The Antifascist Classroom This page intentionally left blank The Antifascist Classroom Denazification in Soviet-occupied Germany, 1945–1949 Benita Blessing THE ANTIFASCIST CLASSROOM © Benita Blessing, 2006. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2006 978-1-4039-7612-3 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2006 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-53675-7 ISBN 978-0-230-60163-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230601635 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Blessing, Benita. The antifascist classroom : denazification in Soviet-occupied Germany, 1945–1949/ Benita Blessing. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Education—Social aspects—Germany (East)—History. 2. Education and state—Germany (East) I. Title. LC191.8.G3B58 2006 379.431Ј0944—dc22 2006045393 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: December 2006 10987654321 In loving memory of my father, Don Blessing This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Figures ix Preface xi List of Abbreviations xv Introduction: Redemption through Reconstruction 1 1 Antifascism, Unity, and Division 13 2 Setting up the School 37 3 Rebuilding the School 61 4 Rubble Children and the Construction of Gender Roles 91 5 The Antifascist Narrative 121 6 “Vati’s home!”: From Defeated Nazi to Antifascist Hero 141 7 Reestablishing Traditions 159 Conclusion: Redemption through Reconstruction and Beyond 187 Notes 203 Bibliography 253 Index 279 This page intentionally left blank List of Figures 1 Excerpt from a Play Written by Pupils at a Girls’ School 7 2 “We’re building schools. Everybody help out!” 66 3 Pupil’s Illustration of Building with Broken Windows and Piles of Rubble in 1945 (Top Half); New Panes in Window and Cleaned-Up Courtyard a Year Later in 1946 71 4 Christmas, Communism, and Consumerism 97 5 A Pupil’s Essay and Illustration of “Rubble Women” 119 6 Pupils’ Illustration and Play about the Long Lines at the Water Pump after the End of the War 136 7 Pupil’s (Probably Boy’s) Essay and Illustration of Bombing of Neighborhood in 1943. G. Massner, January 25, 1946, LAB/STA, 134/13, 180/1, no. 524/1 and 524/r 139 8 DEFA Film “Irgendwo in Berlin” Poster 146 9 “What Should I Give My Child?” Poster for an Exhibit of Appropriate Antifascist Christmas Gifts 182 10 Christmas 1947 184 This page intentionally left blank Preface first visited the East Berlin district of Weißensee in 1985 with a small group of other American high school exchange students and our IWest German chaperone. We left our larger group hanging around the city center “Alex” to accompany the young woman on her visit to her East German aunt, who worked at a local restaurant. Over a decade later, I stumbled upon the same restaurant while visiting with a friend and col- league who was reading a draft of a chapter I was working on about the Soviet zone’s educational system. When I arrived at my friend Henning’s apartment and excitedly told him about the coincidence, he asked if that year as an exchange student to West Germany and my two brief visits to the German Democratic Republic (GDR) had influenced my choice of research topic. Of course it had. I had grown up with the image of the GDR as intransient. Long phone conversations with German and American friends about the meaning of it all in the fall of 1989 and the break-up of the Soviet bloc eventually led me back to memories of that year in Germany and a master’s thesis on German educational reforms post–Wende (transformation, the period after German unification). An MA in hand two years later, I realized that I still understood little about the forty-five-year history of Soviet zone and GDR schools. I started working backward in time until I landed in 1945, when World War II had ended, and no one could have guessed that Germany would be divided for almost a half century and then, equally surprising to most scholars and politicians, would unify. My eternal gratitude goes to the Congress-Bundestag scholarship program and Youth for Understanding for opening my eyes to another kind of school system in 1984–1985. Negotiating a West German Gymnasium as a teenager prepared me well for work as an historian who now negotiates a foreign school system in archives. xii ● Preface My thanks also to the many friends, colleagues, and institutions that supported the research and writing of this book. The Landesarchiv- Berlin, the Bundesarchiv-Lichterfelde, the Schulmuseum of the Museum