Nazis Manipulative: Indoctrination Of The Youth

Table of Contents

Table of Contents – page 2
Abstract – page 3
Introduction – page 4
Depiction and Targeting of the Youth – page 5
How the Nazis were Manipulative – page 6
How were the forms of Propaganda used?
i. The School Environment – page 8 ii. The Professors and Teachers – page 9 iii. The Curriculum and Textbooks – page 11
Conclusion – page 13
Bibliography – page 14

Abstract

To what extent was the Nazi propaganda seen in the education system successful in the indoctrination of the youth? This will be measured by the aims of the Nazi party against the results that they achieved. The essay explores the methods of indoctrination used by the Nazi Party that were seen
in the education system. It looks at the extent to which the youth were convinced by the propaganda that was put in place, and this appears in forms such as new rules and laws that were put in place and displays in the environment around them. The types of sources used in the research were textbooks, biographies and posters. The major historians in the paper are David Welch, Lisa Pine and Gerhard Rempel. Ultimately, the Nazis had made schools into training camps for the youth and spread their ideologies through the education system. In order to create loyal students that followed the Nazi ideology, they forcefully placed into the minds of the German youth and did in fact manage to fool an entire country through the method of indoctrination.

Introduction In the early 1920s, the Nazi Party that was lead by Hitler had targeted the German youth to introduce a movement led entirely by the group called the Hitler Youth or Hitler jugend, to create a prosperous future for Germany. The ultimate goal was the creation of a Volksgemeinschaft, a united people’s community based on race and blood1 where everyone shared the same views and opinions. Hitler expected not only loyalty from his people about the Nazi ideology, but also expected them to be fit, healthy and of the Aryan race. In order to achieve this goal, he realised that the future depended on the youth, not the older generation. This essay will firstly consider the portrayal of the youth in Nazi Germany. It will include details on the methods Hitler used in order to achieve a 1000-year Reich and will also include information on how the youth were depicted. Following this, the essay will discuss the rationale for the indoctrination, the uses of propaganda in recruiting students and embedded in the curriculum as well as the treatment of opposition will be considered. It will become evident that the Nazi ideology appeared favourable because of its promise of creating a perfect society and the sense of belonging that it provided for the youth. The propaganda present in schools was drilled into the youth’s minds, and lead to a whole generation to be fooled by the state because of indoctrination.

Depiction and Targeting of the Youth One section of the population that proved particularly receptive to the notion of a ‘national community’ was the German youth2. To create a strong future Germany, Hitler realised he had to win over the hearts and minds of the German youth to ensure his dream of making a 1000-year Reich because they would be the citizens carrying the German race. In 1939, Hitler said in a public speech, “We older ones are used up… We are rotten to the marrow.”3 The reference to elders showed adults were useless as they already had experience to determine what was beneficial for the country. The older generation could not provide him with what he needed with respect to creating the 1000-year Reich, because their independence and knowledge could be destructive to the regime. However the children who would be taught to stay loyal to the party would respect what the Nazis taught them from the start and would not question them. He wanted to make the youth feel as if the Nazis were a trusting community because they were the ones who would carry on the regime to their children. Later in the same speech Hitler says, “Look at these young men and boys! What material! With them I can make a new world.”4 Over here, his indication for his idea of indoctrinating the youth is clear as these young men and boys would be the people that would lead Germany to war. They would also pass on the Nazi ideals for generations and fulfil Hitler’s dream of making a 1000-year Reich.
Hitler believed that the best way to indoctrinate the youth was by “girdling them in Nazi ideology at every single stage of development in one single entity”5.
It was the educational system that proved to be the perfect tool for the indoctrination of the youth. Nazi propaganda could be inputted throughout every stage of the educational system, from kindergarten to university. The results of Hitler’s plan of fully restructuring the educational system was that all schools had shifted from focusing primarily on academics to focusing on teaching nationalistic values. This was seen as German schools had lost their reputation for producing famous academics6 and instead had turned into “propaganda centres”7 overshadowing the need for the youth to pursue in their
academics.
To teach service and obedience, the individualism and enthusiasm of German youth had to be controlled by instilling a sense of belonging to an exclusive (racial) community.8 The Volksgemeinschaft that was constantly advertised by Hitler was able to create this sense of belonging, appealing to the vast population of children who felt themselves unrepresented.9 The majority of the German youth did not resist to the Nazi ideology, but this does not necessarily mean that they accepted it either. Historians such as David Welch, Irmgard Hunt and Falmer believed that it might have been due to the “inherent laziness of youth in general”10 that made it easier to accept it rather than to resist it.

