Special Education in National Socialism
The concept of special education was introduced during National Socialism and has remained to this day. The students of the disciplines, which at that time were largely separate, were directly affected by the racial persecution of the Nazi system, initially by compulsory sterilization , later also by the extermination in the context of the murders under National Socialism , with the T4 campaign and child euthanasia . The teachers were brought together in student council V of the National Socialist teachers ' association and came to terms with the existing new system. During the Nazi era, the auxiliary school succeeded in asserting itself and leading the student council as far as possible, which led to a strongly developed auxiliary school system in Germany.
prehistory
The period in the Weimar Republic (1918–1933) is often referred to by special education in retrospect as the “prime of curative education ”. The general democratization of the school system, in particular through the introduction of a joint elementary school (“ Weimar School Compromise ”), ensured a “democratic spirit of optimism, reform and willingness to experiment” that was unprecedented in German pedagogy. In addition, compulsory schooling has also been anchored in law for children with sensory and physical disabilities . It was implemented, among other things, in various corresponding institutions. In particular, the auxiliary school introduced in the German Empire benefited from the new reforms. Although the plan to build a “ unified school ” threatened the auxiliary schools in general, the schools remained largely untouched and were able to establish a nationwide system in Germany. Between 1914 and 1928 the number of pupils rose from 43,000 to 71,902. Rupert Egenberger was one of the “leading educators” .
However, the German inflation from 1914 to 1923 and the looming global economic crisis ensured that other areas of curative education were in a much worse position, in particular the institutions for the blind and deaf-mute suffered from the financial conditions and were increasingly closed. The "cripple welfare", as all welfare measures of the state for physically handicapped people were called until then, also suffered from the financial losses of the state. Although "the number of school and home places for cripples [...] could be increased despite the financial difficulties of the state and care for cripples [...] improved", it all resulted in a segregation of the pupils who were educated externally in institutions and homes.
In practice, many curative educators adopted concepts from reform pedagogy . However, curative education had not yet established itself scientifically. It was not until 1931 that the first professorship for curative education in the German-speaking area was filled by Heinrich Haselmann in Zurich. It was not until after the Second World War that “special education” established itself as an independent discipline. Until then, the university was responsible for general pedagogy .
Race-biological theories had been in circulation since the 1890s : eugenic ideas, especially the work The Release of Destruction of Unworthy Life by Alfred Hoche and Karl Binding , had an impact on curative education, which was under pressure to keep providing economic benefits emphasize. As early as the Weimar Republic, there were attacks on the “auxiliary school” system. Funds were cut, the number of classes increased, and some schools had to be closed.
In the Weimar Republic, approaches became apparent to introduce a special school system that was supposed to combine the special schools that existed side by side, such as the auxiliary school, the institutions for the blind and deaf and dumb and other special forms into a structured system. However, these attempts failed because of the resistance of the teachers for the non-sighted as well as the non-hearing and speaking, who saw themselves as a discipline in their own right.
Education under National Socialism
The education in National Socialism was a significant "political" education. It was in the service of a strongly racist educational system that put the benefits of the individual in relation to the national body . The educational institutions have been following the " leader principle organized" and brought into line . The aim of all upbringing was "the physically tempered person with the 'Nordic soul' who knows how to stand up for the National Socialist worldview and the state with the greatest possible severity and determination ". The school lessons placed special emphasis on physical exercises, which were now strongly military-oriented, as well as on the subjects of German, history and biology (here in particular race theory). The school system of the Weimar Republic was standardized, school projects with a pedagogical reform approach were closed. The school system was shortened from nine to eight years. Initially in preparation for war, this was introduced at the German Oberschule in 1936/37 , that is, the matriculation examination took place after 12 instead of 13 years. The elementary school followed in 1938 and the last in 1942 was the middle school , which was now continued as a secondary school following the Austrian model . In addition to the state school system, educational institutions for national politics (Napola), Adolf Hitler schools and the SS Junker schools were set up to train the new elite of the National Socialist system.
Against this racist background, the students who received special education were particularly threatened by National Socialism . Physically (with the exception of the war disabled from the First World War ) and mentally handicapped people were in the eyes of the National Socialists racially inferior and some of them fell victim to extermination. Blind and deaf-mute people were also seen as inferior. Schoolchildren with behavioral problems belonged to the group of “ anti-social ”, some of whom were imprisoned and sent to concentration camps.
National Socialist Teachers' Association (NSLB)
In the course of harmonization at all levels, a National Socialist teachers' association was created that included all types of schools. On September 17, 1933, the association of auxiliary schools was dissolved and incorporated into the Reichsfachschaft V (special schools) of the National Socialist teachers' association. The chairman was the deaf and dumb teacher Paul Ruckau , who was later replaced by Fritz Zwanziger .
