"Only those who storm ahead have the right to live" – a photo album from the life of the Land Year program of the ...

"Only those who storm ahead have the right to live" – a photo album from the life of the Land Year program of the Hitler Youth. Braunschweig (Germany), 1935

Wir erleben das Landjahr. Ein Bilderbericht von dem Landjahrleben – "We Experience the Land Year – A Photographic Report from the Life of the Land Year" – a photo album documenting the activities of the Hitler Youth during the Land Year program. Published by Verlag E. Appelhans & Co., Braunschweig. At the request of the Supreme Landjahr Leadership, by the senior official [Schmidt-Bodenstedt]. Braunschweig (Germany), 1935.

An album containing dozens of photographs of Hitler Youth boys and girls participating in the Land Year program, accompanied by Nazi propaganda slogans reflecting the new era of Hitler's Germany and a call to distance oneself from anyone who does not join the "new spirit, " such as: "Stay away from all who still complain, those who do not dare to join us on the way, stay away from every weak servant: only those who storm ahead have the right to live." Also includes quotes from Adolf Hitler's speech at the 1935 party congress, such as: "We want to raise a generation that is tough/strong/reliable/cheerful/obedient and decent/so that we will not have to be ashamed of our people in the eyes of history." The photographs document Hitler Youth boys and girls engaged in social activities, sports, agricultural labor, music, camping, various crafts, saluting ceremonies to the Führer, and more. At the beginning of the album, a handwritten German inscription reads: "The prerequisite for any action is the will and the courage to take responsibility!" Signed "herzlichst" ("cordially") and dated January. On the title page is a hand-drawn image of a girl and the caption "Deutschland Vaterland" – Germany the Fatherland. Additionally, the Hitler Youth emblem is hand-drawn on the lower part of the cover.

Landjahr – "State Year" or "Land Year" – in Nazi Germany, youths underwent training as part of what was known as the Landjahr program. The program was intended for children who had completed elementary school at the age of 14, as well as for older adolescents, and involved a stay in a camp where approximately 80 boys participated in each cycle. The daily schedule began each morning at 6:00 AM with a ceremony that included a pledge of loyalty to the Führer and the raising of the flag. This was followed by physical activities such as sports, agricultural labor on a farm, animal care, marching, singing, and military-style training – including target practice – all accompanied by weekly ceremonies aimed at instilling Nazi ideology. The boys were required to pass a medical examination to ensure their fitness for manual labor, while girls had to present written parental consent in order to participate (as the 1930s progressed, the program became more popular among girls than boys). In some places, the program was called Landdienst ("State Service"). Its purpose was to train the youth to become loyal soldiers of their people and homeland, to develop their physical abilities, and to educate them according to the values of the Nazi movement, with obedience and loyalty to the Führer serving as the ideological foundation for the practical activities. The number of German youths participating in this training steadily increased over the years.

With the Nazi invasion of Poland in September 1939, girls who had completed the Landjahr program were sent as volunteers to areas of Poland that had been annexed to the Reich. The girls trained farmers in regions with a mixed Polish-German lower-class population to settle in the occupied territories of Poland and to educate them to become "loyal citizens of the Reich, " as well as to fill the jobs of Poles who had been expelled from their businesses. The boys assisted in evacuations from industrial cities that were targeted by Allied bombings and supported civilian efforts for the German soldiers fighting at the front.

96 pages. Light wear to cover. Good condition.