Figure 1.--We see photographs of Britih oldiers in German schols after the schools were repened. We are not entirely sure wht they were doing. In this case the officer during 1945 is inspecting a newly opned schoolthe school. The press caption read, "British Military Government 'Fathers' the New Germany: Major D.J. Stevens , responsible for education questions a little girla tour of the schools in the Dnnenburg area." Notice the German teacher in the background. He seems to have quite a large class as quite a number of the childen were not captured by he photograph. Put your cursor on the image for a closer view of the interaction,

The Allies were still unsure what to do about schools with the NAZI surrender (May 1945). As they swept eastward through Germny, they had closed schools that were still open. There was apparently concerns that schools run by NAZI loyalists could be a hot bed of resistance. They then began to prepared to reopen the schools in preparation for the now assured NAZI surrender. After the NAZI surrender, they faced a multitude of problems. Some reports suggest they were not too concerned about rushing a reopening of the schools. And the occupation policies had not yet been decided. The Allied Military Government once it was decided to reopn the schools, faced a wide range of problems. There were both practical problems and ideological issues. SUPREME Headquaters Allied Expeditionry Force (SHAEF) wanted that before the schools reopened, suitable buildings be found and prepared, non-Nazi teachers certified, and new textbooks printed. That was, however, just not possible in a few months. Despite the concerns and difficultes, however, there was a desire to get on with future as well as to get the kids off the streets. This was a decision taken by SHAEF before the Allies had decided on the goals of the occupation and the future of Germany.

Teachers

One of the major Allied concerns was finding qualified teachers ithout NAZI Party connections. This was because German teachers by 1945 had been througly NAZIfied. Hitler had been uspicious of the education estanlishment when he seized power. But after a few years anti-NAZIs were dismissed and even those who were apolitical, unless they feined support were replaced with NAZI Party loyalists even if they lacked appropriate credentials. Thus by the end of the War there was a thoroughly NAZIfied educational establishment. Teachers had to join the NAZI teachers organization. The Nationalsozialistische Lehrerbund (National Socialist Teachers League -- NSLB). The organization saw itself as "the common effort of all persons who saw themselves as teachers or wanted to be seen as educators, independently from background or education and from the type of educational institution". Its assigned mission was to make the National Socialist worldview and foundation of all education and especially of schooling. After the NAZIs seized power (1933), the NAZI Party made the NSLB the sole organization of teachers in the German Reich. The NSLB was merged with the existing organization of lecturers to form the Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Dozentenbund (National Socialist German Lecturers League -- NSDDB) (1935). As a result, many existing teachers were unable to survive the the denazification Fragebogen (questionaire) process. [Ziemke, p. 277.] NAZI Party records had been recovered by the Allies. The information on the Fragebogen filled out by teachers and others could be verified. This made finding teachers without NAZI backgrounds difficult. The occupation authorities were concerned about appointment of teachers with questionable political antecedents. The military government needed to provide intensive supervision, which it was not prepared to do. We notice some British soldiers in the classrooms. We are not sure if this was the case in the other occipation zones or just wht their function was.

Text Books

The text books were also replete with NAZI ideology, even the math and science books. This meant that millions of textbooks hd to be written and printed. The NAZIs had faced the same problem when they seized power. Wruting and printing new textbooks was simply impossible in a few months. It would have been impossible even if German industry had been functioning, but the printing industry like other industries was in a state of collapse. None of the existing old textbooks were considered suitable. The 12th Army Group estimated that just to reopen the first four primary grades (Volkschule) in its area alone would require rewriting and printing 6.25 million new textbooks. [Ziemke, p. 277.] And because the new textbooks would be scrutinized by suspicious parents, the occuoation authorities did not want a rush job and a shoddy product. .

Buildings

There were also many practical problems. After the War it was difficult to reopen many schools because the buildings in the cities were either destroyed or badly damaged. Large areas of German cities were reduced to rubble and this meant many schools. And many of the schools not destroyed were badly damaged. The damage included heating systems. And coal was in short supply even if the buildings were still usble. Another problem was that many schools had been requisioned by the NAZIs to be used as DP camps, troop billets, or hospitals during the War. [Ziemke, p. 277.] This continued after the NAZI surrender.

Sources

Ziemke, Earl F. "Germany in Defeat," The U.S. Army in the Occupation of Germany, 1944-1946 Chapter XVI. (Center of Military History: GPO, 1975). Thus was a voume in the Army Historical Seris.

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Last updated: 8:12 AM 1/14/2016