The student council was again divided into four specialist groups, each specialist group was subordinate to a Reichsfachgruppe leader:
- Section for teachers of the deaf and dumb: Dr. Hermann Maesse
- Section for teachers for the blind: Eduard Bechthold
- Section for auxiliary school teachers: Alfred Krampf
- Section for institutional teachers: Paul Bartsch
The National Socialist Teachers' Union also published the interdisciplinary magazine Die deutsche Sonderschule . Their main editor was the auxiliary school teacher Karl Tornow . With this, the auxiliary school teachers "not only achieved recognition as special education teachers, but [...] even occupied a top position within the hierarchy of the student council for special schools". Tornow was one of the busiest special educators of the Nazi era, who fundamentally renewed the system of auxiliary schools in the following years. In order to weld the quarreling special school camps together, a joint camp was created from 1934, which was implemented as a paramilitary training camp and took place in 1934 and 1935.
"The purpose of the camp was to practically realize the unity of our student council based on the National Socialist ideology and convictions through comradely living together."
The Reich Student Council worked closely with the Racial Political Office (RPA) from 1937 onwards . Here too, in contrast to the other specialist groups, the auxiliary school had a high level of influence. At first Krampf, then later Tornow, worked as a speaker. Krampf developed a questionnaire there which was supposed to show the “usability level” of the auxiliary school child. Tornow developed a series of publications aimed at parents and teachers alike. Brochures appeared for the “child in need of a special school ” (Tornow: “Our Fritz should go to the auxiliary school.” 1940), the hard of hearing child (Uhlig: “Our seriousness is hard of hearing. Does he have to go to a special school?” 1940), three for those with speech problems Children (Kiehn: "The language-incomplete child." 1943 / Lambeck: "The language-frail child." 1943 / Geißler: "The language-inhibited child." 1943) and for welfare institutions (Mettlach: "Our child should go to a welfare institution." 1943). The main aim of the brochures was to convince parents that referring their children to a special school would not pose a threat.
It was also Tornow who actually abolished the word “curative education” in Germany. The term Heil was used differently under National Socialism and was used as an interjection in various greetings (“ Sieg Heil ”, “ Heil Hitler ”). For this reason, the term “curative education” was seen as a devaluation of the healing term, so that Tornow replaced what he thought was “extremely unfortunate” with the term “special education”.
“The concept of specialization has the advantage that only a deviation from the usual is considered here, without creeping in as in healing, meaning the sick, abnormal, defective and, as the emotional terms are all called, which so easily turn us against each other. "
From 1943 both the Reichsfachschaft and the National Socialist Teachers' Association as a whole were shut down. The reason given by the student council was a final mobilization for the war, but in fact the financial situation was responsible for the factual dissolution.
Teaching staff in special schools
Like the elementary school teachers, the special educators were affected by the regime's new measures. With the “ Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service ” all teachers of “non-Aryan descent” and communist party or organization affiliation were dismissed from civil service. Some of these measures were arbitrary or after denunciation; They also often affected teachers who worked according to social democratic , liberal or educational reform approaches, and thus endangered a large number of special educators who had to act between adaptation and covert resistance.
education
In the National Socialist German Reich, the training of new teachers was carried out separately according to the individual subject areas: teachers for the blind and deaf and dumb in particular rejected joint training, which had been requested several times by representatives of the auxiliary schools. The training of so-called teachers for the blind and deaf-mute was centralized in the German Reich. Deaf-mute teachers learned at the State Deaf-Mute and Deaf -Mute Teacher Training Institute in Berlin-Neukölln , teachers for the blind at the State Education Institute for the Blind and the Blind in Berlin-Steglitz . The deaf-mute teacher training also required a completed elementary school teacher training , which could only be dispensed with in individual cases. Professional experience was required in both cases.
The auxiliary school teacher training also took place in a similar way, with more training centers being available here. The Pestalozzi Aid School in Halle an der Saale and the curative education institute in Berlin were leading . In all subjects, the political and ideological reliability of the apprentices was taken into account.
The training of hearing-impaired and speech therapy teachers took place in both courses, although this was only viewed as a "second degree specialization" (Fritz Zwanziger) by the deaf-mute teachers. Other types of schools were also trained at the training centers for auxiliary school teachers.
The training was divided into three parts:
- A scientific part with the areas of medicine and genetics
- A methodical-practical part with practical parts and philosophy of science
- A "manual skill part": ( works , gardening and housework)
During the Nazi era, Karl Tornow tried to obtain a common training for all types of special schools, but failed due to the resistance of the deaf and dumb teachers. But even the state saw no need and shrank from the increased costs.
The auxiliary school
According to Kirsten Knaack (2001), the so-called auxiliary school formed the center of the German special school system and was also the most widespread form of special school in terms of numbers, both in the Weimar Republic and in the Nazi era. The form of special educational support, which historically emerged from the auxiliary class, also had a large political lobby with the Association of Aid Schools in Germany, which was founded in 1898, until it was dissolved as part of the “ Gleichschaltung” (see below, After the “seizure of power”). Combined in it were the schools, which today operate separately, special schools for the learning disabled , special schools with a focus on emotional and social development and schools with special focus on intellectual development .
