Chapter 3: Hitler Youth and Confessional Youth p. 38

Towards the end of 1933 discussion about the eventual incorporation of the evangelical youth took place between the newly appointed Reichs Bishop Ludwig Mueller and myself. With great satisfaction we from the HJ could ascertain that the Reichs Bishop was fundamentally ready to lead the members of the evangelical youth leagues into the HJ, a point of view which differed somewhat from that of the chairman of the Young Men’s Protestant Work [Evangelisches Jungmaennerwerk], Dr. Stange. Dr. Stange actually tried to interfere with this new development against the will of the majority of his followers, but without success. And in December 1933 the Reichs Bishop and myself were able to inform the Fuehrer that incorporation of the protestant youth into the HJ had become a reality.

Through the agreement with the Reichs Bishop the HJ believes to have shown the way by which a later understanding with the Catholic Youth Leagues also would be possible. By this agreement evangelical youth organizations in the old sense, that is leagues, which overlap the activities of the HJ are no longer in existence. As spiritual communities the Protestant [p. 39] groups continue to live in their innate field, namely that of the Protestant creed. The HJ guarantees their protestant members a certain evening each week for their confessional, religious activities. The agreement with the Reichs Bishop follows verbatim:

1. The Protestant Youth Work [Evangelisches Jugendwerk] recognizes the unified state political education of German youth by the National Socialist State and the HJ [Hitler Youth] as representatives of the philosophy of the State.

The youth of the Protestant Youth Work below 18 years of age is to be incorporated into the Hitler Youth and its subordinated branches. Anyone within this age group who does not become a member of the HJ, from now on shall not be a member of the Protestant Youth Work.

2. Education in regard to open air sports (including gymnastics and sports) and in regard to state politics, up to 18 years of age, shall take place only within the HJ.

3. All members of the Protestant Youth Work shall wear the official uniform of the Hitler Youth according to their membership in the HJ.

According to this agreement the Protestant youth was incorporated into the Hitler Youth. With very few exceptions the young followers of the Reichs Bishop were glad to be freed from the inner struggle of the past months [p. 40]. The Reichs Bishop acted like a true spiritual advisor of this young community when he, by this agreement, opened for them the doors to the HJ and thus the doors to the people and the State.

The confessional youth league [Konfessioneller Jugendbund] has no right of existence in our time. While the young German in the period of National Socialism is drawn to the community and thereby the attitude and way of living of the HJ, sometimes some dark pang of conscience holds him back to give in to this urge, to follow really his innermost thoughts. Particularly the catholic youth societies led their members into moral conflicts for which an educator of the youth cannot account. By promises for a life beyond they tried to hold the youth back from the disinterested surrender to the state. As if the all powerful would condemn this service on the people and could see anything objectionable in it. Because the youth does not make any difference between poor and rich, Protestant and Catholic, I am accused of being a “heathen” who does not believe in anything and instills the seed of the antichrist in the hearts of the unsuspecting youth. And yet, considering the confessional composition of our people, a real community of our youth can only exist if confessional questions are not discussed in this community, special confessional leagues are not tolerated. The Christian doctrine is attacked in the HJ as little as any [p. 41] other doctrine; the HJ does not care for class or confession but only for the Germandom. In this sense my slogan is to be understood; “The HJ is neither Protestant nor Catholic, it is German”.

The church proclaims its right for a religious education. An uncontested and uncontestable right. The state, on the other side, demands through the HJ to exercise the ideological, political education and here the state has a claim which is as valid as that of the church. In fact a number of Catholic youth leaders are not concerned with this religious education. They occupy their youth organizations with tasks, accomplishment of which falls into the domain of the HJ. Home evenings (social gatherings), hikes, camps, games, sports, and training do not need a confessionally directed leadership, and yet it is exercised stubbornly by a certain circle of catholic youth leaders. Instead of bringing the German youth together where it can be united and should be united, these so called educators and youth leaders try to present even the cooking on hikes as a religious matter and think the young boy’s soul could be harmed if he saw that outside of the Catholic youth organization other people lived. The fact that since National Socialism seized the power, about 1½ millions of youths from the camp of the Catholic youth organizations joined the HJ manifests that the spirit of the followers is better than that of the leadership and shows how in the long run confessional, bourgeois thinking must capitulate before German socialism.

