This rare German educational film “Youth for Air Defense” is from the WWII era and shows civil defense training activities of the Hitler Youth (German: Hitlerjugend ), the youth organization of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins dated back to 1922. It includes paramilitary training on the use of gas masks, rendering first aid, fire fighting and so on. At 11:27, League of German Girls troopers are shown putting on gas masks and performing calisthenics (presumably to show how easy the masks are to wear and breathe in!) At 12:50, the film shows masks being used by civil defense workers who are smothering a fire caused by a phosphorus incendiary bomb. At 15:30 League of German Girls rescue workers are shown moving a victim of the bomb — a child who is on a stretcher. At 15:40 a nurse bandages a man who has a head wound. The child’s foot is then shown being bandaged. At 16:50 a raw burn wound is shown being cared for and carefully bandaged.
From 1933 until 1945, the Hitler Youth was the sole official youth organization in Germany. It was constituted of the Hitlerjugend proper for male youth aged 14 to 18, the Deutsches Jungvolk (German Youth) for younger boys, and the League of German Girls (also known as the Band of German Maidens.) The organization indoctrinated a generation of German youth with principles of obedience to the state and authority, and can be seen as one of the mechanisms that allowed the Nazis to perpetrate their cause. While some of the older Hitler Youth ended up in combat service at the end of the war, the older members of the Band of German Maidens found work as nurses’ aides at hospitals, or at train stations where wounded soldiers or refugees needed a hand. After 1943, as Allied air attacks on German cities increased, some girls served as Flak Helpers, signals auxiliaries, searchlight operators, and office staff.
With the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945, the Hitler Youth organization de facto ceased to exist. On 10 October 1945, the Hitler Youth was outlawed by the Allied Control Council along with other Nazi Party organizations. Under Section 86 of the German Criminal Code, the Hitler Youth is an “unconstitutional organization” and the distribution or public use of its symbols, except for educational or research purposes, are not permitted.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