1933 to 1934, after the "seizure of power"
There are different theories: After Ellger-Rüttgardt (2008), the pressure had already begun in the Weimar Republic to the auxiliary schools after "was seizure of power " by the Nazis intensified. Since the National Socialists had advocated racist selection and elite thinking, the auxiliary school was seen as a school for “inferior”. Although the National Socialists had no plans for school policy at that time, schools were closed and closed in some regions of the German Reich. Reasons for this are to be sought in a “considerable uncertainty about the future auxiliary school policy of the central government and the NSDAP , which initially did not issue any guidelines or programmatic statements as a guide for the school administrations”.
According to Dagmar Hänsel (2014), the Reich Ministry for Science, Education and Public Education was convinced of the necessity of the auxiliary school, did not question its future through the implementation of the Hereditary Health Act and worked in connection with the draft of the “training and examination regulations for auxiliary school teachers “Intensively on the expansion of the corresponding training courses. The auxiliary school principal Martin Breitenbarth wrote to the Reichswalter of the National Socialist Teachers' Union (NSLB) in 1933 :
"I am convinced that a meaningful implementation of the law" To prevent hereditary offspring "is not possible without the extensive, targeted cooperation of all groups of healing educators, and I have therefore repeatedly applied for the establishment of a separate student body for healing education (special schools)."
Immediately after Hitler came to power, Breitenbarth was officially commissioned by the auxiliary school association with the transfer of this association to the NSLB, and in memoranda of the Reichsfachschaft special schools the special task and indispensability of the auxiliary school as the “best reservoir” for the effective implementation of race policy was emphasized.
Karl Tornow also articulated in 1933 in the spirit of those in power:
“We auxiliary school teachers and thus the auxiliary school (are) called to work positively on the solution. A performance of our people in terms of racial hygiene is not possible without the cooperation of the auxiliary school and the auxiliary school teachers. "
After 1935
According to Rüttgardt, the way in which the auxiliary schools were dealt with changed from 1935: The focus was now on the relief function of the auxiliary school for the elementary school . On July 6, 1935, a decree of the Reich Ministry for Science, Education and Public Education was published, which secured the existence of the auxiliary schools and assigned them three tasks:
- Racial hygiene tasks
- economic and national use of their students
- Relief of the primary school
The decree also made primary school teachers responsible. Although this ensured the existence of the auxiliary schools, the relief function of the elementary school had also led to the class size being increased to 20 students (lower level) and 25 students (upper level). These numbers were often exceeded. The decree also made it clear that “under National Socialism, the auxiliary school was primarily seen as a pool for 'genetically ill' pupils” ”.
The "race hygiene tasks" included on the one hand an implementation of the Nazis' racial doctrine in the classroom, but also active participation in the " Law for the Prevention of Hereditary Offspring " (GzVeN). It was the duty of the auxiliary school teacher to suggest students for sterilization. An initial selection for sterilization and later for destruction was carried out via the personnel sheets of the schools, but also specially introduced forms for reports to the school doctor and reports to the hereditary health courts . The new regulation was largely welcomed by the association of auxiliary school teachers and even “enthusiastically celebrated” by leading representatives. They saw ideas realized in it, which had been discussed in the association of auxiliary school teachers since the German Empire and which have now been reflected in a law.
According to Hänsel (2014), the Aid School Association made suggestions for the implementation of the Hereditary Health Act, supported the Reich Compulsory Schooling Act of 1938, with which the attendance of the auxiliary school and other special schools for "children who because of mental weakness or physical deficiencies in the elementary school does not or not with sufficient Able to follow success “has been made legally binding across the empire. Through close personal contacts with speakers in the responsible Reich Ministry, he played a decisive role in decrees and orders, including the “Personnel Sheet for Aid School Students” decree of 1940, which provided for the nationwide standardization of selection from elementary school to auxiliary school. This also included the circular of 1942 on the “referral of children to auxiliary schools, schools for the visually impaired, the hard of hearing and speech healing schools”. This order provided for a nationwide tightening of the selection of children from elementary schools to auxiliary schools and other special schools. According to the explanation of the decree, the expansion of the auxiliary school system and other special schools at the municipal level as well as the expansion of training courses for the above-mentioned teacher groups should be promoted. From the Ministry's point of view, the enactment of the nationwide “auxiliary school guidelines” of 1942 was intended to ensure “that work at the auxiliary school in the future throughout the Greater German Reich was carried out in a uniform spirit and with uniform objectives”.
The draft of a “Training and Examination Regulations for Auxiliary School Teachers”, created in 1941, was demonstrably in the handwriting of Karl Tornow , chief editor of the student body “Die deutsche Sonderschule”, provincial school council in Berlin and advisor to the responsible officer in the Reich Ministry for Science, Education and National Education. In addition to the standardization of auxiliary school teacher training, it was planned to tie the activity of auxiliary school teachers to formal academic training.
