Deutsches Jungvolk

German Youngsters
in the Hitler Youth

Deutsches Jungvolk in der Hitler Jugend
Formation	1928
Extinction	1945
Type	Political youth organisation
Region	Nazi Germany Weimar Republic
Parent organization	Nazi Party
Affiliations	Hitler Youth
Formerly called	Jungmannschaften

The Deutsches Jungvolk in der Hitler Jugend (DJ, also "DJV"), "German Youngsters in the Hitler Youth", was in Nazi Germany the separate section for boys aged 10 to 14 of the Hitler Youth organisation. Through a program of outdoor activities, parades and sports, it aimed to indoctrinate its young members in the tenets of Nazi ideology. Membership became fully compulsory for eligible boys in 1939. By the end of World War II, some had become child soldiers. In 1945 after the end of the war the Deutsches Jungvolk, and its parent organisation the Hitler Youth, ceased to exist.

The Deutsches Jungvolk was founded in 1928 by Kurt Gruber under the title Jungmannschaften (Youth Teams) but was renamed Knabenschaft and finally Deutsches Jungvolk in der Hitler Jugend in March 1931. Both the Deutsches Jungvolk (DJ or DJV) and Hitler Youth (HJ) modelled parts of their uniform and programme from the German Scouting associations and other youth groups, which were then banned by the Nazi government during 1933 and 1934.

Following the enactment of the Law on the Hitler Youth on 1 December 1936, boys had to be registered with the Reich Youth Office in the March of the year in which they would reach the age of ten; those who were found to be racially acceptable were expected to join the DJ. Although not compulsory, the failure of eligible boys to join the DJ was seen as a failure of civic responsibility on the part of their parents.

The regulations were tightened further by the Second Execution Order to the Law on the Hitler Youth ("Youth Service Regulation") on 25 March 1939, which made membership of the DJ or Hitler Youth mandatory for all Germans between 10 and 18 years of age. Parents could be fined or imprisoned for failing to register their children. Boys were excluded if they had previously been found guilty of "dishonourable acts", if they were found to be "unfit for service" for medical reasons, or if they were Jewish. Ethnic Poles or Danes living in the Reich (this was before the outbreak of war) could apply for exemption, but were not excluded.

The DJ and HJ copied many of the activities of the various German youth organizations that it replaced. For many boys, the DJ was the only way to participate in sports, camping, and hiking. However the main purpose of the DJ was the of boys in the political principles of National Socialism. Members were obliged to attend Nazi party rallies and parades. On a weekly basis, there was the Heimabende, a Wednesday evening meeting for political, racial, and ideological indoctrination. Boys were encouraged to inform the authorities if their parents' beliefs were contrary to Nazi dogma.