Officers oversee training and exercises at a Hitler Youth camp
Creator(s)
- Barbara Gatti
- James Gatti
Scope and Content
In Groedig, Austria, the Hitler Youth camp's site manager gives commands to the organized troop. He has a death's head emblem on his cap. A HJ member with SS patch practices giving orders. The troops run drills. A senior Hitler Youth officer with glasses reviews the men and gives orders. He wears a Hitler Youth uniform, with the rank of Obergebietsfuehrer, as well as an infantry assault badge and the ribbon for the Iron Cross, Second Class. 01:01:07 SS Oberscharfuehrer at left. The officer, second from left (shorter man), is an army Unteroffizier (roughly a corporal). He wears a buttonhole ribbon indicating the award of the Iron Cross, Second Class. In the next shot, 01:01:09, you can see his silver Armored Assault Badge (in use from the end of 1939 on); that would make him a tank crewman with combat experience. The troops raise the Hitler Youth flag, march, run drills, and conduct target practice. 01:03:57 CU, the target sheet with bullet holes pierced through it. The troops exercise in the field. 01:05:06 They practice camouflaging themselves with mud and branches. A Hitler Youth scouts from a thicket. The Hitler Youth members continue physical training and playing sports. 01:09:05 Brief view of two elderly women local Austrians watching the boys race past the finish line. One boy wears an undershirt with the SS logo as they clean and polish their shoes.
Note(s)
The camp at Niederalm, Groedig was used as a training school for the Hitler Youth after 1938. During the war it became a HJ training school for operating Flak guns. In 1944/1945, refugees were accommodated in the remaining barracks, also known as Swabia camp. Education in Nazi Germany aimed at three primary goals: love of Fuehrer, belief in race hygiene and creating a more martial society (physical fitness and war-like skills and games). This film clearly supports the last goal with a bit of added comradeship and trust building exercises.
Subjects
- MILITARY OFFICERS
- SHOOTINGS
- GUNS
- MARCHING
- SPORTS/GAMES
- GERMANS
- HITLER YOUTH
- MILITARY EXERCISES
- UNIFORMS
- FLAGS
- SS (SCHUTZSTAFFEL)
Places
- Groedig, Austria
Genre
- Amateur.
- Film