How the Nazis were Manipulative
Propaganda was an exceptionally prominent method in influencing the minds of the Nazi youth. For a start, Hitler specifically created a Nazi Propaganda Ministry that was directed by Dr Joseph Goebbels. The aim of this department was to spread pro-Nazi policies and ideas throughout the German Reich, and this was achieved by taking control over all forms of communication in Germany such as newspapers, the radio, books, public meetings and the arts such as films and paintings or sculpture. All opinions that opposed the beliefs or ideologies of Nazi in any way were either censored or destroyed, such as Bernhard Rust’s decision of the removal of textbooks that did not support Nazi ideology in the education system. There was disapproval from parents towards children joining the Hitler Youth. When Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany, a parent said “How can Hindenburg install gangsters in government without allowing us to vote on it?”11 Parents were concerned about their children, as they thought the Nazi ideology was not beneficial for their children’s futures.
Many parents viewed the slow decrease in the amount of parental control with concern, especially as children were officially encouraged by teachers and the Hitler Youth leaders to denounce recalcitrant parents12 so there was no interference in the indoctrination. It was natural for parents to oppose their children joining the Hitler Youth as they lost control over their own child, but it was dangerous for parents to publicly show disapproval against the Nazi Party as they would be declared enemies of the state and imprisoned. Hitler also addressed the topic of faithfulness to the Fuhrer above parents through propaganda posters. The following BDM poster shows a young ‘Aryan’ girl and boldly states: “You, too, belong to the Führer”.

According to the historian David Welch in The Third Reich: Politics and Propaganda, parents who opposed to their children joining the Hitler Youth did so for a variety of reasons.13 Most parents believed that participation in the Hitler Youth affected the children’s academics and health.14 For children however, participation enabled them to engage in activities encouraging “physical fitness over academics”15. Many children wanted to join the Hitler Youth, “their attitude of mind is absolutely uncritical. They do not see in Hitler a statesman with good and bad point… He was a considered a demigod”16 Hitler was considered understanding by children for providing them with opportunities to take part in activities that they liked.
Parents who did not allow their children to be part of the Hitler Youth were charged a fine of 150 RM or imprisonment17. There was also a fine for the parents who did not allow their children to follow up on their Hitler Youth responsibilities were imprisoned 5 years with a maximum fine of 10,000 RM18. This was successful for the Nazis as it raised fear against the party and enforced the parents to accept their methods. These laws made sure that parental restrictions were not an issue, and so the parents had to let their children be manipulated by the Nazi regime. In order to make indoctrination more successful, the role of parents had to be reduced, which is what the Nazis had intended19.
Once the Nazis successfully stole away every sense of parental control using newly introduced laws and restrictions by making it compulsory for the young to join the Hitler Youth, they moved on to the next step of mass youth indoctrination. Following Hitler’s plan to surround the youth with ideology at every stage of education, the Party took control of the entire educational system and made them propaganda centres that were controlled by the environment of school, the professors, and the curriculum.

How were the forms of propaganda used?
i. The Schooling Environment
The main step that the Nazi Party used for indoctrination was by controlling the atmosphere within the National schools with the help of teachers, controlled by Nazis. It forced all students to think exactly the same without the rights to question their authorities or the materials that they were studying. This also majorly restricted the individuality of the children and hence, the schools were seen as factories that simply pumped out vessels of propaganda.20
Everything on the school timetable had been tailored to support the regime by any means possible. When the Nazis took over, Karl Schnibbe, a former student in a national school recalls his memories that changes were put in place to fill the lives to prepare children to devote their lives to Hitler, whether it was hanging the swastika up in every classroom or activities involving the entire class such as starting the morning classes with ‘Heil Hitler!’ There was no more, ‘Good morning, children.21’Another greeting used by school children was Gott strafe England, which meant, “May God punish England”. The emphasis of nationalistic feelings to be used in day-to-day life was a method to fill the life of the youth with both pride for their country and hatred for the ones who made Germany suffer.
To create a sense of unity amongst the children, schools took part in different types of ceremonies more often to celebrate their country, another method to stimulate national feelings. An example of a ceremony that took place yearly was “The Day of the Führer”, on which they celebrated the day Hitler was appointed chancellor22, exaggerating the importance of their leader in the eyes of the students. This created a sense of unity as the population stood together and celebrated in unison and it was this sense of togetherness that was so appealing.
In terms of discipline, the Nazis dealt with uncooperative students who did not follow the teacher’s orders in a harsh manner. They completely redefined what a detention in school had become, and made the consequences much more severe to scare children from doing wrong. When in detention, students were made to do 10 days of community service, being fed only bread and water23. It was known as “youth service arrest,” and to the Nazis was the most modern means of Nazi education24. Expulsion on the other hand was even worse, as it not only got them kicked out of school, but they could never become part of the Hitler Youth. To be outside of Hitler’s organization was the worst form of punishment25. The changes in the school environment encouraged students to have a greater appreciation for nationalism and for their Fuhrer. As the Nazis reorganized schools, they crammed propaganda into the life of the youth, which helped create loyal supporters.

