Hilf mit! Illustrierte Deutsche Schülerzeitung – “Lend a Hand!” Illustrated German School Newspaper. Issues No. 1-5, October – November 1936. Published by the National Socialist Teachers League (NSLB) – Messages of Nazi racial doctrine embedded in a culture and leisure magazine for the youth of Germany, in the most important newspaper for students in the Third Reich: “Then the boys went home proud, because now they finally understood the racial doctrine.”
In Issue No. 1, October 1936, alongside articles on the social activities of the Hitler Youth building cardboard model planes, articles on Germany’s glorious past, and a review of Hitler Youth activities, there is a central article titled: “The Races of Europe.” The author tells of a group of children who accidentally came to the house of “Old Professor Degenhardt, ” who lived in a village on the forest slope. In his room, there are human skulls arranged on a shelf, and the curious youngsters try to understand their significance. It was during the period when training for the Olympic Games was taking place, and the professor explains to the children that the success of the Olympic competitors stems from their racial characteristics, deeply rooted in history, and that their head shapes and character traits derive from the blood of those races. “The boys listened attentively, but one of them said: I heard there are many inferior races in Europe.” “That’s true, ” the professor replied, “In Europe, there were a larger number of races. But they didn’t remain pure, instead, they mixed together. So most of the people living in Europe already have characteristics of several races. One could say that in Europe almost everyone is of mixed race, and only a few percent are people of pure race.” The boys’ curiosity grew. “The skulls you see can tell you many stories, ” said the professor. Then the professor elaborates on where their ancestors came from according to the facial features of each boy and describes how the purity of the Nordic race was formed and encourages them: “Each of us probably has Nordic blood in our veins, some more, others less. The characteristics we carry within us are not only evident from the shape of the body and skull but also from the character traits we possess.” Silence prevailed in the room for a while. The professor stood up, then the boys went home proud, because now they finally understood the racial doctrine.” Following this, a poem by the German poet Fleier Dhonen, dealing with the resilience of the German body as a direct continuation of the Olympic athletes in ancient Greece, for which he won a gold medal in a poetry competition held in Germany, appears, among other topics.
In Issue No. 2, November 1936, alongside articles about the Führer at the party congress, perfect German architecture, “A Community of People, A Community of Blood” – about the superiority of the Aryan race, there is also a story titled: “Poison in the Bookshelf” – about a boy named Karl Albert who finds books written by Jewish authors in his father’s bookshelf. The boy finds one book after another written by Jews and about Jews and tells his father that he should remove them from his library because these books are poison. The story is accompanied by two photographs showing a blonde German boy leaning over a pile of books and reading a newspaper with the antisemitic caption: “Without knowing, he rummaged through Beiter’s bookshelf and picked up a book in which the Jew glorifies crime – such poison must be removed from the bookshelves.”
In issue no. 3, there is a large article explaining Nazi racial theory, which details how hereditary traits are passed from father to son. The writer urges young people to visit the Berlin city archive and other institutions that deal with family registration to investigate their family origins. He further advises: “If nothing is found there, perhaps in the library of your hometown, you’ll find the ‘Guide of the Civil Family’ or the ‘German Fathers’ Community’ in Dresden, where you can submit the material and inquire about your ancestors…” Additionally, he encourages young people to provide any information they have to the “officials” involved in the registration of German families. The author promises that even if they encounter difficulties in collecting the data, they should not despair: “You will enjoy creating the family tree, ” he assures them.
In issue no. 4, there is an anti-Semitic article titled “Archbishop Agobard and the Jews.” Issue no. 5 contains an article about “The Nazi Uniforms” that the boys of the Hitler Youth would wear in the future, and more.
Hilf mit! – “Lend a Hand!” – “Illustrated Student Newspaper” was the most important National Socialist newspaper for students in the Third Reich. The issues were edited by the National Socialist Teachers League (NSLB) with the deliberate aim of conveying the educational message for Nazi propaganda purposes. It was published monthly from October 1933 to September 1944, with Heinrich Hansen as the chief editor from 1937. At its peak, the magazine reached a circulation of up to five million copies per issue and reached almost all students from the age of 10. The magazine had a profound ideological influence on the younger generation in the Third Reich. Schoolteachers were required to distribute only this newspaper. In addition to student-relevant topics typical of the time, such as traffic education, natural history, and health education, various propaganda topics occupied a significant place. Topics like genealogy and racial theory also appeared in the issues. One of the magazine’s most important writers was Johann von Leers, who was sometimes also its editor and responsible for the “political team.” With more than 100 articles he published in the “History” section, he educated students with antisemitic propaganda and stories praising Hitler’s leadership qualities.
Nazi propaganda was integrated with idealized images of ethnic family life through stories about healthy German boys and girls, mothers and children, and the perfect German family. Events such as the annexation of Austria to Germany were incorporated in a revisionist spirit that inspired even the most horrific actions carried out by the Nazi regime. During the war years, the magazine was published every two to three months with more explicit antisemitic articles against the Jewish race and the disaster of the “International Jew.”
5 Complete issues. 32 pages in each issue. Very good condition.
