Background: The Nazis organized the youth into four divisions under the Hitler Youth. For boys 10-14, there was the Jungvolk, and after that the regular Hitler Jugend, for girls 10-14 the Jungmädel, thereafter the Bund Deutscher Mädel. Nearly all German kids were members. Each group held meetings, generally biweekly. These are covers and brief descriptions of the contents of material intended for the leaders of these groups (generally only slightly older than their charges). The periodicals provided them with guidance on how to train their groups. There were four periodicals in all (Die Kameradschaft, Die Jungenschaft, Die Mädelschaft, Die Jungmädelschaft). Beginning in 1938, each had two editions, A and B, aimed at different age groups. For example, Edition A of Die Jungmädelschaft was intended for girls 10-11, Edition B for those 12-13. For information on the overall plan for training girls during part of this period, see a page outlining the curriculum for 1938-1939. I also include a few other HJ publications at the end.
I am not sure how far into the war these continued to be published — the holdings of the German National Library in Leipzig suggest the four periodicals ceased publication in summer 1939.
I have not seen much published on these. There's probably a good dissertation to be found in them.
Hitler Youth Training Material
This issue doesn’t have a year, and I can't entirely determine one from the contents. The cover has an astonishing quotation by E.M. Arndt: “To be a people is the religion of our age.”
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #2 (July) 1934 (?).
The cover theme of this issue is “Germany, Land in the Middle.” It also has articles on “Jewry and its goals” and torture in the Soviet Union.
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #5 (1 September) 1935.
The cover theme of this issue is “Race is Fate.”
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #1 (15 January) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is “Heroes and Traders.” The Germans are soldiers, the Jews mere merchants.
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #3 (13 February) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is “He who wants to live fights.”
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #5 (29 April) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is “From Germanic military levies to the German people’s army.”
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #9 (13 May) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is “Germany has regained its honor.” It focuses on the building of the German military.
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #11 (10 June) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is “The knapsacks are already packed.” It’s filled with hiking advice.
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #14 (12 August) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is “The task of the farmer.”
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #20 (11 November) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is “Austria — German territory.” The claim is that Austria is properly part of Germany.
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #1 (20 January) 1937.
The cover theme of this issue is “The World Burns.”
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #2 (10 February) 1937.
The cover theme of this issue is “Arson Central Moscow.”
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #3 (24 February) 1937.
The cover theme of this issue is “Arsonist Jew.”
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #4 (210 March) 1937.
The cover theme of this issue is “We destroy the world enemy.”
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #5 (24 March) 1937.
The cover theme of this issue is “Traveling to Germany’s borders.” The focus is on the importance of defending Germany’s borders.
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #6 (14 April) 1937.
The cover theme of this issue is “For us, there is no such thing as never!” The focus in on overcoming the challenges Germany faced.
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #8/9 (19 May) 1937.
This is a special issue to help prepare leaders for the summer camps the HJ held.
Source: Die Kameradschaft, Special issue, May 1937.
The cover theme of this issue is “Fire in a free country.” It shows the Treaty of Versailles torn in two.
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #10 (9 June) 1937.
The cover theme of this issue is “The NSDAP demands.” The focus in on the Nazi Party’s 1920 platform.
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #14 (13 October) 1937.
The cover theme of this issue is “Young men and women, one youth.” It has an interior quotation by Baldur von Schirach: “Just as a boy strives toward strength, a girl strives for beauty.”
Source: Die Kameradschaft, #17 (24 November) 1937.
The cover theme of this issue is Hitler’s birthday.
Source: Die Kameradschaft (A), #8 (20 April) 1938.
This interesting cover suggests that Germany needs more territory: “80 million Germans live on 580,000 square kilometers.” The illustration shows a crowded Germany. Germany had already absorbed Austria — but kids are being told that is not enough.
Source: Die Kameradschaft (A), #9 (8 February) 1939.
The cover theme of this issue is “Germany was larger.” The focus in on lost German territory, and the emigration of Germans to all parts of the world.
Source: Die Kameradschaft (A), #10 (22 February) 1939.
