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Hitler's Baby Division

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training and transferred to the Waffen SS they were ordered to recruit<br />

personally their friends for the division while on furlough, a device that was<br />

probably more effective than some other forms of persuasion. These<br />

belated volunteers went directly to the reserve units of the division. At the<br />

end of July the RJF allowed the regions to recruit from the second half of the<br />

1926 class. They were allowed to skip premilitary training as well. In all WELs<br />

recruiting meanwhile continued at least through the middle of August. 13<br />

Despite formal safeguards against the use of force many boys must<br />

have been driven to volunteer under extremely coercive circumstances.<br />

Army reserve authorities in Stuttgart, for instance, complained to OKW that<br />

“illegal means” were being used to recruit for a “so-called HJ <strong>Division</strong> to be<br />

presented to the Fuhrer on his birthday.” lt would be erroneous, however,<br />

the report went on, if the Führer were to be “under the impression that he<br />

was dealing with purely voluntary recruits.” Incidents were cited where Hitler<br />

youths had been forcefully “moved” to volunteer. They had been imprisoned<br />

in rooms guarded by SS soldiers until volunteer papers were signed and even<br />

had their ears boxed for failure to respond to SS appeals. The SS Recruiting<br />

Station at Stuttgart denied these charges when Berger was forced to<br />

investigate and claimed it could not find allegedly responsible persons<br />

because the army had given “imprecise information.” one of the incidents<br />

apparently took place at Achern where 220 boys had been assembled for<br />

recruiting purposes. But, since only eighteen had signed volunteer<br />

certificates and a mere thirteen of them were later found to be suitable, the<br />

SS “certainly could not be accused of using force.” Berger dismissed the<br />

whole affair as Just another example of the army “raising a stink against the<br />

SS.” 14 SS General Kurt Meyer subsequently implied, however, that some<br />

youths had not come voluntarily and SS General Frltz Witt, the first<br />

12

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