A short while after the National Socialist revolution the beaten political parties undertook another feeble attempt to keep at least the youth somehow. The attempt failed; the youth of the bourgeois parties pledged itself to the socialism of Adolf Hitler. The youth leagues followed this example. Even the Protestant youth recognized the demand of the time and followed in faithful fulfillment of their duties the voice of their conscience. But on the spot where once the proud Zentrum stood that we could see work hand in hand with the Marxist traitors of the people in the Reichstag, there stands today a group of the Catholic youth organizations and opposes the “We” of our community with the “I” of their societies.

Who wants Germany without compromise is an arch-enemy of any confessional principle in a state organization. Who would retreat here a hand’s width and be he a minister of the new Germany, would betray the tragic fight of the German people for its freedom. May the German people recognize the lesson of the last thousand years and for the first time proclaim an unconditional negation of all separating forces.

There is no reason why there should not be found a solution in the question of the youth education to the satisfaction of the church as well as of the HJ, so much the more as the HJ does not restrict in any way the religious activities of its members. Neither attendance at the Sunday services nor participation in other church gatherings is being made difficult for the Catholic Hitler boys on the part of the leadership of the HJ. If, on the occasion of some big youth demonstrations which don’t take place too often, it was occasionally difficult for technical reasons to make it possible for the young people to attend church services it is by no means an indication of a sometimes alleged “anti-religious” attitude of the HJ. I even am of the opinion that religious meetings and arrangements in particular religious youth leagues are not at all in contradiction to the totalitarian claim of the HJ. Every effort which aims to deepen and intensify religious life must not only be welcomed by a responsible youth leadership but also be furthered. I believe to have shown by the treaty with the Reich bishop of the Protestant church that the HJ is willing to concede necessary space to the religious youth education. However, it must be demanded that under the cover-name of religious education the youth should in no way be influenced politically. The experiences of the past taught us that the confessional youth organizations do not occupy themselves exclusively with religious questions. The National Socialist movement as pillar of the state cannot be blamed if by reason of past experiences it makes security arrangements which should ban all dangers for the future.

If the church visits of the youths do not correspond the expectations of the churches, it is not the fault of the youth. The real cause of this attitude of the youth is to be looked for in the want of comprehension with which some catholic youth leaders and unfortunately too many priests oppose the education of the HJ. They believe not to be able to part with the sport education of the catholic youth and overlook that the religious education itself suffers by the fight over the competences.

Many Catholic Germans look with disgust at the mean fight which certain catholic youth leaders lead today for their existence and hundreds of thousands of catholic Hitler boys don’t have any appreciation of it that there should exist outside the HJ sport a catholic sport and catholic calisthenics. As faithful Catholics they stick to the church but they cannot see why this church demands all of a sudden territory which has nothing to do with religious education.

No reasonable man in Germany can give a reason for the necessity of the existence of catholic youth organizations in their present form (catholic boys scouts, “German Jugendkraft”, etc.) and many important leaders of the catholic church have long been of the opinion that these organizations have no right of existence in the National Socialist state. The catholic youth itself--this I maintain by reason of the continuous going over, even of whole groups to the HJ--wants to cooperate in the National Socialist state. And not as confessional specialist league but as HJ.

Catholics and Protestants have the same rights in Germany. This is not only valid for their relationship to the state but especially for their relationship to the National Socialist movement. If, however, the catholic youth is advised not to join the HJ, then this part of the German youth is deprived of a right which today every other young member of the community possesses. “Give to the emperor what is the emperor’s and to God what is God’s”. This profound wisdom of Christ shows us even today the possibility to terminate the tension between HJ and confessional youth organization. If the HJ leader works exclusively according to the instructions given to him and only cares for the ideological (that is to say the physical, mental and moral) education of the youth in his charge in Adolf Hitler’s sense and the priest just as exclusively for the religious, moral education within direction of the church and is nothing but a German servant of God, all prerequisites of a peaceful and confident work are given.

