Life in Nazi Germany: Youth and Education

Vocabulary terms and key concepts covering education, racial ideology, and the experiences of youth in Nazi Germany.

Volksgemeinschaft

A national community of Germans desired by Adolf Hitler that was meant to include young people, women, workers, farmers, and businesspeople.

National Socialist Teachers Alliance

The organization that ran training courses for approved school teachers in Nazi Germany.

'Stabbed in the back'

The narrative taught in Nazi history classes asserting that the German army was betrayed by the weak politicians who made peace.

Aryan

A race taught in Nazi biology lessons as being special and superior in intelligence and strength compared to other groups.

Untermenschen

A term meaning 'sub-human,' applied in Nazi education to Jewish people and Slavs of eastern Europe.

University places (1933–1938)

The number of higher education positions in Nazi Germany, which fell from 128,000 to just 58,000 over this period.

Eugenics

The study of how to produce perfect offspring by choosing parents with ideal qualities, included in the girls' school timetable.

1939 School Curriculum

A Nazi-controlled curriculum concentrating on military service, German heroes, artillery, ballistics, and chemical warfare.