According to Hansel, "... the decisive step has been taken to separate the auxiliary school teachers from the primary school teachers' group and to establish an independent special-needs professional group". The establishment of appropriate training courses at selected locations had failed, however, not ideological reservations, but due to a lack of applicants, "which was explained not least by the lack of elementary school teachers and the convening of the relevant classes by the Wehrmacht ".
Expansion of the auxiliary school system from 1938
On April 27, 1938, the “General Order on Aid Schools in Prussia” (AAoPr) appeared. With this arrangement, the elementary school finally lost the power to decide on the allocation to the auxiliary school. For all students who were unable to complete the first three primary school years in a certain period of time, they had to apply for retraining at an auxiliary school. The order subsequently led to a "flood of new registrations [breaking in] over the auxiliary school". The arrangement also increased the importance of the auxiliary school. The auxiliary schools were now regarded as “elementary schools of a special kind” and were to be set up “basically as an independent school”. The latter arrangement also meant the end of the rare but still established auxiliary school classes in some places. The AAoPr expanded the range of auxiliary schools, as these now had to be kept available throughout the Reich.
From the point of view of the profession, the expansion is also accompanied by change. While the auxiliary school was initially often referred to as a “school for the weak-minded”, the term “performance school” was increasingly used by leading representatives such as Karl Tornow. This mainly related to the higher qualification requirements and a changed student body. Since July 6, 1938, the Reichsschulgesetz (Reichsschulgesetz) had been in force, which stipulated that "educationally incapable" pupils should be released from compulsory schooling. This law ultimately prepared the "euthanasia" measures. Schoolchildren who lost their position in society were directly affected by the "euthanasia". In many cases, the decision on educational ability made by the auxiliary school teachers meant a death sentence for those affected.
On March 2, 1940, a personal sheet decree was issued, which became valid throughout the Reich. The decree regulated the selection procedure for the auxiliary school and gave specifications for the personnel forms to be kept. The personnel sheet is divided into three parts: history, development in the auxiliary school and development after the auxiliary school. In the first part, the presence of a " hereditary disease " was also determined. In this way, it was already clear at the time of admission whether sterilization was considered necessary. At the same time, this was associated with an exclusion from the social policy measures of the National Socialist German Reich. "Hereditary" pupils were not allowed to join any NS youth organization and were also severely restricted in their professional field. The auxiliary school sent the data to the responsible health department , but also to the military services and courts.
A circular was published on February 18, 1942, announcing comprehensive guidelines for the auxiliary school. A little later, these guidelines followed, which for the first time in the history of German special education prescribed a uniform procedure within the auxiliary school system. The guidelines were drawn up by Karl Tornow and Erwin Lesch. They make clear concessions to the regime. For the auxiliary pupils, the focus was now on the manual lessons. It was primarily about imparting "the most vital knowledge, so that the auxiliary school child later finds their way in their modest circle of life". In addition to the clearly National Socialist connotations, the guidelines also include issues of controversy relating to auxiliary schooling that had been demanded for some time, in particular the 40-minute short lesson and the 15-minute break.
However, the course of World War II only led to a brief phase in which the new guidelines could be tried out. From 1943 onwards, lessons were canceled in many places due to air alarms, a lack of materials and a lack of teachers. From 1944 onwards, school operations could no longer be started at all in many areas. At the end of the Second World War, most of the auxiliary schools were closed.
Mentally and physically handicapped students under National Socialism
Physically and mentally handicapped pupils were affected by the "euthanasia" of the National Socialists like no other group of pupils. Hereditary forms of disability and obvious deformities in particular were part of the “Law for the Prevention of Hereditary Offspring” and made the pupils victims of sterilization and later victims of the T-4 campaign and child “euthanasia”. As early as 1933, the first efforts in special education began to train the pupils, who were known in the language at the time as "weak-minded" and "idiotic". Due to the lack of guidance from the management, group classes were initially set up in many places, later daycare centers in which the children were looked after by kindergarten teachers or youth leaders.
The AAoPr of 1938 made it possible to declare the few students with mental or severe physical disabilities who, after the segregation in the years before, but also during the Weimar Republic, still attended regular or auxiliary schools, as “unable to educate”. The establishment of classrooms was declared illegal and the existing ones were dissolved.
In August 1939 there was also a decree of the Reich Ministry of the Interior , which regulated the “obligation to report misshapen and idiotic children”. The decree was the preparation for child euthanasia by the Reich Committee for the scientific recording of serious genetic and constitutional illnesses to which more than 5,000 physically and mentally handicapped children fell victim. A struggle for responsibility began around the schooled children. Initially the health department was declared not responsible, from March 29, 1940 the youth welfare office was entrusted with the task. In particular, people with multiple and severe disabilities were placed in nursing homes, where they "could easily be recorded and taken to the killing operations [...]".
Education for the hard of hearing and the deaf and mute during National Socialism
In the course of harmonization and the merging of the various disciplines, education for the hard of hearing and the deaf and mute were combined into one discipline. This was not without problems for both disciplines, as the deaf education had already fought for independence in the Weimar Republic.
