Schooling Hitler Youth

From the Handbook for Schooling the Hitler Youth

Chapter Twelve: The Soil as a Source of Food Supply (Handbook online is here)

Grapes for Mosel wine are grown along the banks of the Rhine in the state of Baden-Würtemberg in southwestern Germany today, just as they were in the 1930s.

The first necessity of all living things is food. From man's first day he must be fed by the gifts of earth, fruits of the field, and the flesh of animals. Vegetation and animal life are in turn dependent upon the nature of the soil and climate. The soil, which supplies food for a people, has therefore the greatest economic significance for men.

From the Handbook for Schooling the Hitler Youth

Chapter Eleven: Territory and Population (Handbook online is here)

Large German family after 1919 with insufficient living space.

The following has been edited for greater brevity -cy

Before we consider the everlasting earthly foundations of our economic life we must investigate the relation of territory and population, the relation of population density and population distribution. For they are of decisive significance for the social and economic life of the German people. The soil cannot feed an indefinite number of persons. It cannot provide an indefinite number of possibilities for work. There is a limit to such possibilities, as soon as this limit is reached a people must win new territory if it does not wish to lower its whole standard of living.

From the Handbook for Schooling the Hitler Youth

Chapter Ten: The Political Area of the German Folk (Handbook online is here)

The Rhine, Danube (running West to East from the Rhine all the way to the Black Sea), and the Vistula were considered the life arteries of the historic German Reich.

The following has been edited for greater brevity -cy

The boundaries of the German Reich - the political territory of our people – have experienced many changes since the beginning of German history. During periods of unity of political purpose, the frontiers of the state extended beyond the borders of the German population area. Periods of internal dissension and lack of unity, however, led to the involution of the state's territory behind the population area.

From the Handbook for Schooling the Hitler Youth

Chapter Nine: The German Culture Area (Handbook online is here)

The 13th century Teutonic Order fortress in Marienburg, German Empire as seen in 1890. Constructed by the German Catholic religious order in what is today Malbork, Poland, it is a UN World Heritage site. (click to enlarge)

The following has been edited for greater brevity -cy

The region influenced by German culture extends far beyond the boundaries of the German population area, far into the east of Europe. It comprises the territories of many non-Germans who, however, remained for centuries under the over-lordship of the Reich or belonged to that state of many peoples, Austria.

The German colonists flowed into the lands of eastern Europe in three great waves: the eastward migrations from the 11th to the 14th centuries inclusive; from the 17th and 18th  centuries; and of the 19th century. About four million Germans now live in the Germanic regions of eastern Europe as successors to these colonists [at the time of writing - approximately 1937 -cy].

From the Handbook for Schooling the Hitler Youth

Chapter Eight: The German Population Area (Handbook online is here)

German language area in 1910–11; the boundaries of states are in red.

The following has been edited for greater brevity -cy

Our earliest forefathers were the Norsemen of the early stone age (2500-1800 B.C.). After the ice had worked its way back onto the mountains, the Norsemen descended into the western regions along the East Sea (Baltic Sea). For many thousands of years they dwelt in southern Sweden, in Denmark, and northern Germany.

The Norsemen developed a high agrarian culture. They knew husbandry, cattle raising and seafaring. They set up permanent monuments to their dead, dwelt in high gabled houses similar to our farmers today, formed vessels and tools out of wood, knew how to tan the finest leather out of animal hides. Their artistic sense was highly developed, showing itself clearly in beautiful stone weapons, the dagger and the battle axe.

From the Handbook for Schooling the Hitler Youth

Chapter Seven: The German Territory (Handbook online is here)

The German Reich in 1900.

The following has been edited for greater brevity -cy

By German Territory we mean every region of central Europe inhabited by Germans in more or less permanent settlements, which has received its cultural imprint from the German people. This territory includes the heart of Europe, and it's location has influenced tremendously the historical fate of our people.

From the Handbook for Schooling the Hitler Youth

Chapter Six: Man and Earth (Handbook online is here)

The following has been edited for greater brevity -cy

Many peoples who have done great things in the past have already disappeared from the face of the earth because they died out on account of a decline of births. A growing population alone guarantees the future life of a people and its lasting permanence. The racial structure of peoples, however, determines the form their community life takes. Art and science, economy and culture are developed according to their racial character.

From the Handbook for Schooling the Hitler Youth

Chapter Five: Population Policy (Handbook online is here)

The following has been edited for greater brevity -cy

It is the duty of the leaders of a people to be concerned about having as large a population as possible. This is the objective of our population policy. Fostering heredity obviously works hand in hand with population policy to produce a quantitative increase in population.

The German people at the moment is no longer a growing folk. If its birth-rate remains unchanged it is threatened with slow extinction. This seems at first to be contradicted by the fact that the population of the Reich has risen from 62.6 million in 1925 to 65.3 million in 1933. But this population increase during the past decade is not real growth. It is due to a damming up of old blood. This is proved by the death figures which sank from 17.4 to 10.8 per thousand. The consequence is an exceptional growth in the higher age brackets.

From the Handbook for Schooling the Hitler Youth

Chapter Four: Heredity and Race Fostering (Handbook online is here)

The following has been edited for greater brevity -cy

From the teaching of genetics we learn that the individual is only a connecting link in the long chain of generations. All families and branches of a people have a common origin, a unified heritage which is continued into the future by means of the heredity stream.