Child Soldiers in Europe

The recruitment of Child Soldiers

The participation of young people in armed conflicts is a somewhat remote trend. In the midst of clashes, these young people serve a variety of tasks, from armed combatants to cooks and messengers. The recruitment of Child Soldiers would occurred deliberately and purposefully, since children were considered more obedient and more easily molded to the doctrines entrusted to them. Throughout history, Government armies have recruited thousands of children to become war fighters. The most likely to be “recruited” were those from the poorest and most marginalized backgrounds; as well as those who were estranged from their families. Recruitment could take place in different ways, such as enlistment or kidnapping.

This article focuses on the child soldiers of Nazi Germany as, during World War II, it recruited thousands of children to join the ranks of its armies.

The establishment of the Hitler Youth 

Nazi Germany was marked by Hitler’s ideology and, consequently, by the practices and institutions from which this ideology arose. From 1922 onwards, the Nazi Party focused its activities on young Germans, who were the main target of Nazi propaganda. The Nazi Party established a youth department which created in 1926 the Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend). It was a mandatory institution for young people aged between six and eighteen in Nazi Germany effective until until the end of World War II, in 1945.  

From the Hitler’s rise of power (1933)

When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, he immediately planned the rearmament of Germany. Therefore, the training of young people, both ideological and military, became increasingly intense. From 1936 onwards, as the outbreak of armed conflict approached, the enlistment of young people for integration into the army became mandatory. In 1938, the number of young people recruited reached 7.7 million. Baldur von Schirar, leader of the Hitler Youth, claimed that the young soldiers were not just mere war fighters, but real soldiers. In 1939, World War II began with a German military attack against Poland. The authors differed as to the age of the young people who were recruited to fight. While some claim that these young people were mostly seventeen and eighteen, others claimed that their age was even less than seventeen.

The Normandy landings

An episode of great violence among the youngest goes back to the Normandy landings. Young fighters were sent to defend the French coast in order to contain the Normandy landings. However, they quickly succumbed to combat. In the shelters and defensive positions in Normandy soldiers were seen who, although they had survived the military clashes, succumbed to the fatigue of the war, both physical and psychological. Despite all the military training, they did not receive any kind of psychological training that would prepare them for the utterly devastating reality of war. The young soldiers were only motivated through speeches about achieving glory through the heroic deeds they will perform in combat. There are even reports from senior officers in the German armed forces who asserted the young soldiers’ intense and ceaseless efforts to contain the advance of the Anglo-Americans.

Conclusions

However, the motivation of young people to return home quickly in glory succumbs to the trenches of war, along with the childhood stolen from them for the sake of ideological doctrines. The truth is that, without firstly learning to live, young soldiers learned to die for their nation.

Bibliography:

• Carneiro Santos, Rodrigo, e Iranice Gonçalves Muniz. 2017. AS CRIANÇAS SOLDADO DE HITLER E A HUMANIZAÇÃO DO DIREITO INTERNACIONAL. Direito E Desenvolvimento 3 (6), 270 -93;
• Gondin Ramos, Luiz Felipe. 2009. “TRIBUNAL MILITAR INTERNACIONAL DE NUREMBERG ANÁLISE HISTÓRICA E LEGADO JURÍDICO”. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.

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