Reichsjugendführer
{{Short description|Highest paramilitary rank of the Hitler Youth}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = National Youth Leader
| body =
| native_name = Reichsjugendführer
| flag = Standarte Amtschef HJ.svg
| flagsize =
| flagborder =
| flagcaption = Standard for the Reichsjugendführer
| insignia = HJ-Reichsjugendführer.svg
| insigniasize = 75px
| insigniacaption = Reichsjugendführer gorget patch
| image =
| imagesize =
| alt =
| incumbent =
| acting =
| incumbentsince =
| type =
| status = Abolished
| department = Nazi Party
| style =
| member_of = {{flagicon image|Hitlerjugend Allgemeine Flagge.svg}} Hitler Youth
| reports_to =
| residence =
| seat =
| nominator =
| appointer = Führer of the NSDAP
| appointer_qualified =
| termlength =
| termlength_qualified =
| constituting_instrument =
| precursor =
| formation = 1931
| first = Baldur von Schirach
| last = Artur Axmann
| abolished = 1945
| succession =
| abbreviation = RJF
| unofficial_names =
| deputy = {{flagicon image|Standarte Stabsführer beim RJF.svg}} Stabsführer
| salary =
| website =
}}
Reichsjugendführer ("National Youth Leader") was the highest paramilitary rank of the Hitler Youth.{{sfn|McNab|2009|p=15}} On 30 October 1931, Hitler appointed Baldur von Schirach as the Reich Youth Leader of the Nazi Party.{{sfn|Zentner|Bedürftig|1991|pp=431, 835}} In 1933, after the Nazi seizure of state power, all youth organizations in Germany were brought under Schirach's control{{sfn|Zentner|Bedürftig|1991|p=431}}{{sfn|Kater|2004|pp=48–59}} and he was designated the Jugendführer des Deutschen Reiches on 17 June.{{sfn|Höffkes|1997|p=299}} When Schirach was named Gauleiter of the Reichsgau Vienna on 8 August 1940, Artur Axmann succeeded him as Reichsjugendführer.{{sfn|Hamilton|1984|pp=247, 334}} Axmann had served as Schirach's deputy since 1 May 1940.
List
{{Officeholder table start
| showorder = y
| showimage = y
| officeholder_title = Reichsjugendführer
| showtermlenght = y
| showparty = n
| showdefencebranch = n
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order = 1
| image = Presidium of the European Youth Union Baldur von Schirach (cropped).jpg
| officeholder = Baldur von Schirach
| officeholder_sort = Schirach, Baldur
| officeholder_note =
| born_year = 1907
| died_year = 1974
| term_start = 30 October 1931
| term_end = 8 August 1940
| timeinoffice = {{ayd|1931|10|30|1940|08|08}}
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order = 2
| image = Presidium of the European Youth Union Artur Axmann (cropped).jpg
| officeholder = Artur Axmann
| officeholder_sort = Axmann, Artur
| officeholder_note =
| born_year = 1913
| died_year = 1996
| term_start = 8 August 1940
| term_end = 8 May 1945
| timeinoffice = {{ayd|1940|05|01|1945|05|08}}
}}
{{Officeholder table end}}
Post-war
With the surrender of Nazi Germany, the Hitler Youth was disbanded by Allied authorities as part of the denazification process. Both Schirach and Axmann were condemned as war criminals by the leading Allied Powers after the end of the Second World War in Europe, in particular for the role the two played in corrupting the minds of children.{{sfn|Hamilton|1984|pp=247, 335}} Schirach was sentenced to 20 years in prison.{{sfn|Rempel|1989|pp=250–251}} Axmann received only a 39-month prison sentence in May 1949.{{sfn|Hamilton|1984|p=248}} Later, in 1958, a West Berlin court fined Axman 35,000 marks (approximately £3,000, or US$8,300), about half the value of his property in Berlin. The court found him guilty of indoctrinating German youth with National Socialism until the end of the war.{{sfn|Hamilton|1984|p=248}}
References
=Notes=
{{Reflist|25em}}
=Bibliography=
- {{cite book | last = Hamilton | first = Charles | title = Leaders & Personalities of the Third Reich, Vol. 1 | year = 1984 | publisher = R. James Bender Publishing | location = San Jose, CA | isbn = 0-912138-27-0 }}
- {{cite book | last = Höffkes | first = Karl | title = Hitlers Politische Generale: Die Gauleiter des Dritten Reiches | year = 1997 | publisher = Grabert-Verlag | location = Tübingen | isbn = 3-87847-163-7 }}
- {{cite book | last=Kater | first=Michael H. | year=2004 | title=Hitler Youth | location=Cambridge, MA | publisher=Harvard University Press | isbn=0-674-01496-0 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/hitleryouth00kate }}
- {{cite book | last = McNab | first = Chris | title = The Third Reich | publisher = Amber Books Ltd | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-1-906626-51-8 }}
- {{cite book | last = Rempel | first = Gerhard | year = 1989 | title = Hitler's Children: The Hitler Youth and the SS | url = https://archive.org/details/hitlerschildren00gerh | url-access = registration | location = Chapel Hill, NC | publisher = University of North Carolina Press | isbn = 978-0-8078-4299-7 }}
- {{cite book | last1 = Zentner | first1 = Christian | last2 = Bedürftig | first2 = Friedemann | year = 1991 | title = The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich | location = New York | publisher = Macmillan Publishing | isbn = 0-02-897500-6 }}
{{Nazi Germany Paramilitary Ranks|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reichsjugendfuhrer}}