Herbert Norkus ( German: Herbert Norkus ; July 26, 1916 , Berlin - January 24, 1932 , Berlin ) - a German young man, a member of the Hitler Youth , who died during a propaganda campaign during clashes with the Communists. In the Third Reich he was considered a propaganda "model" for the members of the Hitler Youth, "a martyr of the movement." Herbert Norkus served as the prototype of the main character of Karl Alois Schönzinger ’s novel “ Quex from the Hitler Youth ”, which was filmed in 1933 by director Hans Steinhoff .
Biography
Norkus's father was injured in the First World War , worked as a stove maker and, possibly, was in the assault squads . Herbert's nervous mother died a year before her son died. On January 24, 1932, an unobtrusive and unremarkable Berlin schoolboy, Herbert Norkus, along with other members of the Hitler Youth, handed out leaflets in Moabit urging them to take part in a National Socialist propaganda event. A group of young communists tried to prevent this and persecuted members of the Hitler Youth. Norkus was beaten, stabbed and died on his way to the hospital. The next day, the NSDAP Der Angriff newspaper published under the headline “How the Red villains murdered Herbert Norkus from the Hitler Youth” .
In the same 1932, the writer Karl Alois Schenzinger took the story of Herbert Norkus as the basis of his novel “Quex from the Hitler Youth”. Nevertheless, according to the plot of the novel, Quex is the son of a communist who, contrary to the will of his father, wants to join the Hitler Youth. Quex's mother died in a suicide attempt with her son, but Quex survived. In the novel, Quex was attacked by the Communists on the way home from rehearsing in the theater and died of wounds a week later. Schoenzinger's novel was filmed by director Hans Steinhoff in 1933. Both the novel and the film played a significant role in National Socialist propaganda . In addition, a series of Hitler Youth propaganda songs were dedicated to Herbert Norkus, in particular the Hans Bauman Der helle Tag . Herbert Norkus was named after the Kriegsmarine , streets and squares in the Third Reich.
See also
- Pavlik Morozov