zu Kindheit und Jugend, the Deutsches Institut für Pädagogische Forschung, the Heimatmuseum-Köpenick, and the Archiv der Jugendbewegung- Ludwigsfelder all offered unfailing support and guidance during the research phase of this project. My dear, departed friend and advisor Sterling Fishman guided me in the right direction while beginning this project, while my coadvisors Rudy Koshar and Bill Reese both kept me firmly grounded in the historiographical and educational scholarship. My colleagues at the Humboldt University and Free University have continued to assist with my questions and requests, even hunting down out-of-print books for me at used-book stores (Danke, Henning Schluß). As a postdoctoral student at the Institute for European History in Mainz, Germany, I presented my work to an international audience whose criticisms and questions helped me refine my argument. My year as a postdoctoral fellow with the National Academy of Education/ Spencer Foundation allowed me the valuable time to write and engage with other scholars interested in the topic of education. Maris Vinovskis was an invaluable mentor, while fellows such as Geoffrey Borman, David Gamson, Andy Jewett, Heidi Mesmer, and Lynn Sargeant proved to be crucial to a successful year of thinking and writing. The History of Education Society is perhaps one of the best-kept conference secrets that I herewith encourage other scholars to take advantage of: since my earli- est graduate student days, senior and junior scholars there have patiently listened to my conference talks and read versions of my manuscripts and encouraged me unfailingly: Jim Albisetti, Barbara Beatty, Nancy Beadie, Ed Beauchamp, David Gamson, Linda Eisenmann, Ben Justice, Chris Ogren, Craig Pepin, Catherine Plum, Brian Puaca, and the “lunch crowd” from the Madison group have been an inspiration to me over the years. The Midwest German Studies Workshop has also been an impor- tant venue for my musings—David Barclay, Erik Jensen, M.J. Maynes, and Glenn Penny have forced me to think in new ways about my manu- script and have always been ready with a helpful citation. Here at Ohio University, I have been fortunate to work with outstanding historians who have always stood ready to listen to my interpretations of German and gender history. The Office of Research and Development generously funded the costs of including photos in the manuscript, which led to a richer final product. My thanks are due to my many students of German and European women’s history too, who have read parts of several chap- ters and asked rational questions that have forced me to rethink many of Preface ● xiii my premises. My greatest thanks go to my family—my sister, brother-in- law, and mother, for carefully avoiding the topic of when my book would be finished, and to my partner Don, whose interpretations of gender and socialization from a biological behavioral viewpoint have brought about interesting comparisons between lizards and East German boys and girls. As always, all mistakes and misstatements remain my own. Benita Blessing Ohio University, Athens, Ohio March 20, 2006 This page intentionally left blank List of Abbreviations CDU Christliche Demokratische Union, Christian Democratic Union DEFA Deutsche Film Aktiengesellschaft, German Film Association DVV Deutsche Verwaltung für Volksbildung, German Education Administration FDGB Freie Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund, Free German Trade Union FDJ Freie Deutsche Jugend, Free German Youth FDP Frei Demokratische Partei, Free Democratic Party FRG Federal Republic of Germany GEW Gewerkschaft Erzieher und Lehrer, Educators’ and Teachers’ Union GDR German Democratic Republic KPD Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, German Communist Party LPD Liberale Partei Deutschlands, German Liberal Party SBZ Sowjetische Besatzungszone, Soviet Occupation Zone SED Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, Socialist Unity Party SMA[D] Soviet Military Administration in Germany SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, Social Democratic Party of Germany Archives AdJB, Archiv der Jugendbewegung (Archive of the German Youth Movement), Ludwigsfelder BArch, Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archive), Berlin—Lichterfelde DIPF/BBF/Archiv, Deutsches Institut für Pädagogische Forschung, Bibliothek für Bildungsforschung (German Institute for Pedagogical Research, Library for Educational Research, Archive), Berlin xvi ● List of