Even after the merger, the deaf education department continued to emphasize its independence. In addition to the differences that had arisen from the Weimar period, many feared that the students would be devalued, as the GzVeN explicitly named the deaf and mute, but not the hearing impaired. This led to the fact that the "mental fullness" of the hearing impaired was emphasized again and again. The demarcation of the hearing impaired from the deaf and dumb pedagogy also had strong pedagogical effects. For example, sign language was dispensed with in schools for the hearing impaired , and teachers were advised to act ruthlessly if necessary.
The hearing impaired associations and clubs were dissolved and replaced by the "Reich Association of the German Deaf" (RBS). From January 1934 to 1944, the federal government published the monthly magazine “Der Kämper, German magazine for the hard of hearing and deaf” (from April 1940 “monthly magazine for the hard of hearing and deaf”), in which some teachers also published articles.
Reliable numbers on the student body have not been preserved. In total, at the beginning of National Socialist rule there were said to have been around 24 schools with 187 classes and around 21,000 students. In 1938 only 13 schools for the hard of hearing and five combined schools for the hard of hearing and speech therapy were counted. Attempts by the Reichsbund to prevent the gradual dismantling of schools for the hard of hearing through contributions to the “Fighter” and political commitment failed. In the Reich Compulsory Education Act of July 6, 1938, the hearing impaired was not mentioned at all.
Maintaining deaf education was at the expense of the deaf and mute. The special educators in the Reichsfachverband acted as “the most zealous executors of the great work for the prevention of genetically ill offspring”. The sterilization of the deaf generally took place under duress and was "most precisely controlled and organized" by the Reich Association of the Deaf Germany (REGEDE). In addition to sterilization, two groups were also threatened with destruction:
- Deaf recognized as "not capable of education" in the context of the T-4 campaign
- Jewish deaf people who were considered doubly inferior and were additionally threatened by the Shoah
Education for the blind
In contrast to the other types of special schools, there was little impact of National Socialism on education for the blind. The main reasons for this were an "early development of the pedagogy for the blind and visually impaired" and an early discussion of eugenics by the various associations for the blind as early as the Weimar period. The regime’s sterilization and extermination measures also essentially only affected the blind and visually impaired, who were considered “Jewish”. A total of between 2,400 and 2,800 blind people who were considered “genetically blind” were also sterilized.
Jewish curative education under National Socialism
Jewish curative education in Germany developed after the First World War in the Weimar Republic. With the beginning of National Socialist rule, the persecution of the Jews began. Jewish teachers were removed from regular school service and were not allowed to join the newly founded NSLB. This isolated Jewish curative education from developments in the German Reich. However, until November 9, 1938, the November pogroms , Jewish children and young people were able to live and learn “largely protected and free” in Jewish educational institutions and homes. After the pogroms, Jewish children were removed from the “German” auxiliary school system and concentrated in the Jewish institutions. A wave of persecution with arrests and closings began against these institutions. The remaining schools continued to operate for as long as possible. In the summer of 1942 there was not a single Jewish educational institution left. Many Jewish disabled people were unable to evade persecution or leave the country and fell victim to the Holocaust .
Extracurricular measures
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth (HJ) had a complete coverage of the youth in mind. In the first years of National Socialism, before it became compulsory on December 1, 1936, most of the special school students were excluded from the youth organization, among other things because of the medical examinations carried out by Hitler Youth doctors, for which no qualified procedure was required. Auxiliary school teachers were outraged early on about the unequal treatment of their students. The Reich Youth Leadership taught from 1934 the "Special Spell", the blind, deaf, deaf, physically disabled and hard of hearing young people integrated into the Hitler Youth. A regulation for auxiliary students was only introduced in 1936. Membership in the German Young People was linked to the successful completion of the “Pimpfenprobe”, which included a medical examination, various sports tests and an ideological test.
National Socialist People's Welfare
As with the HJ, the acceptance of the auxiliary pupils in the measures of the National Socialist People's Welfare (NSV), especially in the Kinderlandverschickung (KLV), was only possible after protests by the auxiliary school teachers. Only between 1936 and 1937 was it possible to delete a passage in the “Instructions for the sending of children to Kinderland” that excluded student auxiliary students from the recreational measure. In 1937 the first auxiliary students were admitted to KLV in families, but not to "home deportation". From 1940, however, only those children were admitted who came from “genetically still sustainable, dignified and well-kept families”. The data from the (non-standardized, arbitrary) tests were processed further within the framework of the GzVeN. The "extended Kinderlandverschickung" came into question for the vast majority of auxiliary school students only from 1942 onwards. Primary school students were given priority here, and they were not allowed to be accommodated together with auxiliary students. In addition, the supervising auxiliary school teacher had to accompany the auxiliary student and only a maximum of 20 children per teacher could be sent.
Further measures
Special school students were mostly excluded from the Landjahr , the Reich Labor Service and the Wehrmacht . Special groups, like in the Hitler Youth, were not set up. Only auxiliary students had the opportunity to be accepted into these institutions. Except for the acceptance into the Wehrmacht, which needed new soldiers not least because of the developments in the war, acceptance turned out to be quite difficult.
