Non co-operative teachers were removed immediately. The pupils were taught to obey the fuehrer above all else, this allegiance often resulted in them reporting teachers or even parents to the Gestapo for not supporting the Nazi party. This meant that any teachers who did not agree with Nazi ideas would not risk losing their livelihood and their career over the issue. The Gestapo were notoriously known for violently beating offenders. This ensured there was no opposition to the Nazi party in education.
German boys were trained to be physically strong and ready to fight in a war. Boy’s lessons often taught skills that would be necessary in a war for example in maths they would study ballistics. This boy specific part of the curriculum was in addition to what was taught to both sexes, which had also been adapted to support Nazi ideology.
Two youth movements were set up for boys one for boys from 10 to 13, the German Young People, and one for boys from 13 to 18, the Hitler Youth. When Hitler came to power all other youth movements were banned and in 1936 membership was made compulsory. Members would mainly do “military athletics”, which included marching, bayonet drill, grenade throwing, trench digging, map reading, gas defence, use of dugouts, how to get under barbed wire and pistol shooting.
German girls were encouraged to adopt a traditional motherly child bearing role. They were taught to base their life around the three K’s Kinder, Kűche und Kirche (Children, Kitchen, and Church). The Nazis wanted to increase the birth rate of Aryans. The Nazis also wanted to reduce the amount of women with jobs. The girl’s education was based around achieving these. At school, German girls were taught lessons such as domestic science, cooking, and housework. German girls were also taught about the characteristics to look out for in a man.
The Nazis also set up two youth organisations, the League of Young Maidens and the League of German Maidens to further encourage this motherly role. Initially membership was optional but was eventually made compulsory. The organisation was similar to the lessons girls had at school but focused more on cooking and housework. By 14 Girls were expected to be able to run 60 metres in 14 seconds, throw a ball 12 metres, complete a 2 hour march, swim 100 metres and know how to make a bed.
Even though the youth were considered more important, the Nazis made use of propaganda to indoctrinate every generation into the Nazi way of thinking. Goebbels set up the Reich Chamber of Commerce in 1933, which dealt with literature, art, music, radio, etc. and was given complete control of the media.
After the Reich Chamber of Commerce had started High profile book burning meetings were planned to destroy any literature the Chamber of Commerce deemed inappropriate. Thereafter all books were carefully read through and evaluated before being approved for publication, at the time the bestseller was Mein Kampf.
The Chamber of Commerce also brought about the censorship of every other media. Only approved were allowed to paint and then were only able to paint pictures on subjects such as Aryan heroes, Aryan families, and various Hitler supporting paintings. The newspapers were dedicated to praising the Nazi party and its policies they eventually became repetitive leading to a 10% drop in circulation.
Cheap radios were soon made available, heavily subsidised by the German government, the stations as the newspapers were dedicated to praising the Nazi party, speeches stressing the inferiority of the Jews and supporting expansion into the east for lebensraum were played repetitively, and listening to the BBC was made punishable by death. Speakers were put in bars and on streets constantly playing pro-Nazi radio stations.
Propaganda was not only through the media, Goebbels also organised, rallies, torch light parades and marches. The purpose was to demonstrate Germany’s strength and power. It also helped make anyone who opposed the Nazi party believe that most Germans supported it. The propaganda was also backed by fear; anyone who opposed the Nazi party wouldn’t speak out for fear of being beaten by the Gestapo.
The use of propaganda was in most cases effective, the Nazi party saw very little resistance or opposition. One of the few groups opposing the Nazi party was the Edelweiss Pirates who in 1933 began resisting the Nazi ideology in schools and refusing to attend the Hitler Youth. Throughout the holocaust and the invasion of Russia and Poland, there was no public complaint.