Ranks and insignia of the Hitler Youth
Encyclopedia
The Ranks and insignia of the Hitler Youth were a Nazi Party paramilitary rank system
that existed from 1932 to 1945. The Hitler Youth
had existed for nearly a decade before, but the organization did not maintain any particular system of ranks. Such ranks were introduced in the early 1930s and became widespread after the Nazi Party came to power in 1933. Thereafter the ranks and insignia of the Hitler Youth became one of the most common paramilitary systems used in Nazi Germany
.
The ranks of the Hitler Youth were divided into an adult leadership corps, which maintained their own system of ranks, as well as the general membership of boys between the ages of fourteen and eighteen years of age.
(Reich Youth Leader) was the highest possible rank of the Hitler Youth and was held by the Nazi Party official in command of the entire organization. The rank of Reichsjugendführer was only held by two people during its existence, those being Baldur von Schirach
and Artur Axmann
. Von Schirach wore no particular insignia and can be seen in photographic evidence as donning a Nazi Party brown jacket with Hitler Youth armband. When Axmann took the rank of Reichsjugendführer, in 1941, he began wearing collar patches identical to the Schutzstaffel
rank of Reichsführer-SS
.
Reichsjugendführer and Hitlerjunge would later become actual ranks with Hitlerjunge also commonly used to denote any juvenile member of the Hitler Youth. The title of Hitlerjugendführer never became an actual rank but was used throughout the Hitler Youth's existence as a term applied to members of the adult leadership.
Nazi party paramilitary ranks
Nazi party paramilitary ranks were pseudo-military titles which were used by the National Socialist German Workers Party between the years of 1920 and 1945...
that existed from 1932 to 1945. The Hitler Youth
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...
had existed for nearly a decade before, but the organization did not maintain any particular system of ranks. Such ranks were introduced in the early 1930s and became widespread after the Nazi Party came to power in 1933. Thereafter the ranks and insignia of the Hitler Youth became one of the most common paramilitary systems used in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
.
The ranks of the Hitler Youth were divided into an adult leadership corps, which maintained their own system of ranks, as well as the general membership of boys between the ages of fourteen and eighteen years of age.
Reich Youth Leader
ReichsjugendführerReichsjugendführer
Reichsjugendführer was the highest paramilitary rank of the Hitler Youth. It was held first by Baldur von Schirach and later Artur Axmann. Originally, there was no insignia for the rank, and von Schirach can be seen in documentary evidence as wearing a Nazi Party brown jacket with Hitler Youth...
(Reich Youth Leader) was the highest possible rank of the Hitler Youth and was held by the Nazi Party official in command of the entire organization. The rank of Reichsjugendführer was only held by two people during its existence, those being Baldur von Schirach
Baldur von Schirach
Baldur Benedikt von Schirach was a Nazi youth leader later convicted of being a war criminal. Schirach was the head of the Hitler-Jugend and Gauleiter and Reichsstatthalter of Vienna....
and Artur Axmann
Artur Axmann
Artur Axmann was the German Nazi leader of the Hitler Youth from 1940 through war's end in 1945.-Early life:Axmann was born in Hagen on 18 February 1913...
. Von Schirach wore no particular insignia and can be seen in photographic evidence as donning a Nazi Party brown jacket with Hitler Youth armband. When Axmann took the rank of Reichsjugendführer, in 1941, he began wearing collar patches identical to the Schutzstaffel
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
rank of Reichsführer-SS
Reichsführer-SS
was a special SS rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945. Reichsführer-SS was a title from 1925 to 1933 and, after 1934, the highest rank of the German Schutzstaffel .-Definition:...
.
Unit Designators
Membership in local Hitler Youth cells was denoted by a number worn on the upper portion of the rank insignia shoulder patch. These unit designators were worn by all members of the Hitler Youth, with the exception of the National Youth Leadership Corps, who served on the staff of the Reichsjugendführer.Hitler Youth Titles
Prior to the establishment of a paramiltiary rank system, the Hitler Youth maintained a simple system of paramilitary titles which were as follows:- Reichsjugendführer: National Youth Leader (Commander of the Hitler Youth)
- HitlerjugendführerHitlerjugendführerHitlerjugendführer was a paramilitary title of the Hitler Youth which existed within the Nazi Party from approximately 1928 to the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945.- Description :...
: Hitler Youth Leader (Adult Leadership Corps) - Hitlerjunge: Hitler Youth (Juvenile Membership)
Reichsjugendführer and Hitlerjunge would later become actual ranks with Hitlerjunge also commonly used to denote any juvenile member of the Hitler Youth. The title of Hitlerjugendführer never became an actual rank but was used throughout the Hitler Youth's existence as a term applied to members of the adult leadership.