Editing Richard Schroeter (section)

== Early life ==

Schroeter was born in [[Rotterdam]], [[Netherlands]], on 12 February 1931. His family moved to Berlin while he was an infant, and he was raised in Charlottenburg. He attended local schools before beginning work in the bicycle repair trade.

On 12 February 1941, Schroeter was enrolled in the [[Deutsches Jungvolk]], the section of the [[Hitler Youth]] for boys between ten and fourteen years old. He transferred to the Hitlerjugend section on 12 February 1945 after reaching the age of fourteen. His membership ended on 8 May 1945 following the collapse of [[Nazi Germany]].<ref name="nazi-collapse"/> His membership formed part of the Nazi youth structure that operated throughout Germany during the period.<ref name="nazi-ideology"/>

The wider Schroeter family also had extensive military involvement in Germany during the Nazi period.<ref name="schroeter-military"/>