il they were both blown apart. (xxvi) Youth Activities after the War The youth disbanded after the war. They no longer wore the showy costumes orparaded through the streets. The days of playing war games and hiking in the woods wereover. The youth had to face the reality of what they had done. A quote from Rilke, aWorld War II historian, sums up the feelings after the war, "Who talks of victory? Toendure is all". (xxvii) The youth lacked basic educational skills. In the Nazi schools they were taught Naziideology. Reading, writing and grammar skills were not emphasized as much as being ableto understand strategies, anti-Semitism, or propaganda. The youth experienced things theywould only have read about in books, so they felt the idea of going back to school was kindof ridiculous. Even though they felt this way they knew they had to learn. An Americanprofessor visiting at Marburg University noticed the determination: To me and my colleagues these young men and women displayed unusual intellectualearnestness, characterized by a deep understanding of the problems of the time and by aburning desire to acquire reliable knowledge and instruction and information about themethods of scientific work. (xxviii) A few members of the Nazi Youth gathered in 1946 to reminisce about the past andformer friends. They each knew of only a few other Nazi Youth, so they decided to invitethem all to their meeting place. The others met with them and there was a surprising air ofcamaraderie. All differences were forgotten; they had all lived through the Nazi era. (xxix) The idea of re-creating the youth was never brought up. The comrades figured that thenew generation could start up an organization if they wanted. The new generationeventually did start their own organization, one that was just as fulfilling to them as theprevious movement had been for the Hitler Youth. This time a sinister man named Hitlerdid not control ...