Resistance to National Socialism
By and large, special educators tried to come to terms with the regime. However, a few committed special educators appeared openly or covertly to the regime. So far, however, this area of special educational history has not been adequately explored. In 1979, Hoeck published a source which suggests that some of the questions relating to the intelligence test in the sterilization process were practiced with schoolchildren in Hamburg. Through Sieglind Ellger-Rüttgardt's monograph "The children, they were all so nice ...". Frieda Stoppenbrink-Buchholz: Auxiliary school pedagogue , lawyer for the weak, social democrat (1987) the special education teacher Frieda Stoppenbrink-Buchholz became known, who, as part of an expert opinion with the Hamburg Inheritance Court and wrote a letter of defense for auxiliary school students.
After 1945
On April 14, 1948, the “Examination Regulations” and the “Training Regulations for Teaching at Auxiliary Schools” came into force in Hamburg . According to Hänsel (2014) these regulations have “unmistakable similarities” with the draft of the nationwide “Training and Examination Regulations for Auxiliary School Teachers” from 1941.
After 1949, special education was restructured with largely staff continuity: the first issue of the magazine "Heilpädagogische Blätter" appeared in the same year. The “Auxiliary School Teachers Association”, which was incorporated into the “National Socialist Teachers' Association” during the Nazi era, was re-founded that year (initially “Association of German Auxiliary Schools”, from 1955 “Association of German Special Schools”). Attempts were made to renew special education in the sense of a “ zero hour ” and to connect it to the “bloom of curative education” of the Weimar Republic. In fact, the 12 years under the National Socialist past were largely suppressed. With Gustav Lesemann , the last association chairman in the Weimar Republic, and Josef Spieler , who spent the war years in Switzerland, the association also had two politically less burdened people. Despite this propagated new beginning, it was actually the case that “in terms of personnel, law and ideology, in the majority of the federal states newly created after the Second World War, the guidelines and structures of the Third Reich” were initially followed. In fact, a merger of the various special education disciplines has now been achieved in a joint training course that has been developed since 1950 and comprised eight special school types, initially without pedagogy for the deaf and dumb and the blind.
Dealing with the National Socialist past within special education
The historical evaluation of special education is currently a point of contention in the discipline. This is due, among other things, to the “poor special educational research situation on the Third Reich”, and in part also to the veiling tendencies of the “Association of German Special Schools” (today “ Association of Special Education ”) up to around 1971.
With the new beginning in 1945, a redefinition of the National Socialist past began within the discipline. In the first scientific work on the history of special and curative education, the 12 years of the Nazi era were largely excluded or described as “empty space”. Sterilization, "euthanasia" and extermination, which affected many auxiliary and special school children, were largely ignored. The motive for this was also self-protection, since many auxiliary school teachers had already advocated or demanded both sterilization and euthanasia before 1933. Even the supposed figureheads of the association were not free from guilt. Lesemann had already considered euthanasia in writings before the Nazi era and welcomed it from 1933. In fact, at this time, myths and legends began to be formed, which spoke of a threat to the auxiliary school system, but which had never existed in this form. Until 1971, attempts were made to stylize the history of special education during the Nazi era as a "rescue work".
From 1970 onwards, essays and works were published which deal critically with the Nazi era and uncover the guilt of some functionaries. In 1979, Manfred Höck's treatise The Aid School in the Third Reich appeared in the series Special Pedagogical Manuscripts . The work was quoted several times in the popular science book "Euthanasia" in the Nazi state by Ernst Klee . Andreas Möckel , Ulrich Bleidick and Sieglind Luise Ellger-Rüttgardt established themselves as historians with special needs education . In 1990, Hanspeter Brenner published a highly acclaimed essay entitled Special educational historiography after 1945 - repress, conceal, falsify , which demonstrated by means of several examples how special educational historiography before 1971 tried to portray itself as a victim of and resistance to National Socialist rule. He showed the guilt of several founding members of the "Association of Aid Schools in Germany" who advocated "euthanasia" or played a major role in the Nazi auxiliary school system.
Sieglind Luise Ellger-Rüttgardt published several critical texts on special education in the National Socialist system, but with her monograph on Frieda Stoppenbrink-Buchholz also showed a positive example in the everyday activities of special education teachers. She defends herself against a blanket devaluation of the profession during the Nazi era. Dagmar Hänsel showed with her work The Nazi Era as an asset for auxiliary school teachers (2006) how the auxiliary school was able to gain influence through the Nazi period and thus lay a foundation for today's special education system. In 2008 her biography about Karl Tornow was published, which gives a complex picture of his work. Hansel's works try to prove that even the special educational historiography after 1971, with the determination of some scapegoats such as Tornow, still adheres to a "myth of the threat to the auxiliary school from the Nazi state" and thus "the self-portrayal of the special educational profession as a savior in life threatened preserved in the present ”.
