A PowerPoint with all the Information you need to know about education and youth organizations during the Nazism times. Hope it's helpful

1. Education
and Young
People
On Nazi Germany

2. “He alone, who owns
the youth, gains the
future”- Adolf Hitler
● The quote is quite simple to understand, Hitler
is basically saying “If you are able to control
the youth, the future should pan out as you
want it to”. They would need no convincing
later on in life, that what they were taught was
true. Children’s minds are a blank slate, which
is why you have to be careful what you write
on them.

3. S
O
M
E
C
O
N
T
E
X
T After Adolf Hitler’s accession to power in 1933, the Nazis set out to reconstruct German
society. To do that, the totalitarian government attempted to exert complete control over
the populace. Every institution was infused with National Socialist ideology and infiltrated
by Nazi personnel in chief positions. Schools were no exception. Even before coming to
power, Hitler in Mein Kampf (1925–27; “My Struggle”) had hinted at his plans for broad
educational exploitation. The Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda exercised
control over virtually every form of expression—radio, theatre, cinema, the fine arts, the
press, churches, and schools. The control of the schools began in March 1933 with the
issuing of the first educational decree, which held that “German culture must be treated
thoroughly.”
The Nazi government attempted to control the minds of the young and thus, among
other means, intruded Nazi beliefs into the school curriculum.

4. Changes
to
the
School
Curriculum Hitler immediately made changes to the school curriculum. Education in "racial awareness" began, and
children were constantly reminded of their racial duties to the "national community". Subjects like
political education and Biology were now compulsory. They also expanded on the racial inferiority of
the Jews.
According to Louis Leo Snyder, witness first hand the Nazi mass rallies, the ultimate purpose of
education was to fashion citizens conscious of the glory of country and filled with fanatical devotion
to the national cause.
(A German student taking part in "race education"
classes-1935)
Hitler appointed the loyal Bernhard Rust as Minister for Education.
Rust's task was to change the education system so that resistance to
fascist ideas were kept to a minimum.
New textbooks were published that reflected the Nazi ideology. A
directive issued in January 1934 made it compulsory for schools to
educate their pupils "in the spirit of National Socialism".
(Hitler Youth and German Girls'
League uniforms)
One of the textbooks that he was forced to use was the anti-Semitic
book, The Jewish Question in Education, which contained guidelines for
the "identification" of Jews. Some students began to question the way
that Jews were portrayed in the classroom.
Children were encouraged to go to school wearing their Hitler Youth
and German Girls' League uniforms. School notice boards were
covered in Nazi propaganda posters and teachers often read out
articles written by anti-semites.

5. "As the teacher entered the class, the students
would stand and raise their right arms. The
teacher would say, “For the Führer a triple
victory”, answered by a chorus of “Heil!” three
times... Every class started with a song. The
almighty Führer would be staring at us from
his picture on the wall. These uplifting songs
were brilliantly written and composed,
transporting us into a state of enthusiastic
glee."- Tomi Ungerer (A german student)

6. Teachers
in
Nazi
Germany
In 1933 all Jewish teachers were dismissed
from German schools and universities. The
Minister of Education explained the reason;
“(...)In this way, the natural race instincts of
German boys and girls are preserved; and the
young people are made aware of their duty to
maintain their racial purity and to bequeath it
to succeeding generations.”
Teachers who did not support the Nazi Party
were dismissed. Basically, teachers had to
pretend to be Nazis in order to remain in their
posts, and most of the men teachers had
families which depended on them.
(A Hitler Youth
instructor
teaching the
definitions of
race laid down by
the Nuremberg
Laws, September
1939.)
It has been estimated that by 1936 over 32% of teachers
were members of the Nazi Party. This was a much higher
figure than for other professions. Teachers who were
members, wore their uniforms in the classroom.
It has been claimed that before Adolf Hitler took power a
large proportion of teachers were members of the German
Social Democratic Party.
(Schoolboys study ballistics in a physics class, using a
working model artillery piece and a target, Germany, circa
1935. On the wall in the background is a portrait of Nazi
leader Adolf Hitler.)
By 1938 two-thirds of all
elementary school
teachers were
indoctrinated at special
camps in a compulsory
one-month training
course of lectures.
What they learned at camp they were expected to pass on to
their students. Headmasters were instructed to dismiss
teachers who were not supporters of Hitler. However, some
anti-Nazi teachers survived

