After World War II, the German state was utterly destroyed. It was split in four parts, and to top it all, coming face to face with the scale of the atrocities their government and armies committed through public events like the Nürnberg trials. This in combination with the process of de-nazification, which can be seen as a large-scale rehabilitation program, and the regaining of independence, albeit as two states, helped the German people in the 50s to begin looking towards the future, burying the past.
It was not just a losing war, which people can accept while still being proud of their actions during it, as perhaps the French used to see Napoleon’s efforts that ended in defeat, or Austria’s defeats in the war of the seven years. rather, in this case, the feeling after the war seems to have been similar to that of a person coming to his senses after having committed acts of violence under the influence of a crowd cheering for a football team or other examples of mob mentality than all humans. are susceptible.
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naturally, given all the post-war revelations and atrocities committed, the Germans, collectively, wanted nothing more than to forget and focus on new targets, first the economy, which led to the German economic miracle, and then the founding of the European Union, of which it could be said that in the coming decades it would become the leading country.
but what about history books in school? after all, typical after any conflict, whether a given side is the winner or the loser, the history taught in schools tends to be colored to favor the people themselves. This, however, could not happen in Germany. the reasons for this were varied, from making sure something like that didn’t happen again, and of course the scale of the atrocities globally and the small time gap that separates us from those events and how well documented those events are.
This brings us to the broad outlines of how this particular conflict was taught and taught in German schools. We should point out here that in Germany, the education system is not regulated by the federal government but independently in each of the 16 states that make up the German Federal Republic (or BRD). therefore, the way history is taught, while generally falling along the same lines, can vary greatly from region to region. for example, the choice of literature used in the various classes differs greatly not only from year to year, but also from one federal state to another.
That caveat aside, the study of the war period and how it is viewed in German schools can generally be divided into four parts:
first, the weimar republic: the weimar republic, at least its beginnings, is generally viewed positively. it is seen as a first decent effort towards democratization, despite the problems it faced after the first world war. The various problems that culminated in the economic crisis of the late 1920s and the subsequent rise of the Nazi regime are addressed in detail, emphasizing the errors that would lead to the fall of the democratic system. It would seem that the Weimar Republic, despite the brevity of its existence, is viewed with a certain nostalgic feeling, accompanied by the imminent threat of what was to come. And that’s not just the war but the Nazis themselves and their ideology.
Second, Nazi Ideology and Atrocities: Head-on, students face the crushing effects of totalitarian regimes, racial ideologies, and where they can lead. In addition to photo and video documentaries, most schools organize mandatory school trips to Holocaust memorials, usually former concentration camps. This doesn’t just apply to history class. Students are also introduced to literary works that address Nazism and ethnic hatred in Europe at the time. This may include but is not limited to authors such as Berthold Brecht and Thomas Mann. furthermore, Jewish voices are amplified in terms of Jewish poetry, survivor reports, and historical documentaries that focus on the long-term consequences of hate and violence. Some of the literature choices indicate that schools try to emphasize the aspects of humanity and also the problem of group mentality and prejudice, as seen in works such as Max Frisch’s post-war play “Andorra”, and more recent works. recent ones such as “the boy in the striped pajamas” (from 2006 by john boyne) and “the reader” by bernhard schlink, but also the diaries of anne frank. excerpts from pro-Nazi texts are also studied, once students are considered mature enough to handle this. in this sense, the experts of “mein kampf” are approached in advanced history class, emphasizing the contradictions within the text, with which contemporary citizens could have identified and the lack of morality in it. Interestingly, as if to supplement Nazi ideology with a similar kind of prejudice, the other major issue that is in intense focus is that of slavery, racism, and segregation in America.
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third, the war itself: Surprisingly, the details of the war camps are often underestimated in German schools. one possible reason for this is that showing maps of the expanding German territory during the first two years of the war and discussing its winning battles could encourage nationalist pride, which seems counterproductive to many given the points educators are trying to teach.
furthermore, discussion of the details of every battle rommel won or lost in africa or supply problems on the eastern front are not vital to an analysis of the atrocities of the nazi regime. Another, more practical aspect is that a lot of time has already been spent on the topic of war, so they reduced the actual battles.
