Transcript Education in Nazi Germany

 In a group of two or three, brainstorm 5 classes
that you must take as high school students in
Canada
 Why?
 Is there another subject that all students in
Canada should take?
 What subjects do you think they took in
Nazi Germany?
Genocide: the deliberate killing of a large
group of people, especially those of a
particular nation or ethnic group.
Also known as racial killing or mass slaughter
Holocaust: destruction or slaughter on a mass
scale.
For example, the killing of 6 million Jews in Nazi Germany.
Education in Nazi Germany
How schools were expected to train
their students to “work towards the
Fuhrer” from 1939-45
Hitler's view on the young and education
 “The weak must be
chiselled away. I want
young men and women
who can suffer pain. A
young German must be
swift as a greyhound,
as tough as leather,
and as hard as Krupp’s
steel.” -Hitler
Education
“The whole function of education is to create Nazis”
-B. Rust, 1938.
Eugenics: the science of improving a population by
controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of
desirable heritable characteristics.
“...No boy or girl must leave school without having
attained a clear insight into the meaning of racial purity
and the importance of maintaining the racial blood…”
Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1939
Here is a maths problem from a Nazi text book:
 “A Sturmkampfflieger on take off carries 12
dozen bombs, each weighing 10 kilos. The aircraft
makes for Warsaw, the centre of international
Jewry. It bombs the town. On take off with all the
bombs…and a fuel tank containing 1,500 kilos of
fuel, the aircraft weighed…8000 kilos. When it
returns from the crusade, there are still 230 kilos
of fuel left. What is the weight of the aircraft
when empty?”
School Assignments based on the
recognition of races
 “Observe the Jew: his way of walking,
his bearing, gestures, and movements
when talking.”
 “In what stories, descriptions, and
poems do you find the physical
character of the Jew best portrayed?”
J. Graf, 1935
How did the Nazis start education?
 “Our State’, said Dr. Ley…’is
an educational State…We begin
with the child when he is three
years old. As soon as he
begins to think he is made to
carry a little flag. Then
follows school, the Hitler
Youth…” by A. Wolf, 1944
What were teachers told?
 “Military education is not a special part
of a general comprehensive education,
but the centre of all our obligations as
teachers.”
 From ‘The German School’ a publication
for teachers, 1937
What would you be taught?
 “All subjects - German Language,
History, Geography, Chemistry and
Mathematics - must concentrate on
military subjects-the glorification of
military service and of German heroes
and leaders and the strength of a
regenerated Germany…”
What would you be taught?
This is the timetable from a Nazi girls school
Nazi Boarding Schools: 1
 The Nazis added boarding schools to the school
system. There were 3 main types. The first was
the National Political Educational Institutions
(NPEA), and by 1943 there were 37. They were
supervised by the Reich Minister of Education.
Life in these schools was hard and militaristic.
They had indirect associations with the S.S. and
were for children over the age of 10. Fees varied
depending on the means of the parents.
Nazi Boarding Schools: 2
 The second set of boarding school
were the Adolf Hitler Schools, and
there were 10 of these by 1943. They
were actually organised and maintained
by the party and offered free
education for those over 12. Their
function was to train a highly
indoctrinated elite of leaders capable
of serving the state.
Nazi Boarding Schools: 3
 The third type were the German State
Boarding School, introduced in 1941,
there were 66 by 1942. They were for
children of parents whose life was
disorganised by the war. Priority was
given to children whose fathers had
died on national service.
What does this tell you
about the role of
education in Germany?
Sport
Sport was seen as essential in Nazi Germany. It
helped develop strong, Germans, who were needed for
the new order. Athletics and gymnastics were
undertaken by all.
“Sport exists to make a person strong, agile and bold.
It also toughens him up and teaches him to bear
hardship.” Hitler
Special training manuals were produced. No free or
spontaneous sport or dance was allowed as this went
against the Nazi sense of order.
• School was mandatory for all children, including Jewish
children (although they did begin separating the Jews
eventually)
• One person who attended school was Anne Frank
• Anne was a German citizen of Jewish heritage
• In 1941, her citizenship was taken
from her.
• The Frank family moved from
Germany to Amsterdam before the
war. The Nazi’s took over the
Netherlands and they were trapped
there.
• The Frank family noticed the
persecution of the Jewish people, so
they went into hiding
• After two years, they were discovered
and shipped to various concentration
camps.
• Anne and her sister were transferred
to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
• While there, Anne kept a diary. It was
auto-biographical and after the war, it
was published and turned into a book.
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For hundreds of years Christian Europe had regarded the Jews as
the Christ -killers. At one time or another Jews had been driven
out of almost every European country. The way they were
treated in England in the thirteenth century is a typical example.
In 1275 they were made to wear a yellow badge.
In 1287 269 Jews were hanged in the Tower of London.
This deep prejudice against Jews was still strong in the
twentieth century, especially in Germany, Poland and Eastern
Europe, where the Jewish population was very large.
After the First World War hundreds of Jews were blamed for the
defeat in the War. Prejudice against the Jews grew during the
economic depression which followed. Many Germans were
poor and unemployed and wanted someone to blame. They
turned on the Jews, many of whom were rich and successful in
business.