ii. The Professors The Nazis ensured that the implementation of education policies was done successfully by controlling the conduct of teachers in the national schools and how they manipulated the children by introducing the new teachers association, the National Socialist Teachers’ League (NSLB). The nationalistic teachers eagerly agreed with the new Nazi curriculum, with over 30% joining the party by 193626, which was only 3 years after Hitler had been put in charge. Support of the ideology was further ensured as the Minister of Education, Bernhard Rust ordered the removal of all teachers who refused to teach the Nazi curriculum, regulated by school principals. Although there were many teachers that did not favour the effect the Nazi regime had on the education system, the historian Lisa Pine writes in Education in Nazi Germany that most of them were restricted from expressing their views because they did not wish to lose their positions or because they saw membership as a way of progressing their careers27. Considering this possibility however, Rust had the Ministry of Education probing into the past history of every teacher, exploring their political background28 by checking all previous records. Instantly, all teachers that were considered democratic, communist, and liberal or were unreliable politically were fired as they had different beliefs from the Nazis. Others who were fired included the Jewish teachers, no matter how academically proficient they were29. Thus, schools all over Germany lost a number of distinguished scientists, mathematicians, engineers, jurists and Noble Prize winners, such as Albert Einstein30. Although the Nazis wanted to create a dominant society, they were strict with their racial policies and discriminated against Jews, no matter how qualified they were.
The NSLB provided political references for all ideas that were promoted and generally attempted to maintain the political reliability of teachers through a process of ideological indoctrination31. This required teachers to attend month long training conferences that focused on the spirit of militarism, paganism, anti-Semitism, and the cult of the perfect ‘Aryan’ racial type32. The NSLB emphasized its policy in the handbook provided to teachers, in which Bernhard Rust wrote “the chief purpose 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”33. Ultimately, the focus Hitler put on the NSLB shows the extent to which the Nazis went in order to provide revised information to the youth to promote their ideology.
Although the Nazis put strict rules in place, there were still teachers who refused to teach the Nazi curriculum.
The teachers were offered a chance to quit, but those who kept their jobs and went through severe consequences. As the historian Jean-Denis Lepage states, the teachers were sent to concentration camps or “harassed, dismissed, forced into exile and retirement, and even imprisoned.”34 An example of a defiant teacher was Dr Schuster, a geography teacher who criticized what education had become in Germany in a letter he sent to a family member. Amy Buller’s book Darkness over Germany quotes this letter. He claimed that education was being degraded by all the political interference, which did not allow students to grow and mature, and also have open minds. “I am trying through the teaching of geography to do everything in my power to give the boys knowledge and I hope later on, judgment, so that when, as they grow older, the Nazi fever dies down and it again becomes possible to offer some opposition they may be prepared.”35 We learn from this that some teachers were able to look past the indoctrination intended by the Nazis, even through all the new rules that were being
imposed.

Although the Nazi educators were required to do their job to indoctrinate the youth, teachers did in fact still try to do anything in their power to prevent the students from becoming mindless creatures that followed the Nazis without any thought. Dr Schuster is an example of a teacher who was part of the NSLB that opposed to the new curriculum, but could not express their opinions due to the strict laws.
By 1937, 97% of the teachers in national schools had joined the NSLB36. This meant that almost all the teachers themselves belonged to a group that was enveloped in Nazi theories, and voluntarily chose to be loyal to Hitler but were also aware of the consequence of not doing so. The result of this was that the students themselves were taught by the teachers, but were limited in their education as it was specifically what the Nazis had imposed on them.

