"All modern fascist movements… have aimed at the ignorant; they have consciously manipulated the facts in a way that could lead to success only with those who were not acquainted with the facts. Ignorance with respect to the complexities of contemporary society makes for a state of general uncertainty and anxiety, which is the ideal breeding ground for the modern type of reactionary mass movement."
— Theodor Adorno (1903 - 1969), Authoritarian Personality
This made me wonder how Hitler changed education during his rule of Nazi Germany, so I looked into it. After searching the library, I found an article written by Edward J. Kunzer from St. Lawrence University. He defined education "as a process by which and through which behavior changes are brought about in the individual in relation to the group in which he lives and comes into contact, or the changes brought about in the behavior of the group itself" (Kunzer, 1939). If education directly changed behavior, obviously, it would be a tool that fascist leaders would want to use, and he did. "The whole function of all education is to create a Nazi" (Rust, 1938).
ReplyDeleteSources
Kunzer, Edward J. ""Education" Under Hitler." The Journal of Educational Sociology 13, no. 3 (1939): 140-147. Accessed October 22, 2025. https://doi.org/10.2307/2262306.
Rust, Reichsminister. Voelkischer Beobachter, February 13, 1938.