Throughout the Second World War, there were many spies that worked in different countries
to provide information to armies.
It was hoped that this information would be valuable to the war effort, for example the
British had established large networks of spies inside of France who passed information
and worked as couriers for the French Resistance.
Special Operations Executive as it was known helped to carry out many acts of espionage,
but those who were captured conducting this undercover work were often sent to concentration
camps and many were executed in terrible ways.
For example a number of female spies were even burned alive inside the ovens of a concentration
camp, and their screams were piercing as the other prisoners recounter.
But there were a number of German spies who were executed during the war, and one of them
were even executed inside the Tower of London, the medieval fortress where Henry VIII executed
two of his own wives.
However one of the most shocking executions of the war took place at the hands of the
Americans, as a US Army firing squad executed two teenage German spies.
Join us today as we look at the executions of the teenage hitler youth spies, and remember
as always to support our channel, please make sure to subscribe.
The Hitler Youth were an organisation established by the Nazis, and it was the youth group that
boys would join.
The Hitler Youth was a tool used to indoctrinate young boys, and the members were raised basically
to become soldiers and it was hoped that all of the Hitler youth would one day be motivated
soldiers who would lay their life down for the Third Reich.
As time went on membership to the group became mandatory, and German boys faced immense pressure
to join.
Hitler said of the groups, ‘These boys and girls enter our organizations with their ten
years of age, and often for the first time get a little fresh air; after four years of
the Young Folk they go on to the Hitler Youth, where we have them for another four years...And
even if they are still not complete National Socialists, they go to Labor Service and are
smoothed out there for another six, seven months...And whatever class consciousness
or social status might still be left...the Wehrmacht will take care of that.’
Some boys did drop out due to the discipline and regimented nature of the group, but then
some joined as they found out they could not get a job or go to university if they were
not a member.
Ultimately the main age range for the group was boys of around 14 to 18, and eventually
the membership numbers rose to 8 million.
This was a huge amount, and Hitler realised that having 8 million virulent and passionate
Nazi boys at his disposal could have some involvement in the German War Effort, and
could have been a useful tool for him.
But during the Second World War, the Hitler youth played an important role in the German
war effort.
Arthur Axmann would change the group from a simply youth group to become an auxiliary
force which could perform duties during the war when it was called upon.
The Hitler Youth then became part of the German fire brigades, and they also helped with recovery
following Allied bombing raids.
They also took part in civilian work including the Reich postal services, working on the
railways and other roles in government positions.
But then many of the group were trained to become part of anti-aircraft defences, and
they would be involved in the shooting down of allied aircraft, but they also were vulnerable
to attack.
But then as the war effort continued, the Nazis then began to turn the Hitler youth
into becoming a military reserve, to eventually replace the soldiers who had been killed in
action during operations such as Barbarossa where heavy losses were sustained.
There were plans for a Waffen-SS division comprised of Hitler Youth members, and the
combat division of practically children born in 1926 was passed to Hitler for his approval,
and he gave this it’s confirmation.
In 1944, the SS Panzer Division Hitler Youth was deployed during the Battle of Normandy,
and 20,000 German youngsters took part in the attempts to defend against the D-Day landings.
They managed to knock out 28 Canadian tanks but 3000 members were lost before the assault
on Normandy had even finished.
But the Hitler youth division became known for its loyalty to the NAzi cause and its
ferocity, these were dangerous young men who had been brainwashed.
But even as the war had turned against the Germans young men were being brought into
the conflict, and there were even 12 year old boys who were being drafted into the Volksturm
to defend during the Battle of Berlin.
These young boys were equipped with weapons such as Panzerfausts, and they were part of
the last line of German defences.
But as the war was in it’s final months, and as the Germans dug in heavily to defend,
members of the Hitler Youth found themselves also conducting espionage and spy work for
the Wehrmacht and the German army.
It was hoped by the Nazis that the boys would attract little suspcion with the enemies,
and they infiltrated the areas where the British, Americans and other allied armies were liberating
and also setting up bases.
