Education in Nazi Germany

1. Education in Nazi Germany ‘When an opponent declares “I will not come over to your side,” I calmly say, “Your child belongs to us already”. Adolf Hitler

2. Aims of the lessons To find out How the Nazis attempted to control education and why How successful the Nazis were in controlling education within Germany Key Words

3. To find out How the Nazis attempted to control young people and why How successful the Nazis were in controlling the youth of Germany Indoctrinate/indoctrination– A set of beliefs constantly repeated to implant ideas in the mind Ideology– A set of ideas

4. How did Nazi Ideas and Propaganda affect education within German Schools? ‘In my great educational work I am beginning with the young. My magnificent youngsters! With them I can make a new world!’ Adolf Hitler

5. How was the education of girls affected? What does this source tell us about the types of lessons taken by girls after the Nazis came to power? A visit to a Nazi girls’ school, recorded in‘Education for Death ’ by Gregor Ziemer, 1942. ‘The school bell called the girls…before I visited the classes I spoke to the headteacher. She told me that every class in the school was built around a course called ‘Activities of Women’. This course was divided into handwork, domestic science, cooking, house and garden work – and the most section – breeding and hygiene. This section dealt with sex education, birth, childcare…’

6. How was the education of girls affected? Girls took part in sport most days and were encouraged to study German, History, Geography and Race Study. The boys studied more scientific subjects regularly, such as Maths and Chemistry. Taken fromGermany 1918-1945by Greg Lacey and Keith Shepherd. ‘Girls usually had a different curriculum from boys. They also studied domestic science and eugenics (how to produce perfect offspring by selecting ideal qualities in the parents). How does this source and the table on the next slide confirm what you have learnt about the education of girls?

7. How was the education of girls affected? A typical timetable followed at a girls’ school. Based on information taken from Nazi Power in Germany by Greg Thie and Jean Thie (Hutchinson 1989)

8. Growing up in Nazi Germany

9. How was the education of boys affected? What does this source tell us about History lessons for boys after the Nazis came to power? Extracts from A Boy in Your Situation, 1988 In the History classes the French were the hereditary enemy and all the lessons were about the wars against the enemies of Germany. There were no History textbooks. They had all been withdrawn and until new National Socialist versions come out there was nothing but the teacher, who dictated notes and gave inspiring addresses. He was a reserve officer in the army. He told boys all about it. ‘We have got marvellous tanks now, fantastic; and good guns to use against French tanks.’

10. How was the education of boys affected? Why do you think that the Nazis wished to influence the boys curriculum in this way? An official statement on the purpose of education for boys ‘German Language, History, Geography, Chemistry and Mathematics must concentrate on military subjects – the glorification of military service and of German heroes.’

11. Growing up in Nazi Germany

12. BOYS GIRLS Copy and complete this table in order to highlight the difference between the education of boys and girls. Use the sources and the worksheet to help you.

13. Teachers in Nazi Germany Membership of the Nazi Teachers’ Association became compulsory after 1933. MeinKampf This made the process of indoctrination much easier for the Nazi Party, with teacher’s being only too willing to pass on Nazi Ideas within the classroom. 32% of teachers by 1936 were also members of the Nazi Party itself. Those teacher’s who were thought to be lacking in loyalty and not willing to ‘defend without reservation the National-Socialist state’ were sacked.

14. Virtually all Jewish teachers were dismissed in 1933 as it was deemed ‘undesirable’ to allow Jewish teachers to teach ‘Aryan’ pupils. This was made possible by the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service. Some teachers remained as teachers in Jewish schools until these schools were banned altogether in 1942. Those teachers who taught in ‘Aryan’ schools however suffered increasing levels of harassment and by 1935 no Jewish teachers were left in these schools at all.

15. How did Nazi Ideas and Propaganda affect the education of Jewish children? MeinKampf

16. According to this source, why did many Jewish children prefer not to go to school ? Extracts from ‘A Boy in Your Situation ’, 1988. ‘Karl had a new problem at school – the German teacher Mr Bartholomeus. He had a little swastika badge in his lapel that Karl came to dread. Teachers who wore that badge always seemed to go out of their way to say something unpleasant to Karl, in front of the whole class. Then one day the newspaper said: ‘No Aryan German child is to sit next to a Jew in school.’ That was it. Karl felt an enormous sense of relief. He would not have to go back to school.’

17. Using this source and the previous one, describe the overall treatment of Jewish children in German schools during this period. Michael Burleigh and Wolfgang Wippermann, ‘The Racial State’, 1991. ‘Jewish children were often insulted by teachers and pupils, and subjected to malevolent injustices. They had to sit at separate desks, and were often forbidden to play with ‘Aryan’ children during breaks…Jewish children could only escape harassment if they had the chance to attend a Jewish school. Jewish communities, and the Reich Representation of German Jews, did everything possible to expand the existing Jewish schools or to create new ones. In 1942, these were forbidden too.’

18. What was happening to Jewish children in school should not be viewed in isolation. The persecution of Jewish people within Germany accelerated alarmingly between the years1933-45. Lack of Civil Rights Kristallnacht Violence Identity Badges Boycott Nuremberg Laws Sacked from Jobs Property Confiscated

19. 1933Boycott of Jewish shops, Jewish Civil Servants were dismissed, a ban introduced stopping Jews from inheriting land. Many school text books were altered to contain anti-semitic messages. 1935 The Nuremberg Laws made it illegal for Aryans to have sexual relations with, or marry, Jews. Jews were no longer allowed to attend public swimming baths, parks and restaurants. Public buildings were closed to Jews and no Jew was allowed to join the army. Jews are to be known as ‘subjects’ not citizens of Germany. 1938Kristallnacht – Jewish shops, homes and synagogues attacked and some destroyed. Many Jewish people were killed and injured. Jews no longer had the right to choose their child’s name (it had to be chosen from an approved list) and they were no longer allowed to trade. 1941All Jews had to wear the Star of David (a large yellow six pointed star) on their coats. Ghettoes were set up where Jewish families were forced to settle before being moved on between 1941-45 to Concentration Camps.

20. How did Nazi Ideas and Propaganda affect university and college education?

21. How would attitudes such as these affect standards within German Universities after 1933? Minister of Culture’s statement to German universities, 1933 ‘From now on, it will not be your job to determine whether something is true, but whether it is in the spirit of the National Socialist Revolution.’ Robert Ley, Leader of Reich Organisation ‘A roadsweeper sweeps a thousand microbes into the gutter with one brushstroke; a scientist preens himself on discovering a single microbe in the whole of his life.’ Clue: How ignorant is Robert Ley regarding the importance of scientific research?

22. The Nazis made it extremely difficult for young women to go on to further education. Michael Burleigh and Wolfgang Wippermann, ‘The Racial State’, 1991. ‘Female secondary school pupils had to choose between too alternative subjects on offer to them: domestic science and modern languages. The successful completion of a course in domestic science…did not count toward a place in university. School graduates with qualifications in modern languages also found it difficult to gain admission, because they lacked an education in Latin, which was a language requirement for many subjects at university.’ In 1932 about 20,000 women attended university. By the outbreak of World War Two that number had fallen to roughly 5,500.

23. How did the Nazis attempt to control Education and why?

24. How successful were the Nazis in controlling Education within Germany?

25. For further information and sources relating to Education within Nazi Germany you may like to visit: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Nazis_Education.htm http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GEReducation.htm

26. http://www.learnhistory.org.uk/germany/index.htm Read the section ‘Education in Nazi Germany’ then click on‘Revise this topic’ to test your knowledge. END