He was the bright, cultured face of the Nazi future.
As Reich Youth Leader, Baldur von Schirach shaped millions of German boys and girls into loyal servants of Hitler’s vision — teaching them obedience, sacrifice, and racial purity.
Under his leadership, the Hitler Youth became the regime’s most powerful instrument of indoctrination, preparing a generation to fight and die for the Third Reich.

Later, as Gauleiter of Vienna, he turned ideology into action — overseeing the deportation of tens of thousands of Jews and boasting that it was a “contribution to European culture.”
Behind the confident speeches and parades lay a man blinded by faith in his Führer and a belief that history itself was on his side.

When the war ended, that faith was shattered.
And in the courtroom of Nuremberg, Baldur von Schirach was finally forced to confront what his words — and his youth movement — had done.