Near to Braunscheweig in Germany, there were members of the Hitler Youth who were conducting
spying on the Allies, and then they were passing this information on further to try and rally
the Germans to attack where specifically the Americans were based.
The US army knew this was happening, and they began to treat many people with suspicion,
and even local girls and women came under suspicion for being spies, and there was a
discouragement of fraternisation with the locals.
But on the 1st June 1945, there were two teenage boys, a lad aged 16 and another aged 17 who
were marched out into a quarry by the American soldiers, and they were then fastened to a
stake and were executed by a firing squad.
But why were these two youngsters executed?
Heinz Petry a 16 year old boy, and Josef Schoner, a 17 year old boy had been captured by the
Allies and they were accused of espionage by the Americans.
The pair had been trained in how to use pistols and rifles, and also how to work with explosives
for the Werwolf secret organisation which was to disrupt the Allies.
Schoner was a Hitler Youth leader, and along with others he was transferred to Bergheim.
On the 21st February 1945, Petry was sent to the front line area with Schoner, to spy
on the troop strength of the United States Army.
They were to report what they saw to the German military, and they were conducting reconaissance
on the enemy.
But on the 22nd February 1945, the two teenage boys were picked up by the Ninth Unites States
Army near to Birgden, and were found hiding in a foxhole reporting on the American movements.
The Americans found the boys in civilian clothes and not in uniform, and because of this they
were treated and classified as spies.
Under interrogation, Petry the 16 year old admitted being a spy, and they were then imprisoned
in Aachen prison.
There was then a day long hearing in front of a US military court made up of members
of the Ninth Army, and the pair despite their young age were then sentenced to death by
firing squad on the 29th March 1945 in a court martial in Monchengladbach for committing
acts of espionage which were damaging to the war effort.
The jury of officers came up with a two third majority, and the death sentences were carried
out to show the German people how serious the Americans were to ‘remove the poisonous
breath of German militarist and Nazi ideology from the face of the earth completely.’
On the 30th May 1945 as the war in Europe had come to an end, the boys were transferred
to Braunscheweig detention centre, and they were informed that their pleas for clemency
had been rejected and instead they were told that their executions was imminent.
Heinz Petry the 16 year old wrote a 6 page farewell letter to his parents and brother
on the night before his execution, however on the 1st June 1945 the pair were told that
they were to be executed.
They were taken on the short journey to a gravel pit quarry which was situated nearby,
and Petry being the youngest was the first to be executed.
He was led out to his execution flanked by American guards and a priest who remained
with him, and then he was led to a wooden stake which had been secured against the gravel
bank.
The officials then tied his arms behind his back, and also his legs and secured him to
the post.
The firing squad then emerged and this was made up of 12 soldiers from the ninth army
with their rifles.
They were not far from their target at all, and they were then told to ready themselves
by the officer who was behind the shooters.
Quickly and swiftly they shot straight into their target, and the 16 year old Heinz Petry
was executed.
His body was then after the execution placed into a coffin by employees of the German Red
Cross.
Following Petry’s execution, Schoner was then executed in the same manner, along with
4 other spies who were executed that day by soldiers of the US 9th Army.
The election did attract criticism as some believed the boys should have been spared
due to their age.
But following the executions, Heinz Petry was buried in Braunschweig’s main cemetery
and Josef Shoner was buried in the Catholic cemetery.
Petry’s remains were later exhumed at the request of his family, and were moved back
to his hometown.
The execution of the teenage Hitler Youth members by some groups around the world was
seen as un-necessary considering the war in Europe had come to an end.
But for the Americans it was considered an important step in showing the German population
that those who committed crimes against the Allies should be punished, and it showed the
Germans that the soon to be occupiers would not be pushovers.
But at the end of the day, Heinz Petry was just 16 when he was executed in the gravel
quarry, and Josef Schoner was just 17 when he was shot dead.
These two remain some of the youngest to have been executed by the Allies during the Second
World War.
Thanks for watching
To support our channel, please make sure to subscribe
Thanks for watching