tanks passed,

waiting for the foot soldiers.

They would then spring up, shoot
at them, and throw grenades,

inflicting heavy casualties,
then dash away and disappear

back into the forest.

The Americans retaliated
with air attacks

and leveled several villages
in the surrounding area.

If the boys happen to get
cornered by American patrols,

they often battled
until the last boy was

killed rather than surrender.

And the boys kept
getting younger.

American troops reported
capturing armed eight-year-olds

at Aachen and
knocking out artillery

units operated entirely
by boys aged 12 and under.

Girls were also
used now, operating

88 millimeter anti-aircraft
guns alongside boys.

In February 1945, training
began for German children

as spies and saboteurs.

They called themselves
"werewolves."

Joseph Goebbels created the
werewolves in a desperate gamble

to continue the war
through guerilla warfare.

It would rely on
German youth that had

been reared in Nazi doctrine.

These young guerrilla
fighters, some younger than 12,

would hold out and strike at
the Allies behind the lines.

Escaped concentration camp
inmates were hunted and killed.

Allied soldiers were sniped at.

And wire was strung
across roads in order

to decapitate soldiers
driving down German roads.

The most successful
werewolf attack

was the assassination of
the anti-Nazi lord mayor

of Aachen, Franz Oppenhoff.

An SS man, two HJ
boys, and a BDM girl,

parachuted into Aachen,
entered the mayor's home,

and shot him to
death in March 1945.

All were killed on their
way back to Germany

after stepping on land mines.

Many other young HJ members were
parachuted behind enemy lines,

either Russian or
American, to wreak havoc.

Two Hitler Youths were captured
by the Americans near Brunswick

and were executed
on 1 June 1945.

They were 16 and 17 years old.

The werewolf program
was ultimately a failure

and never really got off the
ground due to lack of weaponry

and coordination, but
not because of lack

of will on the part of the HJ.

Many of the most
fanatical HJ members

were regrouping toward
Berlin for the final battle.

The Soviets were rushing
toward Berlin, capital

of Nazi Germany,
where Hitler had

chosen to make his last stand.

On 23 April, battalions made
up entirely of Hitler youths,

were formed.

They were to hold
the Pichelsdorf

bridges by the Havel River.

These bridges in
Berlin were supposed

to be used by General
Vink's relief army

coming from the South.

That army, unknown to the boys,
had already been destroyed

and now existed on paper only.

It was one of several phantom
armies being commanded by Hitler

to save encircled Berlin.

At the Pichelsdorf Bridges,
5,000 boys wearing man-sized

uniforms, several sizes too big,
and helmets that flopped around

on their heads stood by with
rifles and panzerfausts ready

to oppose the Soviet army.

Within five days
of battle, 4,500

had been killed or wounded.

In other parts of Berlin,
HJ boys met similar fates.

Many committed
suicide rather than

be taken alive by the Red Army.

All over the city,
every able-bodied male

was pressed into the
desperate final struggle.

Anyone fleeing or refusing
to go to the front lines

was shot or hanged on the
spot by SS executioners

roaming the streets
hunting for deserters.

In his last public appearance
just days before his death,

Adolf Hitler ventured out of
his Berlin bunker on his 56th

birthday into the chancellery
garden to decorate 12-year-old

Hitler Youths with iron
crosses for their heroism

in the defense of Berlin.

The extraordinary event
was captured on film

as the tottering,
senile-looking f hrer is seen

congratulating little
boys, staring at him

with worshipful admiration.

They were then sent back
out into the streets

to continue the hopeless fight.

On 30 April 1945, as
the Russians advanced to

within a few hundred
yards of his bunker,

Hitler committed suicide.

The next day, Hitler
Youth leader Artur Axmann,

who had been commanding
an HJ battalion in Berlin,

abandoned his boys
and fled to the Alps.

In Vienna, Baldur von
Schirach abandoned HJ fighting

that was defending that city.

The war ended with Germany's
unconditional surrender on 7

May 1945.

With the war finally
over, many young Germans

had to come to terms
with the horrors they

had unleashed on the world.

Many would take years to admit
that the man they admired most

had wronged them.

Some would never admit
that they had been wronged

or had done wrong.

Such was the awesome
hold that Hitler

had on their young psyches.

A few, like the former
BDM-turned-SS-guard Irma Grese,

never showed any remorse
for their murderous deeds.

They were held accountable for
their war crimes, put on trial,

and executed by the Allies.

Creation of the 12th SS
Hitlerjugend Division was deemed

necessary by an army losing
thousands of soldiers

to the Allied war machine.

The fact that they were
adolescents, barely

of high school age,
was unimportant.

The 12th SS had amassed
an impressive war

record against the
Allies for having

existed for such a short time.

While the werewolf program
never got off the ground because

of poor planning and
lack of materials,

the will of the
adolescent Nazis was

there to continue
fighting on for the f hrer

and the fatherland.

The Nazis, while
unsuccessful in their claims

for world domination, were
successful in creating

the means of an effective war
machine to unleash total war.

[theme music]