The cover theme of this issue is “Adolf Hitler’s Birthday.”
Source: Die Kameradschaft (A/B), #14 (19 April) 1939.
The cover theme of this issue is “National Labor Day.”
Source: Die Kameradschaft (A), #15 (3 May) 1939.
The cover theme of this issue is “The People Flies Again.” The introduction claims: “We believe in our own strength. Nothing is impossible if we are only courageous and determined.... Because we want to be a people of flyers tomorrow, today we build models and learn to fly in gliders. We are happy to prepare ourselves for service to our people.”
Source: Die Jungenschaft, #6 (25 March) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is “Führer, We Belong to You.” It is the issue for Hitler’s birthday. According to the introduction: “An idea is worthless if it only remains in the minds of a few, and is expressed only in a few books or articles. The National Socialist worldview is no dead mental construct. It stands in the center of life, and is formed by it; It finds its expression in a man who is its creator — in our Führer. The Führer is not only a towering politician, for were he only that, the people would merely admire him. We, however, all love our Führer because he is not only a statesman with unique achievements, but also a great man, a personality of rare clarity. Strength and goodness flow from his nature, and therefore the hearts of our boys fly toward him. One may look at Adolf Hitler from whatever standpoint one chooses — one will be silent from honor and love.”
Source: Die Jungenschaft, #7 (15 April) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is “Boys for Germany.” It announces the benefits of being in the Jungvolk. The introduction states: “Growing up in the small circle of the family, within the narrow walls of school, in a small group of friends, the German youth this year comes together in the great, all-encompassing community of the National Socialist movement, in the community of the German people. A higher power determined that the boys were born German. But their own will is responsible for the fact that they place their life under the law of the people’s community, that they choose joyfully to join the great camaraderie of the German youth.... How Germany looks tomorrow, Jungvolk leaders, that is up to you. Act accordingly.”
Source: Die Jungenschaft, #8 (29 April) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is “When Pimpfe March.” It deals with youth hostels, for which the boys had recently collected money.
Source: Die Jungenschaft, #10 (27 May) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is “The Knapsacks are Packed.” The theme is summer outings. The introduction is a quotation from Baldur von Schirach, the head of the HJ: “The Jungvolk leader who guides his boys through Germany and builds enthusiasm for their homeland is a politician in the noblest sense of the word. The boys’ march through the German landscape leads them inevitably to Adolf Hitler and National Socialism.”
Source: Die Jungenschaft, #14 (12 August) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is “Leading and Following.” The introduction is a quotation from Hitler: “He who wants to be a leader has absolute authority, but also the ultimate and heaviest responsibility.”
Source: Die Jungenschaft, #36 (25 November) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is “From Jungvolk to Hitler Youth.” It deals with the transition from the younger to the older branch of the Hitler Youth.
Source: Die Jungenschaft, #5 (24 March) 1937.
The cover theme of this issue is “A German Fighter in Distant Lands.”
Source: Die Jungenschaft, #17 (24 November) 1937.
The cover theme of this issue is “Adolf Hitler’s boyhood home.”
Source: Die Jungenschaft (B), #11 (8 March) 1939.
The cover theme of this issue is “Adolf Hitler in Vienna and Munich.”
Source: Die Jungenschaft (A), #12 (22 March) 1939.
The cover theme of this issue is “Adolf Hitler during the World War.”
Source: Die Jungenschaft (B), #13 (5 April) 1939.
The cover theme of this issue is “We stand watch at the border.”
Source: Die Mädelschaft, #10 (October) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is “Only our labor makes us free.”
Source: Die Mädelschaft, #3 (March) 1937.
The cover theme of this issue is “As long as I live, I will laugh.”
Source: Die Mädelschaft, #7 (July) 1937.
The cover theme of this issue is “Machines must serve freedom.”
Source: Die Mädelschaft (A), #2 (February) 1938.
The cover theme of this issue is “The World War.”
Source: Die Mädelschaft (A), #5 (May) 1938.
The cover theme of this issue is “Munich becomes the movement’s capital.”
Source: Die Mädelschaft (A), #1 (October) 1938.
