Nazi Education Policies

1. Identify three important changes made by the Nazis to the education system. Explain the purpose of each change.

A. One important change made by the Nazis to the education system was stronger control over the schools, like what the teachers taught and what teachers taught at the schools. The Nazis tried to control the schools by encouraging the teachesrs to join the Nazi Party because they wanted to make sure that what the teachers were teaching were good aspects of the Third Reich and the Nazi ideals. The National Socialist Teachers' League (NSLB) was made by the Nazis for teachers to join voluntarily, but eventually forcefully, so they could learn the Nazi ideals and make sure that the teachers were teaching Nazi ideals in school.

B. Another important change the Nazis made to the educational system was the extinction of co-educational schools. Boys and girls could not longer go to school together to make sure that the boys and girls had the education that they were supposed to get, in other words so the "different sexes received their appropriate education." The Nazis wanted to make sure that girls were taught skills such as needlework and music so they could be good housewives and mothers. The boys went through physical excersize training so they could be prepared to fight for Germany and the Nazi ideals.

C. Third, the Nazis also made an import change in setting up leadership schools called the Adolf Hitler Schools. The purpose of this change was to rival the SS's NAPOLA schools and to avoid Rust's interference of the Adolf Hitler Schools, since he had a lot of control on all the other schools. Rust was the Educational Minister and developed the National Political Institutes of Education (NAPOLAs), where boys aged 10 to 18 were taught to be leaders. The other purpose of the Adolf Hitler Schools was to provide free boarding schools where they would learn how to be leaders withb physical, political and military training.

2. Give specific examples of how the Nazis tried in schools to develop the spirit of Volksgemeinschaft in the following seven goals:

Anti-intellectualism: The Nazis tried to develop the spirit of Volksgemeinschaft in schools by expressing that intellectualism is bad for the state. For example, Bernhard Rust, the Nazi Education Minister, said in Education and Instruction (the official manual for teachers) "The chief prupose of the school is to train human beings to realise that the State is more important than the individual, that individuals must be willing and ready to sacrifice themselves for Nation and Fuhrer.” For example, the one month training courses for teachers that were mandatory were solely about Nazi ideology and physical education. Another example is the leadership schools that were supposed to rival the SS schools and Rust, where there was physical training and Nazi ideas forced upon the children, there was no intellectualism put into the education because the Nazis wanted to have strong boys and young men to fight for them and not be able to challenge the Nazi ideology.

Anti-semitism: Anti-semitism was one of the goals where the Nazis tried to develop the spirit of Volksgeimenschaft by firing Jewish teachers and forcing Nazi ideology in the children. The Law for the Restoration of the Civil Service in April of 1933 fired all the Jewish or racial population of the universities, which was about thirty-three percent of all teachers in universities. Another example, is the children at schools, such as NAPOLAs, were taught Nazi ideas, which was greatly anti-semitic so the children became anti-semitic. Anti-semitism was a big part of Volksgeimenschaft because the Jews and other races weren’t included in the “People’s Community.”

Indifference to the weak: The Nazis tried to show indifference to the weak in schools to develop the spirit of Volksgeimenschaft by focusing all of the boys schools on mostly physical exercise and Nazi ideology. All of the boys schools in Germany had a strict focus on physical exercise because they wanted to prove to other countries that Germans are strong, and above all that Germans are the superior race. The strength of Germans, and in turn superiority over other races, was a huge part of the Volksgeimenschaft because it shows the superiority of Germans.

Nationalism: The Nazis tried to show nationalism in schools to develop the spirit of Volksgeimenschaft by everyone working together and training to be tough. By showing that Germans aren’t weak, like at the NAPOLA schools and Adolf Hitler schools, it brings about nationalism to fight the other countries and prove that Germans aren’t weak. It brings back the humiliation Germans felt when they lost World War I and we forced to take all the blame, by showing that they’re tough it proves that they can fight back and basically aren’t the losers. Also, working together brought about nationalism because it forces you to be with your fellow Germans and bring about a sort of “people’s community,” which was exactly what Volksgeimenschaft was supposed to mean.