Of course, one downside to downplaying this is that many German students are never really aware of many specific military events and conquests. as the greatest emphasis in the school is placed on internal developments, theoretical or philosophical aspects and of course on the ideology and practice of ethnic cleansing and cruelty to other groups of people seen as ethnic, cultural or political outcasts , like Jews, homosexuals. , communists, etc., the result is that the military developments of the war are underestimated as alluded to. The result is, surprisingly, that many German students are surprised to learn things like how the Germans invaded places like (modern) Ukraine, (modern) Serbia, and Greece.
In contrast to these broader war coups, the resistance against the Nazi regime within Germany is heralded as an example of heroism and bravery; an example of this are the brothers sophie and hans scholl, members of the resistance group “la rosa blanca”. such examples allow German students to find wartime figures with whom they can identify.
On this note, not every normal German who lived in the 1930s and 1940s is painted as a terrible person, after all, when it comes to such a large group, as in any population, there are a lot of good people. and a percentage of bad. That said, given everything that’s happened, a huge emphasis is placed on the fact that even the most good people are complicit in the atrocities by looking the other way and doing nothing to stop it.
fourth, defeat and postwar: the great destruction in germany and the high cost of human lives during the war are not attributed to the allies, but to the nazi regime itself, which is being seen as the author of the start of an unnecessary war first. moreover, most of the destruction on German soil was inflicted in the last year of the war. the stubbornness of not surrendering, even when it was clear that the outcome of the war would be negative, is seen as proof of the minimal care that the Nazis expressed towards their own people. the suicide of party members, such as himmler and hitler himself, is considered an act of cowardice on their part.
Thus, uniquely in history, the opposing forces that were victorious are generally not viewed negatively by those they defeated. far from that.
In that sense, the occupation of German cities by the Allied army is characterized as “liberation” (“befreiung”), despite the fact that, of course, the Allied soldiers at the time apparently did not see the race to berlin. as a race to “liberate” berlin. this choice of words, however, comes with the emphasis that by losing the war, the German people freed themselves from Nazism.
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An interesting example comes from alternate history broadcasts that contemplate a world after Germany’s supposed victory. these paint a horrific dystopia in which Germans, as well as occupied people, would be suppressed by a ruthless Nazi regime. therefore, May 8 is known as the day of liberation (tag der befreiung).
Drawing parallels with how the European Renaissance supposedly liberated the medieval people, the “liberation”, as well as the process of denazification, led to an internal catharsis among Germans regarding Nazism.
Mirroring all this in popular German cinema, German war movies, especially in recent decades, tend to deal honestly with the subject, showing the gradual shift to madness caused by hollow mass delusions, often in a more fatalistic tone. how heroic therefore, they can be much deeper than a typical war movie, and if you dare, you might enjoy works like the “war generation” miniseries (“unsere mütter, unsere väter”) or the movie “the fall” ( “der untergang”), perhaps best known thanks to the most remembered Hitlerian scene in history…
Of course, a major problem with all of this in the way it is taught in schools and the extreme emphasis that is placed on this period of history is the issue of collective responsibility imposed on modern Germans, even if it is only implied or felt, rather than ever explicitly stated.
At first glance, it’s good to study these events in great detail to make sure they don’t happen again. One problem for Germans, however, of course, is the sense of collective responsibility, even though no student today or her parents or even potential grandparents have anything to do with any of that.
what weight does the idea of original sin have? how is a person born in the 2000s responsible for nazi atrocities? It is still highly frowned upon to display the modern German flag, even though it is not officially and explicitly a Nazi symbol, in most contexts other than international football matches. On a similar note, a nationalist display like pledging allegiance to the flag during class every morning would have the worst possible connotations in Germany, despite being common in places like the United States.
In addition, there is a high percentage of the population with an immigrant background (just look at the German soccer team). As one might expect from all of this, there is some concern that German school systems may go too far with the apparent obsession with the Nazis and all the mistakes that were made, instead of spending more time on the larger story, as is more typical in many other nations.
whatever one’s opinion on that, as an interesting little side note, the german denazification process was considered such a success that decades later, the americans sought to apply the same methodology after occupying iraq. unsurprisingly, this wasn’t exactly successful.
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