The Last Hitler Youth: A Decorated Boy Caught in War's Bite
- by Gernot Kramper
- ~ 3 minutes read
Nazi Youth: Awarded Medals and Relentlessly Leveraged for Propaganda Purposes - Mercilessly decorated Hitler youth: Unflinching in their brutality
On the brink of Germany's final defeat in 1945, Adolf Hitler honored Hitler Youth members in the Reich Chancellery courtyard. These were among the last public recordings before his demise. One of the boys, Wilhelm Hübner, who laughed heartily as Hitler patted his cheek, was approximately 16 at the time. He had already been seen with the Reich Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, in a newsreel a few weeks earlier, symbolizing a persistent and undaunting spirit for the waning war.
Smiling amidst Hardship
With Goebbels' growing influence within Hitler's inner circle, his final mission was to keep the Führer resolute in his bid to prolong the faltering war. Lauban, an important transport hub in Silesia, was a last refuge against the advancing Red Army in 1945. Goebbels presented soldiers on March 8, 1945, to showcase a minor offensive that had temporarily pushed the Soviets back a few kilometers.
However, the footage was hardly useful for propaganda purposes. Soldiers accompanying Goebbels had a weathered, haggard appearance. The Lauban fighters barely held their ground, showing signs of exhaustion and little hope for survival. In contrast, Wilhelm Hübner, a member of the Hitler Youth, stood beaming, as if he were standing in front of a Christmas tree instead of the torn market square.
Post-war, Hübner moved to Bavaria and started a new life. But the memories of Lauban lingered, haunting him into old age. In a DEFA documentary, he shared his account in the late 1980s, painting a troubling picture of a child's perception of war. Accompanying filmmakers to battle sites, Hübner returned to today's Luban. For him, the war was an adventure reminiscent of Treasure Island. His memories concealed the worst horrors, as if the dead and wounded had been erased.
A Child in the Heat of War
Lauban became a battle zone. In 1945, the teenager served as a messenger during the four-week battles for the town. Every building was fiercely contested. Hübner distinguished himself through his local knowledge and courage, which might have been driven more by youthful enthusiasm than battle-hardened determination. "I guess there was a thought in the back of my mind: I didn't want to be the one who let my comrades down," he later recalled as a nearly 60-year-old man.
That he survived was due to his petite size, he claimed. "I was always the smallest; the bullets flew over me." He attributed his survival to luck: "Without luck, you're nothing in war." Soviet rockets, known as Stalin organs, struck his schoolyard during the conflict. "I was right in the middle of that… fireworks – not a scratch."
War: A Game Gone Wrong
The area was turned into destruction. The boy served as a messenger in the intense fighting for Lauban. Every structure in the town was bitterly fought over. Hübner remembered individual houses and positions of burnt-out tanks, but he couldn't recall the dead and wounded as distinct entities.
"In the alley, there was a liquor store. I got a bottle of egg liqueur, hid behind a wall with my rifle, got drunk, as they say, and shot randomly, then hid behind the wall again." Hübner only became somber when stating that he was relieved he never saw the consequences of his shots.
A Lame Duck Führer
After his encounter with Goebbels, Hübner was invited to Berlin, where he attended parties at Reich Youth Leader Artur Axmann's guest house and the Reich Chancellery on March 19. A group of Hitler Youth gathered in a courtyard, Hübner recalled. Then Hitler appeared, a physically weakened and defeated man, who greeted them. "After my report, he ruffled my hair and muttered something like, 'Good boy,'" Hübner stated, still evidently thrilled at the encounter. Later, he realized that Hitler was a "broken man," clearly out of his prime. "I thought only: Our Adolf has become an old man."
Insights:
- The Hitler Youth, a youth organization of the Nazi Party, was involved in military training and, in some cases, combat during World War II.
- During the final months of World War II, many German towns, including Lauban, suffered destruction, shortages of food, water, and electricity, and experienced an influx of displaced civilians.
- Historical records about individual experiences during the war can be scarce unless documented in memoirs, interviews, or specific historical studies. To explore more specific details, it might be helpful to consult local historical archives or personal memoirs.
- Wilhelm Hübner, who was approximately 16 at the time, was not sure if he truly understood the gravity of the situation as he laughed heartily with Adolf Hitler during the last public recordings in the Reich Chancellery courtyard before Hitler's demise.
- In a DEFA documentary, Hübner, who had served as a messenger during the intense four-week battles for Lauban, portrayed the war as an adventure reminiscent of Treasure Island, concealing the worst horrors and the dead and wounded as if they had been erased.
- Hübner, a member of the Hitler Youth, stood beaming in the torn market square of Lauban, amidst the weathered, haggard appearance of soldiers and the exhausted Lauban fighters, as if he were standing in front of a Christmas tree instead of the battle zone.
- Later in life, Hübner admitted that he felt a sense of responsibility to his comrades during the intense fighting for Lauban, but he survived due to his petite size and luck, shooting randomly while intoxicated and hiding behind walls, oblivious to the consequences of his actions.