For the solution of the catholic youth question in Germany there is but one way, which is agreeable to both parties; The Catholic youth organization restricts itself to the spiritual realm and gives up the expensive and unnecessary administration and leadership apparatus of the general presidents and secretaries [General praesidenten und sekretaere]. If the priest of every locality cares spiritually for the youth as part of his community, the church has sufficient occasion to exercise its religious education. The thought, to appoint Protestant and Catholic so called field chaplains or HJ chaplain is against our comradeship and therefore cannot be accepted. If a celebration of the National Socialist youth is held by a catholic and protestant clergyman, every boy and every girl feels the difference of the confession as a wall between them. Where a short while ago two young Germans marched shoulder to shoulder goes then a Catholic and a Protestant and with them the sorrow of the German history.

Unity and community then becomes disunity and cleavage. Then the two millions of the great war would really have died in vain and so would the dead of the Feldherrnhalle [p. 47]. And those twenty one who as pioneers of the new unity were hunted to death by the Marxists and “Zentrum” leaders won’t belong to us any more.

But we are spirit of their spirit. The idea for which they died is also the idea of our life. Their fight is our destiny [pp. 64-65].

Self-leadership of youth is not to be understood from the bureaucratic point of view that every one at the age of 30 must resign from leadership. The principle: “Youth must be led by youth” is to be understood according to its meaning and not literally. Therefore, I principally do not apply any age limit. All set patterns are deadening.

Germany is the country of the youth movement. Youth movement and youth self-leadership of youth are inseparable. It is not the purpose of the youth movement to give to young people a possibility to satisfy any power instincts. On the contrary, youth leadership means to be more severe with oneself than with the following. The HJ is a school for leaders. A leader in the true sense of the word is always the creative, the disciplined one.

Therefore, the way to leadership shall be made difficult for a boy. If he is destined for it he will overcome the difficulties. But never shall there be another key to the gate of leadership than achievement. It is a matter of indifference who holds the key, the son of a worker, the son of a peasant or the son of a scientist. Only one thing is decisive: He must be of the aristocracy of achievement, of the only aristocracy which is known to the new youth [pp. 68-69].

A single will leads the HJ. The power of authority of the HJ leaders, that of the smallest as well as of the largest unit is absolute, i.e., he has the unlimited right to give orders because he bears the unlimited responsibility. He knows that the responsibility of the higher one comes before that of the lower ones. Therefore, he submits silently to the instructions of his leaders even if they are directed against him personally. To him as well as to all young Germany the history of the HJ is proof of the fact that a youth community also can only be successful if it unconditionally recognized the authority of leadership. The success of National Socialism is a success of discipline. The structure of National Socialist Youth is built on the foundation of discipline and obedience. The teachings of the time of persecution apply even more to the period of victory and power. The small boy [Jungvolkjunge] who joins the movement of Adolf Hitler at the age of ten learns to subordinate his own little will to the laws which, strictly followed, are building states and making nations happy but which, when violated, result in the loss of freedom, in the collapse of folkdom. In the course of the following years he learns that discipline and subordination are not inventions of despotism that they have not been created by a few with a lust for power in order to secure their personal positions but that they are the prerequisites for the life of the nation and thereby for his own life.

The great value of the organization for the youth lies in the following. In the circle of boys of his own age he gains, partly while playing, a knowledge which must be employed, especially to the life of the adult. And while he is being trained for discipline in a manner corresponding to his emotional life and his capacity to learn, he will see that his blind obedience affords the possibility of success to his group [Gefogschaft]. What is acquired in young years in the struggle with small tasks later serves the state in its big tasks.