Near the end of the War in Europe, Germany was so desparate for soldiers, that they started recruiting elders and young people as young as 11 or 12 years old.
They say the first sign that a nation is on the verge of defeat is to find boys and old men in the ranks of the dead and POWs. John
That was true about old men and boys by 1945, but there were some units by late 1944 that had them. Germany exhausted their man power by the constant reverses on the eastern front. Also the Ardennes Offensive (Battle of Bulge) striped the last of the non boys and old men recruits. The mighty German Army that people think of that conquered most nations in Europe were mostly were KIA, MIA, or Pow by 1943-44. Some sources say that the Germans lost half the invasion force of Russia at end of Barbarossa (3 million soldiers at start of the invasion). Another apparent desperate attempt form Germans was the V 1 and V2 Rockets. Franz
I remember one quote I read from the American Civil War. It was talking about one of the last battles, and the Union was advancing up through the mud in the rain. They went through trenches, and dead children and old men lay there bloated, starved, and cloth less. When I read that, it instantly reminded me of Germany at the end of WW1 and WW2.
Some objections :I think the wehrmacht using boys of 11 is a phantasy,if my memory is not deceiving me,the youngest ckass serving in the Wehrmacht was those of 1929 :thus 15 or 16 years old ;the strength of the Wehrmacht in the spring of 1945 ? Let say 7OOOOOO ;the class of 1929 :400000 ? = 7 %.About the Battle of the Bulge(finished end january 1945 );the German casualties Something of 200000 ? =3 % of the German strength.I do not think that these were the last of the non children and the non old . About Barbarossa :what date do you mean ? German combat losses on 31 -12- 1941 were something of 0,83 million + 0,27 million non combat losses .The CL in 1942 were 1,1 million .It all depends at which date you are terminating Barbarossa . About the V1 and V2 :the tests happened already in the summer of 1943 .Were the Germans already desperate at this date ?
I believe the original post about the use of children in desparation is not without merit, the use of boys as young as eight was recorded. Here is a section of The History Place on the HJ "soldiers" in the final months and years. Especially in the mentioned Volksstrum, which I believe is the group being pointed out, not the just Wehrmacht, or Heer. In September (1944), Hitler Youth leader Artur Axmann proclaimed, "As the sixth year of war begins, Adolf Hitler's youth stands prepared to fight resolutely and with dedication for the freedom of their lives and their future. We say to them: You must decide whether you want to be the last of an unworthy race despised by future generations, or whether you want to be part of a new time, marvelous beyond all imagination." With the Waffen-SS and regular army now depleted of officers, Hitler ordered Hitler Youth boys as young as fifteen to be trained as replacements and sent to the Russian Front. Everyone, both young and old, would be thrown into the final fight to stop the onslaught of 'Bolshevik hordes' from the East and 'Anglo-American gangsters' from the West. On September 25, 1944, anticipating the invasion of the German Fatherland, the Volkssturm (People's Storm) was formed under the overall command of Heinrich Himmler. Every available male aged 16 to 60 was conscripted into this new army and trained to use the Panzerfaust anti-tank weapon. Objections to using even younger boys were bypassed. American troops reported capturing armed 8-year-olds at Aachen and knocking out artillery units operated entirely by boys aged twelve and under. April 23, battalions made up entirely of Hitler Youths were formed to hold the Pichelsdorf bridges by the Havel River. These bridges in Berlin were supposed to be used by General Wenck's relief army coming from the south. That army, unknown to the boys, had already been destroyed and now existed on paper only. It was one of several phantom armies being commanded by Hitler to save encircled Berlin. At the Pichelsdorf bridges, 5,000 boys, wearing man-sized uniforms several sizes too big and helmets that flopped around on their heads, stood by with rifles and Panzerfausts, ready to oppose the Soviet Army. Within five days of battle, 4,500 had been killed or wounded. In other parts of Berlin, HJ boys met similar fates. Many committed suicide rather than be taken alive by the Red Army. All over the city, every able bodied male was pressed into the desperate final struggle. Anyone fleeing or refusing to go to the front lines was shot or hanged on the spot by SS executioners roaming the streets hunting for deserters. In his last public appearance, just days before his death, Adolf Hitler ventured out of his Berlin bunker on his 56th birthday into the chancellery garden to decorate twelve-year-old Hitler Youths with Iron Crosses for their heroism in the defence of Berlin. The extraordinary event was captured on film and remains one of the most enduring images chronicling the collapse of Hitler's thousand year Reich, as the tottering, senile-looking Führer is seen congratulating little boys staring at him with worshipful admiration. They were then sent back out into the streets to continue the hopeless fight. See: The History Place - Hitler Youth
Clint, I read the link you provided on the Hitler's youth. It was interesting to read of it's genesis, and as you continued to venture down the article... you started to see the demise and last minute hopes of Adolf's empire.... resulting in genocide of his own people.... civilians!! all the best, Jem
Guy Sajer also describes a scene during the retreat of the young and old heading off to slow the Russian advance. Germany weren't the only ones, the Red Army also drafted children out of orphanages, or after a battle, pick up the children who lost their parents and give them a weapon. English Russia » Children of War The Allies would also call for anyone under the age of 85 I think to help when the death camps were discovered. They weren't used for combat of course. Some partisan groups had children in them as well IIRC. Regardless, you didn't have to be a child of war to have experienced the brutality of one, especially one that involved the world. I think some of the elderly could have been World War 1 veterans, wouldn't be very far fetched.
Mehar, Great link, and pictures I think children from every country involved in the war were as affected by the fighting as their parents and grandparents. Their homes were bombed or burned, their fathers were called up to fight, and their mothers went to work in factories or war industries. For some children in mainland Europe and eastern Asia, their countries were occupied or fought over by foreign armies. Other children lived with the threat of invasion. For one group of children in particular, the war brought special fear, as the German authorities sought out Jewish children and sent them to their deaths in concentration camps. For children of all ages, no matter which side they belonged to, the war robbed them of education and normal, happy life. all the best, Jem