7. School
Textbooks Mathematics
New mathematical textbooks were
introduced and included "social arithmetic",
which involved calculations designed to
achieve a subliminal indoctrination in key
areas - for example, sums requiring the
children to calculate how much it would
cost the state to keep a mentally ill person
alive in an asylum. Other questions used in
mathematics revolved around artillery
trajectories and fighter-to-bomber ratios.
This was a typical question from a
mathematics text: "An airplane flies at the
rate of 240 kilometers per hour to a place at
a distance of 210 kilometers in order to drop
bombs. When may it be expected to return
if the dropping of bombs takes 7.5 minutes?"
Biology
Biology textbooks emphasized
Hitler's views on race and
heredity.
Art
The government took
complete control of the art
world. Textbooks used in the
classroom were very hostile
to modern art, something
that was considered to be
degenerate. Below is a school
textbook that provides a
comparative study between
modern paintings and
deformed humans. For
example, the Amedeo
Modigliani (plate 126) is
compared to a person with
Down's syndrome.
Geography textbooks were produced that
propagated concepts such as living-space
and blood and soil, and purveyed the myth
of Germanic racial superiority.
Geography

8. "We used a book with page after page showing the physical
differences between Jews and Germans in grotesque drawings
of Jewish noses, lips, and eyes. The book encouraged every
child to note these differences and to bring anyone who bore
Jewish features on the attention of our parents or teachers. I
was horrified by the crimes Jewish people were being accused
of - killing babies, loan-sharking, basic dishonesty, and
conspiring to destroy Germany and rule the world. The
description of the Jewish people would convince any child that
these were monsters, not people with sorrows and joys like
ours."
-Irmgard Paul, at school he was brainwashed into accepting Nazi
views on the Jewish race.

9. Nazi
Elite
Schools
Considerable emphasis was placed on physical training. Boxing was made compulsory in upper
schools and PT became an examination subject for grammar-school entry as well as for the
school-leaving certificate. Persistently unsatisfactory performance at PT constituted grounds
for expulsion from school and for debarment from further studies. In 1936 timetable allocation
of PT periods was increased from two to three. Two years later it was increased to five periods.
After leaving school at the age of eighteen students joined the German Labour Service where
they worked for the government for six months. Some young people then went on to
university. It was claimed that the new education system would benefit the children of the
working-class that made up 45% of Germany's population. This promise was never fulfilled and
after six years in office, only 3% of university students came from working-class backgrounds.
This was the same percentage as it was before Adolf Hitler came to power
Elite schools were called Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalten
(Napolas). Selection for entry included racial origins, physical fitness
and membership of the Hitler Youth. These schools, run by the
Schutzstaffel (SS), had the task of training the next generation of high-
ranking people in the Nazi Party and the German Army. The syllabus
was that of ordinary grammar schools with political inculcation in
place of religious instruction and a tremendous emphasis on such
sports as boxing, war games, rowing, sailing, gliding, shooting and
riding motorcycles. Only two out of the thirty-nine Napolas
constructed over the next few years catered for girls.

10. Many children drew stereotypical
drawings, like this one, showing a Jew
under the title “Itzig” (A German anti
semitic slur). The caption says; “made
himself a good deal again”, which
refers to the antisemitic story that
Jews conducted dishonest business
A mathematical exercise
discriminating against disabled people.
The problem is titled “what is the cost
of care for the hereditary sick?”. It was
aimed to show school children in Nazi
Germany that disabled people were
financial burden on the state
Several
illustrations
of
the
time

11. Hitler
Youth
Hitler Youth, German Hitlerjugend, organization set up by Adolf
Hitler in 1933 for educating and training male youth in Nazi
principles. Under the leadership of Baldur von Schirach, head of all
German youth programs, the Hitler Youth included by 1935 almost
60 percent of German boys. On July 1, 1936, it became a state
agency that all young “Aryan” Germans were expected to join.
Upon reaching his 10th birthday, a German boy was registered
and investigated (especially for “racial purity”) and, if qualified,
inducted into the Deutsches Jungvolk (“German Young People”). At
age 13 the youth became eligible for the Hitler Youth, from which
he was graduated at age 18. Throughout these years he lived a
spartan life of dedication, fellowship, and Nazi conformity,
generally with minimum parental guidance. From age 18 he was a
member of the Nazi Party and served in the state labour service
and the armed forces until at least the age of 21.
(Hitler Youth members
marching to Nürnberg,
Germany, c. 1933–38.)

