Many of us today will find it hard to believe that the Nazis required children to do their bit for"Fuhrer, Volk, und Vaterland" and work towards a final victory for Germany. But that is exactly what happened during WWII. The Hitler Youth has been the source of fascination for many years and this book tells the story of a member of the Deutsches Jungvolk, a sub division for younger boys between the ages of 10-14. Its purpose was to reinforce Nazi ideals and the importance of male physical strength, vitality, and militarism at a very young age - the Nazis believed that teaching children how to become tough would free them from their weaknesses.
This sounds extremely brutal from a modern day perspective, but what was it actually like to be a member of the Jungvolk during WWII?Wilhelm Gehlen, son of a trolley driver, and nephew of Reinhard Gehlen, head of Nazi Germany’s intelligence agency, Foreign Armies East, was drafted into the Jungvolk as soon as the war started and immediately began his work at the local Luftwaffe flak battery, fetching ammunition for guns targeting Allied bombers and fighter aircraft while nearby guns pounded away. Committed to the cause until the end, his flak battery continued firing until US tanks were nearly upon them before they hurriedly changed into their civvies. In 1943 Will was 10 years old and at the age of 10, Jungvolk members knew how to change a barrel on a 20mm gun. He loaded magazines and ran messages under fighter fire, often having to take cover in fox holes. Shockingly the Jungvolk proportionally took as many casualties from fighter bomb attacks as any other division. Will’s town was repeatedly bombed and he often had to pull survivors out of the wreckage. Witnessing more death and destruction than any child should ever see, Wilhelm Gehlen provides the reader with an intimate, and poignant glimpse into the chaos, horror, and danger of life behind Germany’s front lines. Told with a charming frankness, and sometimes an engaging black humour towards his adventures, one encounters a life inside Hitler’s Third Reich both fascinating and unique. All young boys like to play war games. But in Wilhelm Gehlen’s case, his escapades were a long way away from the safety of the playground.