Be Ready and Help Hitler Youth filmstrip, canister and lid on character building found by a US soldier
Extent and Medium
a: Height: 1.625 inches (4.128 cm) | Diameter: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm)
b: Height: 1.750 inches (4.445 cm) | Diameter: 1.625 inches (4.128 cm)
c: Height: 0.750 inches (1.905 cm) | Diameter: 1.625 inches (4.128 cm)
Creator(s)
- Reichsjugendfuhrung Presse- und Propagandaamt (Producer)
- Bernard M. Fishman (Subject)
Biographical History
Bernard M. Fishman was born on May 18, 1920, in Pennsylvania, to Jewish parents, Frank and Jennie Gordon Fishman. He had a younger sister, Elaine. He grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father owned a dress factory where Bernard worked. He enlisted in the United States Army on March 21, 1942 and was assigned to the Warrant Officer Corps. He was deployed to the European Theater and was stationed in May 1945 in Ulm, Germany. He attained the rank of Lieutenant. Bernard married Mollie Moshen and the couple had two children. He passed away, age 87, on May 12, 2008.
Archival History
The filmstrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007 by Bernard Fishman.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Bernard M. Fishman
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
Propaganda filmstrip with 33 images produced to train Hitler Youth in the ideals of service to the country. It was part of a set found by 25 year old Lieutenant Bernard M. Fishman in a German Army Engineers Officers Club in Ulm, Germany, circa May 1945. The Propaganda Office of the Reich Youth Leadership produced a series of 35mm filmstrips in the late 1930s for distribution to Hitler Youth chapters. They were shown at gatherings and used to recruit members and disseminate the teachings of the Nazi Party. On December 1, 1936, the Reich Youth Leadership, under Baldur von Schirach, became an autonomous organization accountable only to Hitler. Membership in the Hitler Youth became mandatory on March 25, 1939. Fishman enlisted in the United States Army in March 1942 and was assigned to the Warrant Officer's Corps. He was demobilized in 1945.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
a. Rolled 35mm filmstrip with 33 black and white transparencies. b. Short, gray cardboard tube open at the top with a brown cardboard sleeve inside. The sides curve under at the bottom edge to secure a white round bottom cardboard insert. A white paper label with preprinted text is taped around the bottom. c. Circular gray cardboard lid with top edges folded over to secure lid. The Hitler Youth emblem, a swastika within a red and white diamond, and German text around the edge are printed around the top.
b. underside, pencil : NEWS REEL /43658 b. underside, pen : NR 28 b. on attached label, black ink : Bereit Sein und Helfen Gd 2 [Be Ready and Help] c. top, pen : x / 2
Corporate Bodies
- Hitler Youth
Subjects
- Youth movements--Germany--History--20th century.
- Fascism--Youth--Germany--History--20th century.
- National socialism and youth.
- Jewish soldiers--United States.
Genre
- Object
- Audiovisual and Photographic Materials
- Handbooks and manuals.