Education Under The Third Reich

What role did teachers play during the Holocaust?

Under the authority of the Third Reich, teachers were obligated to join the National Socialist Teacher’s League, which was responsible for carrying out the educational goals of the Nazi Party, and to take an oath of loyalty to the Führer, Adolf Hitler. Despite these obligations, though, teachers were still able to make individual choices. Some chose to comply with Nazi ideology, while others chose to act in opposition.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has developed materials to help today’s educators explore the pressures teachers felt under the Nazi regime, the range of decisions individuals made in the face of those pressures, and the relevance of this history now.

Oath and Opposition Workshop Dates 2019-2020:

Date of Workshop	Topic of Workshop	Location of Workshop	Registration Link
December 3, 2019	Education Under the Third Reich	Forsyth County Education Building	Click here

Please download and print the EIGHT handouts on this page before you attend the Oath and Opposition workshop:

USHMM Guideline Notes

USHMM Rationale Worksheet

Rubric for Evaluation of Resources USHMM

Obligation to Teach the Light

Necessity of Darkness

Education under the Third Reich Introduction

Oath and Opposition Student Handout

The Poisonous Mushroom Lesson Student handout

If you have not already seen The Path to Nazi Genocide documentary from the USHMM, please click this link and watch it before you come to the workshop

Other resources used during the Oath and Opposition workshop:

Videos/Audio/Web Links:

Education for Death (film short)

USHMM Collaboration and Complicity Exhibit

USHMM Oath and Opposition Resources

Documents/PDFs:

Education for Death Prologue Excerpts

Education for Death Boys Excerpts

Education for Death Girls Excerpts

The Poisonous Mushroom story

How To Tell A Jew text

All of the Poisonous Mushroom Texts

USHMM Oath and Opposition (full pdf)

Google Slide Presentations:

USHMM Guidelines Presentation

Ten Photos for Guidelines Activity

Teachers in the Third Reich

The Poisonous Mushroom

Oath and Opposition

Agenda for Oath and Opposition Workshop:

8:00-8:10: Welcome and Logistics

8:10-8:45: Guidelines for Teaching the Holocaust

8:45-9:30: Rationale for Teaching the Holocaust and Evaluating Resources

9:30-10:00:  Teaching the Light vs Teaching the Dark Comparison

10:00-10:10: Break

10:15-11:15: Teachers in the Third Reich Introduction

11:15-12:00: Oath and Opposition: Teachers in the Third Reich

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-2:15: The Poisonous Mushroom: Poisoning Student Minds

2:15-2:30: Evaluations and Break

2:30-3:30: Holocaust Survivor Speaker