Exhibition “Intoxiquée ! La jeunesse sous la botte nazie”

Took place from 8 February to 11 November 2025

The exhibition

Using unique documents, educational objects, posters and videos from public and private, French and German archives, the exhibition “Intoxiquée! la jeunesse sous la botte nazie (Intoxicated, young people under the Nazi boot) presents the indoctrination of young people in Germany and in the annexed territories of Alsace and Moselle.

“Wer die Junged hat, hat die Zukunft”, “Who holds youth, holds the future”

This Nazi slogan says it all about the extent of the total intoxication put in place by the Third Reich. The exhibition, comprising around forty paintings, deals with a subject that may seem difficult, but it is a must-see if you want to understand the extent to which these young people were manipulated from nursery school onwards to forge the new society dreamed up by Hitler.

As part of this exhibition, the museum will also be pleased to renew its partnership with the Musée des Blindés de Saumur, which will be exhibiting an emblematic German vehicle.

Topics covered

• Propaganda and indoctrination
• Education
• Culture and leisure
• Hitler Youth

The exhibition ‘Intoxiquée ! la jeunesse sous la botte nazie’ was put together under the supervision of Marcel Spisser, exhibition curator, former regional educational inspector for history and geography and President of the Association of Friends of the Alsace-Moselle Memorial.

Enrichments

To complement the exhibition on German youth, the Normandy Victory Museum has designed an area at the end of the tour dedicated to French youth under the Vichy regime. The aim is to present to the public the education of children under the Occupation, and the regime’s attempts to shape the New Man of the National Revolution. This enrichment is fueled by numerous exhibits, tracing the journey of young Frenchmen from school desks to the Chantiers de la Jeunesse Française.

Finally, thanks to a number of partners, the exhibition has been further enriched:

• A Panzer II ‘Luchs’ tank from 1943 on loan from the Musée des Blindés in Saumur
  4 mannequins (children and teenagers) representing various organisations and activities within the JH, as well as a few objects, such as a shooting training rifle, on loan from MMPark France in La Wantzenau in Alsace.
• A set of objects and personal documents belonging to a young Alsatian who joined the Hitler Youth, on loan from the Walbourg Memorial Museum in Alsace.
• Various objects evocative of the theme (drums, decorations, clothing, equipment, documents) from generous private collectors, on loan for the exhibition.

Practical information

• Where: Normandy Victory Museum, in the temporary exhibitions area
• When: 8 February to 2 November 2025
• Prices and conditions: Admission included in the price of the museum ticket
  Free Visit app (available on your smartphone) Also available for children (ages 8–12)

To go further

• Sophie Scholl, recruited: the famous German resistance fighter was recruited into the Hitler Youth (read our article on the historical blog)
• Books on the theme: on sale soon in the museum shops and online.
• Le Mémorial Alsace-Moselle : Voir le site

Press and teachers

• Information and contact: Godefroy Beaussire (museum director) | +33 2 33 71 74 94
• For general information: Contact form
• For a school visit