iii. Textbooks and The Curriculum
In schools, the Nazi party used their power for the purpose of indoctrination in order to shape the bodies and minds of the youth. They achieved this by the restructuring of the education system with a lot of stress on the children’s physical fitness and the nationalistic education. All subjects in school concentrated in Germany, especially the subjects of history and biology. The teaching was very superficial because it was extremely focused on Germany for the purpose of instilling nationalism amongst the youth. The historian, Peter Gay, discusses this in his book “My German Question”, depicting the education to be so limited to Germany as if the outside world had not existed37. Phillip Bouhler, the director of the Party Censorship Office was ordered to examine all the textbooks in use for their ideological content by Hitler to ensure their knowledge makes them loyal to the Nazis. The textbooks that did not follow the Nazi theories simply went through the process of “weeding” out38, where they were destroyed and replaced by books that followed the ideology, only allowing the belief that the Nazis were always right. In biology, the three themes of “blood and soil”, “race” and “living space” were directly linked to the subject syllabus39. The glorification of the Aryan race showed that it was superior, while the other minorities in Germany were mediocre. Paul Brohmer was one of the leading writers of a new biology curriculum in Nazi Germany, and used specialists such as the Nazi race theorist, Hermann Gauch to aid his curriculum. In a textbook he wrote which specialized in the Nordic theory, New Elements of Racial Research, the non-Nordic people were portrayed as animals. This proved the majorly emphasized the importance of the distinction of the Aryan race. “Generally speaking, the Nordic race alone can emit sounds of untroubled clearness, whereas among non-Nordic men and races, the pronunciation is more impure, the individual sounds more confused and more like those made by animals, such as barking, snoring, sniffing and squeaking.” This showed all children that the Volksgameinschaft prevailed, and helped create a sense of unity because of how they had a similar supremacy in common. Amongst children books, fictional storybooks were major contributors to emphasize the importance of the Nazi theories. The Jews were discriminated against heavily in many ways, but for children under 10, it was mainly through physical appearance. A famous children’s book from the time was called “Trust No Fox on the Green Heath, and No Jew Upon His Oath”, written by Elvira Bauer. The book contains many forms of extreme anti-Semitism. On page 11 of the book, the German farmer is portrayed as hard working and physically superior, whereas the Jewish man is shown to be fat and in business attire, representing their dominance in the higher class. The Jewish man is drawn following Jewish stereotypes because he has a big crooked nose, and therefore is imperfect.

40

In history, the lessons were used as an opportunity to demonstrate to pupils the greatness of Germany41. It was intended to awaken national pride and to worry them about the future of Germany. An example is seen in the curriculum that showed recent events, the books focused on expressing the unfairness seen from the Treaty of Versailles and strategically related this with the rise of the Nazis to show how they had come to the rescue. The Jews were once again discriminated against in textbooks as the cause of Germany’s loss in World War I to prove their destructiveness42.
The most important textbook in any history class had become Hitler’s Mein Kampf. The historian Irmgard Hunt bases on her own experience how Hitler had been depicted as the liberator of Germany in her book On Hitler’s Mountain, and recalls how they “read and discussed it, chapter by chapter”, and when it finished they started again from the beginning,43 showing us the tedious process Hitler was ready to go through to ensure loyalty. Though other topics could have been covered to educate the youth further, the Nazi regime gave importance to methods that would ensure loyalty to their leader. This guaranteed that the children would follow Hitler’s 1000-year Reich plan.
When the children were made to write history essays, they were only taught how to side with one answer, which was the correct answer. It limited their creativity and did not allow room for debate, as the children thought the words of the teacher were always correct. In these essays, Hitler was meant to be praised and worshipped for his accomplishments, which is why Mein Kampf was highly valued as a textbook. An example of an essay title was “What Enables Adolf Hitler to be the German Fuhrer and Reichschancellor.44” Even the question leads students to believe that Hitler was the rightful leader of Germany, and because students were only taught about his positive aspects, they could only think about his good qualities.

Conclusion
What the Nazi Party had ultimately accomplished through changes seen in the education system was the transformation of the schools and universities from becoming places that produced independent and intellectual people, to places that trained students to prepare to become soldiers. The idea of creating independent individuals with a range of knowledge was regarded as dangerous, as this had the potential to work against the regime. Although the parents did not have complete control over their children due to the Hitler Youth laws, it is also true that the children had to follow the Nazi rules in order to avoid punishments such as detention or expulsion from school. The Nazis did not provide any way for the youth to escape the method of indoctrination that was established in the education system even if they sided with their parents. However, the opinions of parents and all those who opposed the regime were insignificant because of the sense of belonging that was created being part of the Hitler Youth. The support that teachers and the youth gave to the national schools was identical the support that the German community gave to Hitler on a larger scale. The Nazis’ educational system appealed more to the desire of becoming the perfect nation Hitler had hoped for rather than an honest education. In order to make students loyal to the Nazi ideology, the ideology was forcefully placed into the minds of the German youth and it did in fact manage to fool an entire country through the method of indoctrination.

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