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Nazi youth group accounts in context
Interpretation A Adapted from an interview with Kurt Zeisser in the 1960s, published in 1965.
Zeisser, who was from a Protestant family, lived in a small German town. He joined the Hitler Youth in 1930 when he was 13 and worked in his father’s printing business. In 1931 Zeisser’s father joined the Nazi Party to help his business and in 1932 he was given the contract to print the town’s new, Nazi newspaper.
The interpretation is Zeisser’s recollection of life in the Hitler Youth and why he joined.
I joined the Hitler Youth because I enjoyed the activities and doing things with my friends. My parents did not mind me joining. There was no political indoctrination.
Interpretation B Adapted from Melita Maschmann’s book, ‘Account Rendered’, 1963.
Maschmann joined a Nazi youth group for girls in 1933 when she was 15 and living in Berlin. She went on to work in the Propaganda Department of the League of German Girls (BDM). Her parents were wealthy and well-educated. They were killed in an Allied bombing raid. She was arrested by the American army in July 1945 but released, aged 30, in 1948.
My parents would not allow me to join a Nazi youth group, and my friends only cared about clothes and gossip, so I joined secretly. I enjoyed the competitive nature of the activities but what really attracted me were the ideas of National Socialism and my love of Germany. As a member I learned that the Nazis would do away with unemployment and help the poorer people. I was determined to stop the spread of Communism within the working class.
Which interpretation gives the more convincing opinion about Nazi youth groups?
Explain your answer based on your contextual knowledge and what it says in Interpretations A and B.
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Marking points
- 1 Evaluates a specific claim in Interpretation A using accurate and relevant contextual knowledge about Nazi youth groups.
- 2 Evaluates a specific claim in Interpretation B using accurate and relevant contextual knowledge about Nazi youth groups.
- 3 Develops the evaluation by comparing or relating the overall arguments of the two interpretations rather than treating isolated lines separately.
- 4 Reaches and sustains a substantiated judgement about which interpretation is more convincing.
Full-mark answer
Interpretation B is more convincing overall, although Interpretation A is convincing about one important reason why young people joined. Zeisser’s emphasis on enjoyment fits the fact that the Hitler Youth offered uniforms, sport, outdoor activities and a sense of belonging, which could be attractive when other opportunities were limited. However, Interpretation A’s claim that there was no political indoctrination is less convincing as a picture of Nazi youth groups over the whole period. After Hitler came to power in 1933, Nazi ideas were taught more intensely in schools and youth meetings. Boys were increasingly prepared through fitness and military-style activities, while girls in the BDM combined competitive activities with preparation for their expected roles. This supports Interpretation B’s emphasis on National Socialism, Nazi promises and anti-Communism. Such messages were particularly relevant during the Depression, when Hitler promised work and relief from poverty. Interpretation A therefore captures the social attraction of Zeisser’s early personal experience, but Interpretation B gives the more convincing overall account because it also reflects the political purpose and later development of Nazi youth organisations.
Why this answer loses marks
The Depression caused unemployment and helped Hitler become popular.
Context must test the interpretations’ claims about Nazi youth groups. Do not narrate the Depression at length without linking it directly to the attraction, activities or political teaching described in the interpretations.