@chris@mstdn.chrisalemany.ca2025-09-13 15:11:58
Reading about Baldur von Schirach. Sounds familiar.
“In February 1928 he became a university group leader of the National Socialist German Students' League.”
“He worked to broaden the Nazi Party's appeal to the bourgeoisie. Schirach was supported by Hitler in internal elections, who also wanted the Nazi Party to have a broad social base.”
“Schirach was skilled at bureaucratic power struggles. He founded the School Children's Leagues (Schülerbünde) to create competition to the Hitler Youth. He made an ally of Joseph Goebbels.”
“Schirach was named national youth leader of the party in 1931.”
“With Heinrich Hoffmann, Schirach produced several propaganda books of Hoffmann's photographs, including "Hitler As No One Knows Him", "Youth Around Hitler", and "Hitler in His Mountains". Schirach wrote the captions. The books sold hundreds of thousands of copies, earning Schirach and Hoffmann substantial royalties.”
“On 16 June 1932, he was made Reichsführer of the Party's Hitler Youth organization, and resigned from the Student League. Under Schirach, the Hitler Youth stewarded NSDAP events, and 21 members died in 1932. Schirach described these deaths as "blood sacrifice" for propaganda purposes. One example was Herbert Norkus, a fifteen-year-old boy who was stabbed to death by Communists. In a 31 May 1932 speech, Schirach recounted Norkus's death and called for a "National Socialist dictatorship". Schirach gave a memorial speech on the third anniversary of Norkus's death in January 1935.”
#hitleryouth #fascism #theAmericanFascist