Militarism: The Nazis tried to show militarism in schools to develop the spirit of Volksgeimeschaft by enforcing the fitness training on all the boys, young men, and teachers. There was exercise training everywhere in Germany, in the schools like NAPOLAs, and in the teacher training for one whole month. This was meant to prepare the boys, young men, and men professors for war and to fight for Germany. This helped to develop the idea of Volksgeimenschaft because the ideas behind it there was the survival of the fittest, where only the “pure” races would survive, and of course on pure Aryan Germans would survive.

Obedience and discipline: The Nazis tried to show obedience and discipline to develop the spirit of Volksgeimenschaft by enforcing meetings on students and teachers. For example, the Nazi-controlled German Students’ League showed order and discipline by meeting twice weekly and forcing them to go through fitness training, such as marching. Also, the one month training for teachers brought about obedience and discipline because all the teachers had to attend or they would be considered as radicals who were going to challenge the Third Reich. This obedience and discipline brought about the spirit of Volksgeimenschaft because it brought about togetherness and strength, which Volksgeimenschaft was supposed to represent.

Hitler Worship: The Nazis tried to show Hitler Worship in schools to develop the spirit of Volksgeimenschaft by making him seem godlike and he would fix everything, make life easy for everyone. For example, in the Adolf Hitler schools children from ages twelve to eighteen could attend for free, which shows his kindness to make life easier for everyone to let their children get a good education, especially when not everyone could afford it. This brought about the spirit of Volksgeimenschaft because it brought about a people’s community by people being surrounded by Hitler, his ideas, and talking about his kindness to let their kids go to school for free.

3. What methods did the Nazis use to try to ensure schools were teaching correctly? (This is from Friday's in-class work.)

The methods the Nazis used to try to ensure schools were teaching are the creation of the National Socialist Teachers’ League, getting rid of “intellectual freedom” (Source 14.16), Hitler worship, and militarism. The National Teachers’ League was set up to tell the teachers how to teach and what to teach, so the professors knew what they were supposed to be teaching and that there shouldn’t be any excuses on what to teach to the children. Getting rid of the “intellectual freedom” was another method because it was supposed to get rid of “political interference”(14.16) and to make them that only Germany exists (14.16), making Germany seem like the pure race. Also, Hitler worship was another method because, as shown in Source 14.18 and 14.25, Hitler is almighty basically. The children and teachers should be proud to be ruled by Hitler because of all he’s done, which all they saw was good things being done since the Nazis limited what they read and heard form newspapers and other news media. If schools, the children and teachers were praising Hitler than they knew that the students and teachers believed in his ideas and were teaching Nazi ideology correctly. Militarism was used to ensure that schools were teaching correctly by including militarism in school subjects, such as math as shown in Sources 14.20 and 14.21. In Source 14.20 it directly states that all subjects “must concentrate on military subjects – the glorification of military service and of German heroes and leaders and the strength of a regenerated German.” Therefore, students were constantly surrounded by this militarism to make it seem like they had to fight for Germany, and by all the subjects being focused around militarism it ensured that the schools were teaching correctly.

4. Write out a statement that explains the main educational aims of the Nazi Education System. (Reference some of the sources.)
The main educational aims of the Nazi Educational System was to prepare students and professors to fight for Germany if needed and to teach students and teachers that Germans are superior than all other races. The aim to prepare to fight can be seen in Sources 14.20, 14.21, 14.22, and 14.23, where there is a tight focus on “knowledge of chemical warfare, explosives, Buna, (…) artillery calculations, ballistics, etc.”(14.20), The aim for Germans to know that they are the superior race is proven by Sources 14.22 and 14.24, where the struggle in the past to become superior is strongly emphasized.