Nazi Germany By David S Horace Greeley High School Class of 2007 INTRODUCTION What is AntiIntellectualism A sentiment of hostility towards or mistrust of intellectuals and intellectual pursuits ID: 596074
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Anti-Intellectualism in Nazi Germany
By David S.
Horace Greeley High School
Class of 2007Slide2
INTRODUCTIONSlide3
What is Anti-Intellectualism?A sentiment of hostility towards, or mistrust of, intellectuals and intellectual pursuitsAttacks merits of science, education, literatureNot just about hating intellectualism: also about what values fill its placeSlide4
Locke on Intellectualism“I attribute the little I know to my not having been ashamed to ask for information, and to my rule of conversing with all descriptions of men on those topics that form their own peculiar [opinions].”—John Locke“New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.”—John LockeSlide5
Consequences of Anti-IntellectualismA society where individual thought is compromised, and the preservation of truth is minimalAuthorities have more powerCannot be challenged, because there is no intellectual spirit of dissentSlide6
Consequences of Anti-IntellectualismEmergence of Pseudoscience(i.e. Eugenics)
Rewriting of History
Destruction of LiteratureSlide7
Nazi Anti-IntellectualismKnowledge that benefited state was allowed (i.e. rocket science)Individual learning frowned uponIndependent thinking goes against public opinionPropaganda a new form of “education”Repression of the truth in favor of that which stirs up radical emotionSlide8
CENTRAL QUESTION
Why was anti-intellectualism such a critical element in sustaining Nazi culture from 1933-1945?Slide9
NAZI BOOK BURNINGSSlide10
Why Burn Books?A way of venting angerSymbolic transition of cultural values: Intellectualism to radical emotionalismUnifies community in a ritualIntimidates intellectual communityFrightening to see an angry mob that has lost touch with your valuesSlide11
The Burning of the BooksMay 10, 1933Nazi Party declares that any book ““which acts subversively on our future or strikes at the root of German thought, the German home and the driving forces of our people...” is to be burned.Jewish intellectuals were primary target, but also many non-Jews as wellSlide12
The Burning of the BooksStudents marched through the streets rampaging libraries, synagogues, and even private homes to loot books
Books were thrown onto bonfireSlide13
“The Burning of the Books”Nazis encouraged burnings, but discouraged their publicityAftermathFrightened many intellectuals, Jewish and non-Jewish, into fleeing Germany“Jewish intellectualism is dead”—Joseph Goebbels after the 1933 Book BurningSlide14
Some Authors of Books Burned on 5/10/33Albert EinsteinHavelock EllisLion FeuchtwangerSigmund FreudAndré Gide
Franz Kafka
Erich Kästner
Helen Keller
Alfred Kerr
Jack London
Heinrich Mann
Thomas Mann
Karl Marx
Hugo Preuss
Marcel Proust
Walter Rathenau
Erich Maria Remarque
Margaret Sanger
Arthur Schnitzler
Upton Sinclair
Jakob Wasserman
H. G. Wells
Stefan Zweig
Emile ZolaSlide15
EDUCATION INTHE THIRD REICH
Two Jewish students are humiliated in front of their whole class. The writing on the board proclaims “the Jew is our greatest enemy! Beware of the Jew!"
