In 1933, Hitler said, “When an opponent declares, “I will not join you,” I calmly say, “Your child belongs to us already. What are you? You will pass away and your descendants now stand in a new camp”. The Nazis uused the education of young people to indoctrinate them and to create soldiers who would later go on to fight for the Reich. Education was carried out not just at school but in youth movements. The Nazis understood that adults were harder to influence than children, so indoctrinating the young with Nazi beliefs was essential if Nazism was to continue and develop in the future.

The Nazis changed the curriculum and rewrote all textbooks to indoctrinate and reinforce Nazi ideology. Subjects underwent a major change in schools. Some of the most affected were history and biology. History teaching was based on the glory of Germany – it had to be taught in a nationalistic way. The German defeat in 1918 was explained as the work of Jewish and Marxist spies who had weakened the system from within. The treaty of Versailles considered to be the work of nations jealous of Germany’s might and power. The hyperinflation of 1923 was the work of Jewish saboteurs. In geography, pupils were taught about the land that had been taken away under the Treaty of Versailles, and that Germany needed Lebensraum (living space).

Children studied the German language to create a 'consciousness of being German'. Biology became a study of the different races to ‘prove’ that the Nazi belief in racial superiority was a sound belief. ‘Racial Instruction’ started at the age of 6 and pupils were shown how to measure skulls to determine racial identity. In science pupils were taught about shooting, bridge building and the impact of poisonous gases.

The Nazis were not afraid to talk about the need for violence and this made people ready for the coming conflict and less squemish.