Relationship Between *The Boy Who Dared* and what really happened

           In The Boy Who Dared, Helmuth talks a lot about wanting to become a Hitler Youth, but he doesn't really talk about what that means. Becoming a Hitler Youth meant “trying out” at about the of ten. After four years of proving your dedication, you became a Hitler Youth. Once you were a hitler youth, you basically helped the soldiers with some things. The primary purpose for the Hitler Youth was to train young men to become “Storm Troopers.” In 1936, membership to the Hitler Youth or The League of German Girls became mandatory for all boys and girls between the ages of ten and seventeen. This served several reasons but the main reason was to raise children to the Nazi beliefs.

           When boys turned eighteen, they were forced to enroll in the armed forces or in the Reich Labor Service. In 1944, men as young as sixteen were forced to defend Germany as Allies were crossing the border to attack. The fact they were forced to do all this is just awful. Nothing should be forced upon someone who doesn't want to do it. Young men and women were forced to join the Hitler Youth.