I have been in many discussion about the ethics of German soldiers and the big debate always comes down to were German soldiers members of the NAZI party, voluntary or forced?
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Membership in the child and youth Nazi organizations was next to mandatory for German children growing up in the Reich (the Young Girls’ League/Band of German Maidens and the German Youngsters in the Hitler Youth/Hitler Youth). All other youth organizations were banned or forcibly merged into the respective Nazi Party organization. Students who were not members could (and often were) denied their graduation documents, preventing them from attending university and even being allowed to enter a trade. There was also a formal Nazi organization for university students (and another for university lecturers).
Membership in the Nazi Party was also very important for young adults, as a lot of civilian roles were formally or informally reserved for party members. There was never a majority of German adults in the Nazi Party, but membership was useful for attaining promotions within companies and being given preferences in work assignments.
In the Wehrmacht, party membership was not a requirement, but (as you’d expect) it was mandatory for members of the SS. Junior officers would be far more likely to be Nazis than senior ones (less than a third of the general officer class were members), almost all having been indoctrinated in the Hitler Youth for at least a part of their pre-military lives.
So, long-winded prequel over, no, most German soldiers were not Nazis, although the vast majority of them had been in the Hitler Youth and were somewhat more politicized than western troops of the same age.
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Thank you, this has been a stickler in conversation. I wasn’t sure if soldiers swore allegiance to the NAZI party, Hitler or Germany, or they were one in the same.
NAZI is a nasty looking word when it is in capitals.
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