What Was The Hitler Youth?

The Hitler Youth programme was set up to prepare young Germans for work, primarily national service. By 1939, 8 million young Germans belonged to Hitler Youth.
Boys aged 6-10 belonged to the Pimpfen (the little fellows). At the age of 10 they moved up to the Jungvolk (The Young Folk) and between 14 and 18 they were members of the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth-HJ). Girls joined the Jungmodel (Young girls) at 10-years-old and moved onto the Buna Deutsche Madchen (The German Girls League) at 14 until the age of 18.
The purpose of these groups was for youngsters to suffer pain, to be hard, swift, and tough. They were mainly set up to train young people for the army/SS, to get them to believe and support Nazi ideas, and to train them to be loyal to Hitler. The activities that took place on youth camps included learning how to read maps, sports and gymnastics and the teaching of Nazi ideas. The most promising members of the Jungvolk went to order castles where they did tougher training.