See also
literature
- Sieglind Luise Ellger Rüttgard: History of the special educational institutions . In: Introductory Course in Educational Science Volume 3: Introduction to the history of educational science and educational reality . No. 3 . Verlag Barbara Budrich, Opladen & Bloomfield 2006, ISBN 3-8252-8109-4 , pp. 269-291 .
- History of special education. An introduction . Ernst Reinhard Verlag, Munich / Basel 2008, ISBN 978-3-8252-8362-9 .
- Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . Julius Klinkhardt, Bad Heilbrunn 2006, ISBN 3-7815-1491-9 .
- Karl Tornow as a pioneer of the special education profession. The foundation of the existing in the Nazi era . Julius Klinkhardt, Bad Heilbrunn 2008, ISBN 978-3-7815-1624-3 .
- Special school teacher training under National Socialism . Julius Klinkhardt, Bad Heilbrunn 2014, ISBN 978-3-7815-1990-9 .
- Manfred Höck: The auxiliary school in the Third Reich . Ed .: Klaus Harney and Heinz-Hermann Krüger. Carl Marhold Verlagbuchhandlung , Berlin 1979, ISBN 3-7864-1607-9 .
- Vera Moser: The History of Disabled Education Online . In: Vera Moser; Subject: Disability and Integration Education (Ed.): Enzyklopädie Erziehungswissenschaft Online . Juventa Verlag, Weinheim / Munich 2009 ( erzwissonline.de - subject to a charge).
- Martin Rudnick (Ed.): Sort out - Sterilize - Liquidate. The persecution of disabled people under National Socialism . Edition Marhold in Wissenschaftlichen Verlag Spiess, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-89166-567-9 .
- Horst Biesold: Exclusion of the deaf-mute in National Socialism . S. 170-175 .
- Hanspeter Brenner: Special pedagogical historiography after 1945 - suppress, conceal, falsify . S. 198-214 .
- Andreas Schwertkolt: Pedagogy for the hard of hearing under National Socialism (1933–1945) . S. 145-179 .
- Gabriel Richter: Blindness and Eugenics - Between Resistance and Integration . S. 176-188 .
- Hans Stadler: Educational support for young people with physical disabilities and chronic illnesses between segregation and integration . In: Johann Borchert (Hrsg.): Sonderpädagogik. Quarterly magazine about current problems of the handicapped in schools and society . Volume 30, 2000, p. 88-101 .
- Birgit Werner: Special education in the field of tension between ideology and tradition . In: Johann Borchert (Hrsg.): Sonderpädagogik. Quarterly magazine about current problems of the handicapped in schools and society . Volume 30, 2000, p. 16-29 .
Web links
- Kirsten Knaack: Auxiliary School in National Socialism. University of Hamburg, Hamburg 2001. (thesis)
- Brigitte Schumann : Alliance of Silence . bildungsklick.de, March 7, 2016 ("The KMK is not interested in clarifying the role of special education in National Socialism")
- Karl Tornow: Elementary school and auxiliary school in the new state. (PDF) In: The German School. Vol. 47, 1943, H. 3, pp. 52-62.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Ellger-Rüttgardt: History of special education. An introduction . 2008, p. 202 .
- ↑ Vera Moser: The history of the disabled pedagogy online . 2009, p. 19 .
- ↑ Manfred Berger: Rupert Egenberger - His life and work. ( Memento of the original from September 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF) In: heilpaedagogik.de , 2008 / H 2, pp. 27–30. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
- ^ Ellger-Rüttgardt: History of special education. An introduction . 2008, p. 203 .
- ↑ a b Hans Stadler: The school support of young people with physical disabilities and chronic illnesses between segregation and integration . S. 97 .
- ^ Ellger-Rüttgardt: History of special education. An introduction . 2008, p. 207 .
- ^ Ellger-Rüttgardt: History of special education. An introduction . 2008, p. 213-214 .
- ^ Ellger-Rüttgardt: History of special education. An introduction . 2008, p. 256 .
- ↑ Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 81 ff .
- ^ A b Albert Reble: History of Pedagogy . 20th edition. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-608-94179-7 , pp. 327 .
- ^ Albert Reble: History of Pedagogy . Klett-Cotta, 2002, p. 328-329 .
- ↑ Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 99 .
- ^ A b Ellger-Rüttgardt: History of special education. An introduction . 2008, p. 274 .
- ↑ quoted from Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi era as a gain for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 102 .
- ↑ Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 83 .
- ↑ a b quoted from Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi era as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 103 .
- ^ Dagmar Hänsel: Karl Tornow as a pioneer of the special education profession . 2008, p. 10 .
- ↑ a b Andreas Schwertkolt: Pedagogy for the Hard of Hearing in National Socialism (1933–1945) . S. 148 .
- ↑ National Socialist Teachers' Association (NSLB). Historisches Lexikon Bayern, accessed on March 8, 2011 .
- ^ Ellger-Rüttgardt: History of special education. An introduction . 2008, p. 275 .
- ↑ Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 106 ff .
- ↑ a b c Dagmar Hansel: The Nazi period as a gain for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 108 ff .
