The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 8, Number 3, Spring 2020 | Page 138

The Saber
was seen as a financial liability, and the
Volkischer Beobachter was seen as adequate
for party news and events. Lenk,
although a motivated party member,
eventually had a falling out and there
was a disconnect between the NSDAP
and Hitler. 7 The issue between Lenk
and Hitler arose when Lenk wanted
to run the youth party the way he saw
fit. Hitler wanted to be seen as the supreme
leader, and he felt he maintained
the final say in any party decisions or
actions, regardless if it was a decision
that affected the whole party or one that
affected the Hitler Youth organizations.
This disagreement was a turning point
in the early years of the Hitler youth, as
Kurt Gruber was brought in to replace
Lenk. 8 Gruber, even though he was
technically not the group’s first leader,
was named so by Hitler during a July
4, 1926 party rally. Hitler had no issues
proclaiming someone the “first leader,”
as it would force that person to be
forever indebted to the title, as well as
to the Fuhrer. This is also the same day
that the Nazi Youth Party was transited
to its official and well-known title today,
the Hitler-Jugend, Bund Deutscher
Arbeiterjugend (Hitler Youth, League of
German Worker Youth). 9
The Hitler Youth Party was not
off to the magnifying growth that Hitler
expected, but that would soon change
as Gruber began to use his influence
and leadership abilities. The first years
of the Hitler Youth had a small membership
of 1,000 members, but in 1925
that number swelled to a little over
5,000. 10 By 1930, after only four years
as party leader, Gruber had amassed
a party membership of over 25,000.
6