The cover theme of this issue is “Germany Awake!”
Source: Die Mädelschaft (A), #3 (November) 1938.
The cover theme of this issue is “The Wehrmacht protects the Reich.”
Source: Die Mädelschaft (A), #3 (March) 1939.
The cover theme of this issue is “The battle against the world enemy Bolshevism.”
Source: Die Mädelschaft (A/B) , #7 (April) 1939.
The cover theme of this issue is “And One Leads.” It focuses on Hitler. According to the issue introduction: “The central thought of our work is the Führer. We are part of his great work, yet we know little about him. He himself has described his youth and his life’s path in language that we can all understand and which has more to say to us than all those books that have been written about him. It may be that we still do not understand many things in Mein Kampf. However, each of us can understand what he has written about his life path. Read the first chapter, and tell your girls about it, using it and the contents of this issue to organize your meeting. Many of you have seen the Führer. Tell about it, and you will see how it deepens the image of the Führer in your girls. The stories by his colleagues and our comrades will make clear to you what an experience it is to meet the Führer, and the deep feeling and love that each German girl has for him, a flame that will never and may never burn out if our people is to become strong again and Germany is to stand firm and sure in the world.”
Source: Die Jungmädelschaft, #2 (February) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is “A Young People Rises.” Among other things, it discusses the Autobahn construction program. The introduction states: “The road, in its clarity and directness, is a symbol of our day. An entire people has gone to work to build them, and an entire people will march in the future on these roads.”
Source: Die Jungmädelschaft, #4 (April) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is construction. It presents Germans in East Prussia as a bulwark against Poland.
Source: Die Jungmädelschaft, #5 (May) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is “Better death than slavery.”
Source: Die Jungmädelschaft, #6 (June) 1936.
The cover theme of this issue is “We are a wall.” It presents Germans in East Prussia as a bulwark against Poland.
Source: Die Jungmädelschaft, #10 (October) 1937.
The cover theme of this issue is on Armin, a early German hero. Part of the issue is translated here.
Source: Die Jungmädelschaft (A), #1 (January) 1938.
The cover theme of this issue is the carnival season.
Source: Die Jungmädelschaft (A), #2 (February) 1938.
The cover theme of this issue is “King Henry I.”
Source: Die Jungmädelschaft (A), #3 (November) 1938.
The theme: “The Unknown S.A.Man,” a glorification of the early days of the party.
Source: Die Jungmädelschaft (B), #1 (October) 1938.
The cover theme of this issue is Hitler’s birthday.
Source: Die Jungmädelschaft (A), #4 (April) 1938.
The cover theme of this issue is Walter von der Vogelweide.
Source: Die Jungmädelschaft (A), #4 (January) 1939.
Adolf Hitler’s birthday.
Source: Die Jungmädelschaft (A), #7 (April) 1939.
This is an issue of the leadership magazine for Franconia. The theme is that Germany is undefeated on land, on sea, and in the air.
Source: Führerdienst, January 1940.
The Schaukastendienst was a monthly providing material for Hitler Youth display cases. This is the cover of a 1940 issue on the theme “Soldiers of Tomorrow — the Special Units of the Hitler Youth.” The cover shows a suggested way of arranging the material. The pictures show the HJ motorcycle corps, the gliding group, etc.
Source: Schaukastendienst, #2/1940.
This is a copy of a periodical sent to those in the military, reporting on goings on at home in the Würzburg area. It also includes a list of the war dead of the area.
Source: Jugend in der Heimat, #9/10, 1943.
This is material for the leaders of older girls from early 1944. It includes articles on how to fight rumors, the evils of the Jews, and a claim that only the best Germans can become Nazi Party members: “According to the Führer’s will, the best German National Socialists and the best National Socialists should become party members. The NSDAP represents the best political character and blood of the whole German people. The Party is the leadership order of the German people. Therefore, not everyone can become a member of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party.” It further explains that the task of the Hitler Youth is to train those best National Socialists.
Source: Führerinnendienst des Bundes Deutscher Mädel in der Hitler Jugend, Gebiet Mainfranken 39, February 1944.