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From Racial Selection to Postwar Deception

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From Racial Selection to Postwar Deception FROM RACIAL SELECTION TO POSTWAR DECEPTION FROM RACIAL SELECTION TO POSTWAR DECEPTION THE NAPOLAS AND DENAZIFICATION By TIM MUELLER, M.A., B.A. (Hon.) A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University © Copyright by Tim Mueller, September 2016 McMaster University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2016), Hamilton, Ontario (History) TITLE: From Racial Selection to Postwar Deception: The Napolas and Denazification AUTHOR: Tim Mueller, M.A., B.A. (Hon.) (McMaster University) SUPERVISOR: Professor Pamela Swett NUMBER OF PAGES: xiii, 273 ii Lay Abstract This investigation examines the legacy of the Third Reich through the prism of education. After the collapse of the Nazi regime in 1945, the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and France divided Germany into four zones of occupation and introduced a wide-ranging program of denazification. Former administrators, teachers and pupils of the Napolas, boarding schools for the Third Reich’s future elite, were among those affected by the purge. The Napolas had enjoyed an intimate relationship to Heinrich Himmler’s SS between 1936 and 1945, due in large part to the schools’ emphasis on racial purity and premilitary training. Yet Napola apologists responded to postwar prosecution by denying the schools’ role in Nazi plans for European domination. Their constructed memories rehabilitated the Napolas’ postwar image and successfully reintegrated alumni into West German society. The Napolas’ “postwar legend” has since become the defining characteristic of Napola alumni associations’ collective identities. iii Abstract This investigation examines the origins and function of the Napolas, boarding schools for the Third Reich’s future elite, before 1945 and demonstrates how those connected to the schools rehabilitated their experiences as students and teachers in the early postwar period and in the years since reunification. Between 1933 and 1945, the Napolas recruited racially valuable children and prepared them for leadership roles in Nazi Germany’s Thousand-Year Reich. The schools’ emphasis upon racial purity and premilitary training caught the attention of Heinrich Himmler and the SS. The appointment of August Heißmeyer, a high-ranking SS official, to the position of Napola inspector in 1936 opened the door for closer relations between the two organizations. Although the Napolas remained formally under the auspices of the Reich Education Ministry for the entirety of the Nazi dictatorship, the schools were gradually absorbed into the SS’ sphere of influence after 1936. The Napolas ceased to exist with the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. Due to the Napolas’ past ties to the SS, one of seven organizations deemed criminal by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, former administrators, teachers, and pupils of the schools were caught in the crosshairs of the Allied denazification program. Legal changes in the U.S. Occupation Zone in March 1946 gave Napola apologists an opportunity to challenge Allied accusations regarding the Napolas’ past as Nazi sites of indoctrination. As a result, a collective defense of the Napolas began to emerge, growing in repute and complexity as the denazification process continued. By 1949, the Napolas’ “postwar legend,” an exonerative tale of the schools’ history during the Third Reich, had not only stalled prosecution indefinitely, but also iv successfully reintegrated alumni into West German society. The postwar myth that exonerated the schools survived challenges during the Bonn Republic more or less unscathed. The willingness of former Napola pupils to recast their experiences as Nazi elite students in a positive light indicates that the Napolas’ postwar legend has lost none of its persuasiveness in unified Germany. v Acknowledgements I owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to many individuals who have directly and indirectly supported this project over the past five-years. To begin with, I would like to thank my parents, Klaus and Carmen. Their unconditional love and support made me the person I am today. My parents have dedicated their entire lives to helping their children achieve their dreams and for that I will forever be grateful. Without them, I would never have played soccer, learnt to play the piano or saxophone, let alone moved across the world to complete three degrees at a Canadian university. I am also grateful to have the support of a wonderful sister, Eva, who, despite being five-years younger, already has more publications to her name than I. Applying to Graduate School at McMaster University turned out to be the best decision I have made in my life for both professional and personal reasons. During my M.A. year, I met my best friend and life