Hitler Youth — 1938

Hitler Youth are seen here in Graz Austria in 1938. The Hitler Jugend, or HJ, was the male branch of the Nazi’s youth movement. Established in 1933, the HJ numbered over seven million five years later, under the command of Reichsjugendfuhrer (Reich Youth Leader) Baldur von Schirach. Indoctrinating German youth in the practicalities of war was a top priority in the Third Reich. Indeed, many in this photo may have died on the battlefields just a few short years later.