Faces of Opposition: Juvenile Resistance, High Treason, and the People's Court in Nazi Germany

Analysis of the sixty-nine juveniles tried for high treason before the People's Court in Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945, based on the available court records, finds that juvenile resistance in Nazi Germany possessed a distinct form and character; it was a phenomenon rather than an exceptional act. Juvenile resisters charged with high treason were typically working-class males of German ethnicity, motivated primarily by left-wing and religious beliefs, acting in small groups free of significant adult supervision and direction. Examination of the verdicts and sentencing of these juvenile resisters sheds light on how the Nazi justice system reacted to such serious internal resistance from its young.