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The Nazi ClassroomThe CurriculumRacial biology and eugenicsCelebratory German historyDiscipline, duty, obedience, couragePhysical training—Body over mindNo concern for the “spirit of academics”
“The Jewish Nose is Wide at the End and Looks like the Number Six”Slide17
The Nazi Classroom Task of the EducatorStrengthen the soul and spirit of youthInstill nationalism in younger generationPrepare students for service, and even self-sacrifice to the Reich
NO INTENTION OF EDUCATING THE INDIVIDUAL FOR THE SAKE OF THE
INDIVIDUALSlide18
The Nazi ClassroomStrong desire to root out values of…Liberal individualismRationalismIntellectualismA Complete 180° from the ideals of
Locke and the Enlightenment!Slide19
Reasons for this Education SystemTrained children to be good soldiersEasier to accept a total authority if you don’t know how to think for yourselfUltimate GoalIn Democracy: Student learns so he may benefit himselfIn Totalitarian Germany: Student learns so he may benefit the stateSlide20
Adolf Hitler on Education"Universal education is the most corroding and disintegrating poison that liberalism has ever invented”—Adolf Hitler"Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way round”—Adolf HitlerSlide21
Adolf Hitler on Education"The folkish state must not adjust its…educational work…to the inoculation of mere knowledge, but to the breeding of absolutely healthy bodies…And here again, first place must be taken by the development of character, especially the promotion of will-power and determination, combined with the training of joy in responsibility, and only in last place comes scientific schooling
." –
Mein KampfSlide22
The Hitler Youth (HJ)Slide23
Clip From Triumph of the WillClick image to see video on YouTubeNotice direction of filmShows how admired Hitler isPromotes radical emotionalismNotice serious faces, militarism of young boysSlide24
Why was the HJ Necessary for Nazi Germany?Hitler believed the future of Nazi Germany was in its childrenComposed of a generation that knew almost only NazismNo need to suppress individual thinking if people are imprinted with anti-intellectual ideology at a young ageSlide25
Why was the HJ Necessary for Nazi Germany?Trained children for their roles as Nazi citizensMen: “Wehrsport” (Military training)Women: Preparation for Aryan motherhoodSlide26
Hitler’s View of the HJ“The weak must be chiseled away. I want young men and women who can suffer pain...” "I will have no intellectual training. Knowledge is ruin to my young men”Slide27
Relevance of the HJ toAnti-IntellectualismThe values of a culture result from the values instilled in its youthIn America: pressure to do well in school, go to college, get a job, make $In Nazi Germany: Children were worth only what they contributed to the stateSlide28
Social Atmosphere in anAnti-Intellectual GermanySlide29
Nazi Populism“Whoever can conquer the street will one day conquer the state...”–Joseph GoebbelsStruggle against “privileged elite”Especially JewsIntellectuals are elitists and trickstersHoodwink opponents with rhetoricSlide30
The Volksgemeinschaft“The People’s Community”Established collective national spiritBased on racial and national prideSubliminal influence on cultureBureaucratization of censorship &
propaganda
PEOPLE CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO THINK FOR THEMSELVESSlide31
The Reichskulturkammer“Reich Culture Chamber”Managed by Hans HinkelGoals:Promote “Good Culture”Root out, ban “Bad Culture”Compulsory membership for all members of German mediaHEIGHT OF ANTI-INTELLECTUALISMSlide32
Divisions of the ReichskulturkammerReichspressekammer (press) Reichsfilmkammer (film)Reichsrundfunkkammer (radio)Reichsmusikkammer (music) Reichsschriftumskammer (literature) Reichstheaterkammer (theater)Reichskammer der bildenden künste (fine arts) Slide33
The Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and PropagandaSpread and enforced Nazi ideologyThe antithesis of intellectual-based cultureRampant anti-SemitismInfected all mediums of art and literatureSlide34
Why have aMinistry of Propaganda?In a totalitarian regime, public opinion must be molded to fit the stateConversely, Intellectualism demands:A “marketplace of ideas”Tolerance of dissentAbility to question authorityIndependent thoughtFormulation of rational ideasSlide35
Kristallnacht“Night of the Broken Glass”
Political assassination by Jew ignites spark
Nazi youth rampage Jewish buildings
“The mob” trumps individualism
Considered beginning of HolocaustSlide36
Joseph Goebbels:Head of the Anti-intellectual SerpentSlide37
Dr. Paul Joseph GoebbelsHead of Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and PropagandaA textbook example of the anti-intellectualism he promotedExtreme, unconditional loyalty to Hitler: he was practically in love with himSlide38
Goebbels on Truth and Intellectualism“Intellectual activity is a danger to the building of character”“It is the absolute right of the State to supervise the formation of public opinion.”“Not every item of news should be published. Rather must those who control news policies endeavor to make every item of news serve a certain purpose.”Slide39
The “Big Lie” Theory“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”—Joseph GoebbelsSlide40
CONCLUSIONSSlide41
What Anti-intellectualism DoesA force that seeks to unify…The mind of a nationThe will of a nationCensorship of truthIdea that truth is irrelevant is dangerousUse of propaganda to orchestrate direction of public opinionSlide42
Is the Bush Administration Somewhat Anti-Intellectual?Regent U. Law GradsRanked Tier 4 School, but extremely conservative150 in AdministrationLoyalty over intelligenceFiring of U.S. AttorneysFor political reasons
Not based on performanceSlide43
Is the Bush Administration Somewhat Anti-Intellectual?Propaganda?Overuse of the word “freedom”Overgeneralization of “terror”Simplification of good vs. evilStirring up of radical emotions9/11 as a rallying pointSlide44
Karl Rove on Intellectualism “As people do better, they start voting like Republicans—unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing”—Karl RoveSlide45
The End(or is it?)