partner, Brittany, who has since foolishly agreed to marry me. As a fellow European historian, her academic expertise and emotional support through the many ups and downs of a Ph.D. program were vital to the success of this project. I could not have completed Graduate Studies at McMaster University without the support of my M.A. and Ph.D. supervisor Dr. Pamela Swett, who always went above and beyond the call of duty to help me succeed. Dr. Swett believed in me and this project from Day 1, but was also not afraid to let me make my own mistakes along the way. Five years later, I can confidently say that her professionalism and patience have made me a better historian. I am also grateful for the mentorship of my committee members Dr. Martin Horn and Dr. Tracy McDonald. Their extensive feedback on chapter drafts made vi me a better writer and researcher. Moreover, their help with administrative matters (eg. scholarships, professionalization opportunities, research ethics applications) was indispensable. Lastly, I would like to thank Wendy Benedetti and Debbie Lobban for their friendship and support throughout my undergraduate and graduate degrees at McMaster University. I could not have completed my research in Germany without the assistance of my local contacts in Weierhof and Neubeuern, Reinhard Käsinger and Steffen Wagner. Without their help, I could not have recruited interview participants, accessed original source materials, or personally toured former Napola sites. I owe a special thanks to Dr. Laurence Mussio, whose friendship and mentorship over the past four years have shown me the utility of a history degree beyond the realm of academia. vii Table of Contents Lay Abstract…………………………………………………………...…....iii Abstract………………………………………………………….…………..iv Acknowledgements………………………………………………..………..vi List of Tables……………………………………………………...…..…….ix List of Abbreviations…………………………………………………...…....x Declaration of Academic Achievement……………………..………….…xiii Introduction………………………………………………..…………………1 Chapter 1: Visions for the Napolas………………………………..………..28 Chapter 2: The Napolas and Denazification……………………….……….65 Chapter 3: The Napolas and the SS………………………………….……123 Chapter 4: The Napola am Donnersberg………………………….………183 Conclusion………………………………………………………...………247 Bibliography………………………………………………………………253 viii List of Tables Napola Teachers’ SS Ranks after 1936……………………………………86 Postwar Careers of 29 former Napola am Donnersberg Pupils……...237-238 Napola am Donnersberg Enrolment 1941/1942…………………..………239 ix List of Abbreviations AHS Adolf Hitler Schulen (Adolf Hitler Schools) BDM Bund Deutscher Mädel (League for German Girls) BEA Bundeserziehungsanstalten (Austrian Federal Boarding Schools) CDU Christlich Demokratische Union (Christian Democratic Union) ETOUSA European Theater of Operations, United States Army FRG Federal Republic of Germany GDR German Democratic Republic GESTAPO Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret State Police) HJ Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) JCS Joint Chiefs of Staff KLV Kinderlandverschickung (Evacuation of Children to the Countryside) KPD Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (German Communist Party) MCC Mennonite Central Committee x NPEA Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalten (National Political Education Institutes) NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NSDAP Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers’ Party) NSDStB Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund (National Socialist German Students’ League) NSLB Nationalsozialistischer Lehrerbund (National Socialist Teachers’ League) OKW Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Supreme Command of the Armed Forces) OMGUS Office of Military Government, United States REM Reichserziehungsministerium (Reich Ministry of Education) RM Reichsmark (German Currency) RuSHA SS-Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt (SS Race and Settlement Office) SA Sturmabteilung (Storm Troopers) SED Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) SHAEF Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force SOPADE German Social Democratic Party in Exile xi SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Social Democratic Party of Germany) SS Schutzstaffel (Protection Squadron) Stabilas Staatliche Bildungsanstalten (State Boarding Schools during the Weimar Republic) UN United Nations UNRRA United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency USAREUR United States Army Europe VVN Vereinigung der Verfolgten des Naziregimes (Association of Victims of the Nazi Regime) xii Declaration of Academic Achievement Tim Mueller is the sole author of this dissertation. xiii Ph.D. Thesis – T. Mueller; McMaster University - History Introduction On the morning of September 14, 1935, Adolf Hitler spoke before 54 000 Hitler Youth members on the Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg.
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