Road to Destruction-Part 1

I am going to pass on this information as history. I will write exactly what I learned. Just as I decide for myself, you, my dear reader, can make your own decision about what this history lesson means to you. I stress this as LOUDLY as I can, I am simply passing on real facts from history and not labelling anyone in the present as a Nazi. What I will say is that too many times since the beginning of mankind, there have been passionate groups of people who want to change the world or right a wrong. We are to be vigilant in our quest to understand and learn from the triumphs of good people and the mistakes of those who lived before us.

In the 1890's, a little known strong youth movement existed in Germany. It was called, Wandervögel, a male-only movement featuring a back-to-nature theme. From this massive group sprang the most cruel leader of the 20th century. Of course, you know that man's name is Hitler. Yes, this man started his road to destruction in a boys group that formed to protest the greed and materialism of their fathers. They yearned for the simpler times where people lived off the land and so they took hiking trips and slept under the stars while speaking out against the "Industrial Revolution". They sang old German folk songs around a campfire and developed the custom of greeting each other saying "Heil."

On the surface, these boys groups that sprang up all over German where not considered a threat. Afterall, they were just hiking and getting in touch with their roots, right? However, by 1912, youth groups were being formed everywhere including Young Democrats, Young Socialists, and Young Conservatives. They all had a similar theme, opposing the status quo of their fathers, while working to create an idealistic new era, a better Germany. They wanted to form a generation of purity.

One such group was the German Workers' Party founded in Bavaria, led by young Adolf Hitler, later renamed the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) called the NSDAP or Nazi Party. The young boys taught each other with an emphasis on "love of one's country and people, enjoyment of honest open combat and of healthy physical activity, the veneration of ethical and spiritual values, and the rejection of those values originating from Jewry..." No one really took notice and by 1923, there were 55,000 followers.

"On November 9, 1923, a column of three thousand Nazis, led by Hitler, marched toward the center of Munich but soon encountered a police blockade. Shots rang out. Sixteen Nazis and three police were killed. Hitler fled the scene then hid out in the attic of a friend's home until he was arrested two days later. Other Nazi leaders were arrested or fled the country to avoid prosecution. Hitler went to prison. The Nazi Party and its Youth League were officially disbanded by the German democratic government. Most observers thought they had seen the last of Hitler." (historyplace.com)We all wish that had been the end but it served as the anger behind the beginning of terror.

In 1924, Hitler was released from prison. He immediately began to re-form the youth movement. On July 3, 1926, Hitler had a 2 day rally of youth. And here is the interesting part, on July 4th, while we Americans were celebrating our Nation's Independence, Adolf was honored with the changing of the name of the group from Greater German Youth Movement to Hitler's Youth (Hitler Jugend (HJ). All other youth associations, including groups in Austria, were now swallowed by the Hitler Youth. The German youths in Czechoslovakia and ethnic German youths in Poland joined as well. To be continued...