12. Hitler
Youth
and
Education
By 1938 there were 8,000 full-time leaders of the Hitler Youth. The youth organizations have been
accorded powers of control which enable every boy and girl to exercise authority backed up by threats.
Children have been deliberately taken away from parents who refused to acknowledge their belief in
National Socialism. The refusal of parents to 'allow their children to join the youth organization' is regarded
as an adequate reason for taking the children away."
(A group of boys leaving camp for a hike at a Hitler
Youth summer camp in Berlin, 1933.)
Teachers constantly feared the possibility that their Hitler
Youth students would inform on them, maybe for just a simple
joke on the Führer they would lose their jobs and be sent to
prison for some time. Besides that, teachers encouraged his
students to inform on his parents, they were promised a
reward of money if they denounced their parents or
neighbours
Erich Dressler played an active role in getting rid of teachers he
considered not to be supporters of the Nazi Party, in this case they were taught about Latin Greek, instead of
teaching things that might be useful later on (his own words): "the boys, had to
instruct our masters. Of course they said nothing, because I think they were a bit afraid of us, but they didn't do
anything about changing their methods of teaching." It was finally decided to get rid of the Latin professor
According to one report the activities of the Hitler Youth and the Nazi government was slowly destroying the
education system in Germany. There were cramming and beating schools, prescribed methods of learning
and learning materials. Instead of freedom of learning, they have the most narrow-minded school supervision
and spying on teachers and pupils. No free speech is permitted for teachers and pupils, no inner, personal
empathy. The whole thing has been taken over by the military spirit."

13. League of German Girls
One of the objectives of the Nazi government
was to reduce the number of women in
higher education. On 12th January 1934,
Wilhelm Frick ordered that the proportion of
female grammar school graduates allowed to
proceed to university should be no more than
10% of that of the male graduates.
The government also ordered a reduction in
women teachers. By 1935 the number of
women teachers at girls' secondary schools
had decreased by 15%.
The Nazi Mother Service was introduced. It
was stated that it was political schooling.
“Women has the task of being beautiful and
bringing children into the world(...) The female
bird preens herself for her mate and hatches
her eggs for him. In exchange, the mate takes
care of gathering the food and stands guard
and wards off the enemy.”
Women's
Education It was the only legal female youth organization in Nazi
Germany.
The BDM used campfire romanticism, summer camps,
folklorism, tradition, and sports to indoctrinate girls
within the National Socialist belief system, and to train
them for their roles in German society: wife, mother,
and homemaker. The purpose of exercise activities was
to promote good health, which would enable them to
serve their people and their country.
The uniform was a full blue skirt, middy blouse and
heavy marching shoes. In 1939, a new uniform was
introduced for regional and national leaders within the
League of German Girls, and along with the new
uniforms came new rank insignia for leaders.
Rank badges: 1. Reichsreferentin; 2. Obergauführerin; 3. Gauführerin; 4. Untergauführerin; 5.
Gauführerin; 6. Untergaufüherin; 7. Ringführerin; 8. Gruppenführerin

14. Hitler Youth
Girl's Uniform,
1933, Masters of
Education
Recruits: League of
German Girls (Bund
Deutscher Madel or
BDM) members at
Nuremberg in 1936
Poster, League
of German Girls
in the Hitler
Youth (c. 1936)
Members of the League of
German Girls paste up a
recruiting poster urging
young women to join their
ranks Nazi activists.

15. Hitler
Youth
and
BDM
Training
Hitler Youth Training

16. Problems
in
Education
ATTENDANCE
In one study of a school in
Westphalia with 870
pupils showed that 23,000
school days were lost
because of extra-mural
activities during one
academic year. School
authorities were
instructed to grant pupils
leave of absence to enable
them to attend Hitler
Youth courses. This
eventually had an impact
on educational
achievement.
Problem in
recruiting teachers
One teaching post in
twelve was unfilled and
Germany had 17,000 less
teachers than it had
before Adolf Hitler came
to power, as the
teacher's pay fell (Offered
a starting salary of 2,000
marks per annum)
After deductions,
approximately 140 marks
per month, or 20 marks
more than was earned by
the average lower-paid
worker.

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