The Deutsches Jungvolk in der Hitlerjugend (; DJ, also DJV; German for "German Youngsters in the Hitler Youth") was the separate section for boys aged 10 to 13 of the Hitler Youth organisation in Nazi Germany. Through a programme of outdoor activities, parades and sports, it aimed to indoctrinate its young members in the tenets of Nazi ideology. Membership became fully compulsory for eligible boys in 1939. By the end of World War II, some had become child soldiers. After the end of the war in 1945, both the Deutsches Jungvolk and its parent organization, the Hitler Youth, ceased to exist. Development The Deutsches Jungvolk was founded in 1928 by Kurt Gruber under the title Jungmannschaften ("Youth Teams"), but it was renamed Knabenschaft in December 1928 and became the Deutsches Jungvolk in der Hitlerjugend in March 1931. Both the Deutsches Jungvolk (DJ or DJV) and Hitler Youth (HJ) modelled parts of their uniforms and programmes on those of the German Scouting associations and of other youth groups, which were banned by the Nazi government during 1933 and 1934. Following the enactment of the Law on the Hitler Youth on 1 December 1936, boys had to be registered with the Reich Youth Office in the March of the year in which they would reach the age of ten; those who were found to be racially acceptable were expected to join the DJ. Although not compulsory, the failure of eligible boys to join the DJ was seen as a failure of civic responsibility on the part of their parents. The regulations were tightened further on 25 March 1939 by the Second Execution Order to the Law on the Hitler Youth ("Youth Service Regulation"), which made membership of the DJ or Hitler Youth mandatory for all Germans between 10 and 18 years of age. Parents could be fined or imprisoned for failing to register their children. Boys were excluded if they had previously been found guilty of "dishonourable acts", if they were found to be "unfit for service" for medical reasons, or if they were Jewish. Ethnic Poles or Danes living in the Reich (this was before the outbreak of World War II) could apply for exemption, but were not excluded. Training and activities In spite of its recruits' early age the Jungvolk had an intensely political role. In 1938, the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler described enrolment from childhood in organisations associated with