- ↑ quoted from Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi era as a gain for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 108 .
- ↑ Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 115 .
- ↑ Kirsten Knaack: From the foundation of the auxiliary school until 1933. 2001, accessed on March 1, 2011 .
- ^ A b c Ellger-Rüttgardt: History of special education. An introduction . 2008, p. 257 .
- ↑ a b c d Brigitte Schumann : Re-evaluation of the history of special needs education? Review of Dagmar Hansel: Special school teacher training under National Socialism. Bad Heilbrunn 2014. On: bildungsklick.de. December 8, 2014, accessed December 10, 2014.
- ^ A b Ellger-Rüttgardt: History of special education. An introduction . 2008, p. 258 .
- ↑ Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 44 ff .
- ↑ Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 90 .
- ↑ a b Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi era as a gain for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 52 .
- ↑ AAoPr, quoted by Dagmar Hansel: The Nazi period as profit for auxiliary teachers . 2006, p. 185 .
- ↑ AAoPr, quoted by Dagmar Hansel: The Nazi period as profit for auxiliary teachers . 2006, p. 186 .
- ↑ Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 62 .
- ↑ Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 54-55 .
- ↑ Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 65-66 .
- ↑ quoted from Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi era as a gain for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 75 f .
- ↑ Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 75 f .
- ↑ Manfred Höck: The auxiliary school in the Third Reich . 1979, p. 230 .
- ↑ Manfred Höck: The auxiliary school in the Third Reich . 1979, p. 172 f .
- ↑ Manfred Höck: The auxiliary school in the Third Reich . 1979, p. 176 .
- ↑ Hans Stadler: The school support of young people with physical disabilities and chronic illnesses between segregation and integration . S. 96 .
- ↑ Manfred Höck: The auxiliary school in the Third Reich . 1979, p. 177 f .
- Jump up ↑ Andreas Schwertkolt: Education for the hearing impaired in National Socialism (1933–1945) . S. 147 .
- Jump up ↑ Andreas Schwertkolt: Education for the hearing impaired in National Socialism (1933–1945) . S. 149 .
- ↑ a b Andreas Schwertkolt: Pedagogy for the Hard of Hearing in National Socialism (1933–1945) . S. 164 .
- Jump up ↑ Andreas Schwertkolt: Education for the hearing impaired in National Socialism (1933–1945) . S. 150 .
- Jump up ↑ Andreas Schwertkolt: Education for the hearing impaired in National Socialism (1933–1945) . S. 152 .
- ↑ Horst Biesold: Exclusion of deaf-mute people in National Socialism . S. 170 .
- ↑ a b Horst Biesold: Exclusion of deaf-mute people under National Socialism . S. 171 .
- ↑ Gabriel Richter: Blindness and Eugenics - Between Resistance and Integration . S. 177 .
- ↑ Gabriel Richter: Blindness and Eugenics - Between Resistance and Integration . S. 179 .
- ↑ Gabriel Richter: Blindness and Eugenics - Between Resistance and Integration . S. 186 .
- ↑ Dagmar Drovs, Shimon Sachs, Bernd Schröder: Curative Education in German Judaism: Securing Evidence 1873-1942 . LIT Verlag, Münster 2000, ISBN 3-8258-4793-4 , p. 95 .
- ↑ Dagmar Drovs, Shimon Sachs, Bernd Schröder: Curative Education in German Judaism: Securing Evidence 1873-1942 . LIT Verlag, Münster 2000, ISBN 3-8258-4793-4 , p. 95-96 .
- ^ A b Manfred Höck: The auxiliary school in the Third Reich . 1979, p. 269 .
- ^ A b Manfred Höck: The auxiliary school in the Third Reich . 1979, p. 275 .
- ↑ Circular decree of the Main Office for People's Welfare of October 14, 1940, quoted from Manfred Höck: The auxiliary school in the Third Reich . 1979, p. 275 .
- ↑ Manfred Höck: The auxiliary school in the Third Reich . 1979, p. 277 .
- ↑ Manfred Höck: The auxiliary school in the Third Reich . 1979, p. 283-285 .
- ↑ Manfred Höck: The auxiliary school in the Third Reich . 1979, p. 115 f .
- ^ A b Ellger-Rüttgardt: History of special education. An introduction . 2008, p. 293 ff .
- ^ Sieglind Ellger Rüttgard: History of the special educational institutions . 2006, p. 280 .
- ↑ Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 118 f .
- ↑ Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 126 .
- ↑ Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 129 .
- ↑ Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 133 .
- ↑ Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 145 .
- ^ Ernst Klee : "Euthanasia" in the Nazi state. The "destruction of life unworthy of life" . S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1983, ISBN 3-10-039303-1 , p. 43-46 .
- ↑ Hanspeter Brenner: Special educational historiography after 1945 - suppress, keep silent, falsify . S. 198-214 .
- ↑ Dagmar Hänsel: The Nazi period as an asset for auxiliary school teachers . 2006, p. 147 .
- ^ Dagmar Hänsel: Karl Tornow as a pioneer of the special education profession . 2008, p. 323 .
