Education in Nazi Germany

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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 girlsbefore 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
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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 from Germany 1918-1945 by 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?
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How was the education of girls affected?
A typical timetable followed at a girls school.
Periods Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat
1 German German German German German German
2 Geog History Singing Geog History Singing
3 Race Study Race Study Race Study Race Study Party Beliefs Party Beliefs
4 Break - Sports with Special Announcements 4 Break - Sports with Special Announcements 4 Break - Sports with Special Announcements 4 Break - Sports with Special Announcements 4 Break - Sports with Special Announcements 4 Break - Sports with Special Announcements 4 Break - Sports with Special Announcements
5 Domestic Science with Mathematics 5 Domestic Science with Mathematics 5 Domestic Science with Mathematics 5 Domestic Science with Mathematics 5 Domestic Science with Mathematics 5 Domestic Science with Mathematics 5 Domestic Science with Mathematics
6 Eugenics, Health Biology and Sport 6 Eugenics, Health Biology and Sport 6 Eugenics, Health Biology and Sport 6 Eugenics, Health Biology and Sport 6 Eugenics, Health Biology and Sport 6 Eugenics, Health Biology and Sport 6 Eugenics, Health Biology and Sport
Based on information taken from Nazi Power in
Germany by Greg Thie and Jean Thie (Hutchinson
1989)
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Growing up in Nazi Germany
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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.
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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.
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Growing up in Nazi Germany
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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.
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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 teachers 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 teachers who were thought to be lacking in
loyalty and not willing to defend without
reservation the National-Socialist state were
sacked.
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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.
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How did Nazi Ideas and Propaganda affect the
education of Jewish children?
MeinKampf
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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.
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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 breaksJewish
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.
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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
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1933 Boycott 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 childs 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.
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How did Nazi Ideas and Propaganda affect
university and college education?
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How would attitudes such as these affect
standards within German Universities after 1933?
Minister of Cultures 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?
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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 sciencedid 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.
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How did the Nazis attempt to control Education
and why?
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How successful were the Nazis in controlling
Education within Germany?
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For further information and sources relating to
Education within Nazi Germany you may like to
visit
http//www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Nazis_Educati
on.htm
http//www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GEReducation.
htm
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http//www.learnhistory.org.uk/germany/index.htm
Read the section Education in Nazi Germany then
click onRevise this topic to test your
knowledge.
END