Meyer, Arthur/Kern, Herrmann Die Hitler-Jugend zu Gast in Japan

Ein Beitrag zu den deutsch-japanischen Beziehungen und zum Jugendaustausch

During the Third Reich, relations between Germany and Japan intensified considerably. From 1933 to 1945, numerous efforts were made to establish closer political and cultural ties between the two countries. A central component of this rapprochement was the youth exchange programme initiated by the Hitler Youth (HJ). Reich Youth Leader Baldur von Schirach in particular promoted international exchange as a means of promoting understanding between peoples. 1938 was declared the Year of Understanding and marked the beginning of direct youth exchanges with Japan. A delegation of Japanese youth leaders visited Germany, while a group of HJ leaders made a return visit. They were welcomed with great enthusiasm in Japan, explored historical sites and got to know Japanese life. The aim was to promote mutual understanding between the peoples on the basis of their shared ambitions against Communism. The outbreak of the Second World War interrupted these exchange efforts for a time, but at the same time, contacts between the allies were intensified. In 1940, another HJ delegation travelled to Japan to take part in the 2,600th anniversary of the imperial dynasty and to strengthen the alliance-based friendship between the countries. This book presents the Hitler Youth's work abroad and the largely unknown journeys of German young people to distant Asia. An extensive collection of previously unpublished images facilitates the historical contextualisation of the events.