Hitler's Children (Paperback, New edition)

Hitler's Third Reich was responsible for the betrayal and exploitation of an entire generation. Even today, some former members of the Nazi youth organisations are unable to come to terms with the part they played in Germany's dark past. This book is the first comprehensive history of the youth organisations used by the Third Reich to indoctrinate the young people of Germany. Hitler's programme of 'Gleichschaltung' was designed to bring the whole of German society into line with Nazi aims; even the youngest children were moulded into willing recruits of Nazism. Millions of young people were dazzled by the oratory about 'Blood and Soil' and 'Lebensraum', and by fanatical racism. Relied on as enthusiastic support forces, they were also willing cannon-fodder. The small minority that resisted the fascination of the Nazi regime became outcasts - marginalised and persecuted. But Germany's unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945 shattered all illusions, exposing the true horrors of the Third Reich hidden from the German people. Following the successful style adopted in Hitler's Henchmen, Guido Knopp presents the shocking and personal accounts of former Hitler Youth members.