THE FUNCTION OF SELECTION IN NAZI POLICY TOWARDS UNIVERSITY STUDENTS 1933- 1945 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in partial hlfillment of the requirernents for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in History York University North York, Ontario December 1997 National Library Bibliothèque nationale 1*1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliogaphic Services se~cesbibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Canada Canada Your tlk Votre refénmce Our fi& Notre refdrence The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of ths thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or elecîronic formats. la forme de microfiche/tilm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in ths thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be p~tedor othewise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author' s ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Towards a New Genus of Students: The Function of Selection in Nazi Policy Towards University Students 1933-1945 by Béla Bodo a dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of York University in partial fulfillment of the requirernents for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Permission has been granted to the LIBRARY OF YORK UNlVERSlrY to lend or seIl copies of this dissertation, to the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA to microfilm this dissertation and to lend or sel1 copies of the film. and to UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS to publish an abstract of this dissertation. The author reserves other publication rights, and neither the dissertation nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the authots written permission. Abstract This study analyzes the content of Nazi education policy towards university students in four hitherto neglected areas. It argues that the concept of selection as interpreted by the Nazis played a central roie in Nazi attitude towards students in the Third Reich. The first chapter shows that the Nazi state failed to improve students' living standards through a generous provision of student aid and Nazi interference was lirnited to the introduction of racial and polit ical criteria into the select ion of students for social assistance. The second chapter examines Nazi policy towards foreign students. It argues that the selection of foreign students did not change drarnatically after the Nazi takeover. After 1939, however, racial and political criteria became much more important as the basis for the admission of foreign, especially eastern European, students. The third chapter is concerned with the policy of student health services after 1933. It argues that compulsory medical examinations of students contributed little to the fulfillment of grandiose Nazi plans to create a biologically superior student population. The Mure of medical examinat ions undermined the system of biological selection of students. The lut chapter discusses the policy of racial selection as applied to Jewish and part-Jewish university students in the Third Reich. Finally, the conclusion highlights the paradoxes in Nazi policy towards university students. Acknowledgement 1 am indebted to many individuals for the completion of this dissertation. My thanks are due to the staffs of the Federal Archives Koblenz and Potsdam. Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Sachsisches Hauptstaatsarchiv Dresden, Thüringisches Hauptstaatsarchiv Weimar, S taatsarchiv Würzburg, the Institut fir Zeitgeschic hte in Munich, university archives of Munich, Erlangen. Dresden, Cologne, Berlin, Jena and the staffs of York University's interlibrary loan services. 1 am especiaiiy indebted to Dr. Ulrich Becker of the Institut fiir Hochschulkunde in Würzburg who sacrificed tirne and gave excellent advice. Furthermore, 1 would Like to thank the members of the student fraternity Alemannia Makaria, who made me feel at home in their fraternity house during my three- weeks stay in Würzburg. Also, 1 would W<e to acknowledge the fmancial support ihat 1 received from the German Academic Exchange Service. 1 owe special thanks to Professor Michael H. Kater, who supervised my work. for his close reading of the individual chapters and the final drafi and for valuable advice. 1 would iike to extend my gratitude to the other members of the cornmittee such as Professor Irrngard Steuiisch and Professor Wiiiiam D. Irvine. Finally, my gratitude goes to my late uncle, Joseph Bodo. my personal friends Szilard Borbély, Luigi D' Alonzo. Stephen Giles, Ernii Jacob, Sem Kennedy, Birgit Rohde and Bethany Waker, who encouraged me during this enterprise. Table of Contents AB STRACT ................................................................................................. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................. TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................... ABB REVIATIONS ........................................................................................ CHAPTER ONE: Nazification of Student Aid ................................................. CHAPTER TWO: Nazi Policy towards Foreign Students ................................. CHAPTER THREE: Student Health Services ................................................... CHAPTER FOUR: Nazi Policy towards non-'Aryan' students .......................... CONCLUS ION ............................................................................................... SOURCES ....................................................................................................... Abbreviations AA AuswZrtiges Arnt (Foreign Office) AAD Akademischer Austauschdienst (Academic Exchange Service) BDM Bund Deutscher Madel (League of German Girls) DAAD Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange Service) DAASt Deu tsche Akademische Auslandsstel.ie (German Academic Foreign Office) DAF Deutsche Arbeitsfront (German Labor Front) DSt Deutsche Studentenschafi (German Student Federation) DStW Deutsches Studentenwerk (Gerrnan Student-Aid Foundation) HJ Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) Napolas Nationalpolitische Eniehungsanstalten (National Political Training Institutes) NSDAP Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers' Party) NSDStB Nationalsoziaiistischer Deutscher Studentenbund (National Socidist Student Federat ion) OKW Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Army High Comand) PrEM Preussisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Kunst und Volksbildung (Prussian Ministry of Education) REM Reichserziehunpsministerium (Reich Education Ministry) RKFDV Reichskornmissariat fur die Festigung des Deutschen Voiksturns (Reich Office for the Consolidation of Gerrnan Nationhood) RMdI Reichsministerium des Innern (Reich Ministry of the Interior) RSF Reichsstudentenfuhrung (Reich Student Leadership) RSHA Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Central Security Office) RStW Reichsstudentenwerk (Reich Student Services) SA Sturmabteiiungen (Stormtroopers) SD Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service of the SS) SS Schutzstaffel (Eiïte Guard) VDH Verband der Deutschen Hochschulen (Association of German Institutions of Higher Learning) vii Introduction Although scholarly research into the history of the professions in Germany began in earnest only in the 1970s' today historians and the reading public in general can draw upon a considerable body of sophisticated Literature on the political bekavior of various social and professional groups in Nazi Germany. There are a iiumber of excellent books on the responsibility of big business for Hitler's ascension to power and for the crimes of the regime.' Historians have also paid considerable attention to the role of civil servants. They argue that the readiness of civil servants to accept orders fiorn Hitler was vital for the latter's takeover and long-term exercise of power.' The evolution of the rnilitary establishment in the Weimar Republic and the Thkd Reich has found its historians as well. ' For an excellent survey of the relevant literature see Eberhard Kolb, The Weimar Republic, London, 1988, pp. 190- 194. Major works include: Henry A. Turner, German Bie Business and the Rise of Hitler, New York, 1985; George W. F. Hallgarten and Joachim Ratkau, Deutsche Industrie und Politik, Reinbek, 198 1 ; Harald James, The Great Slump: Politics and Economics 1924- 1936, Oxford, 1986; David Abraham, The Colla~seof the Weimar Prepublic: Political Economy and Crisis, New York, 1986; Hans Mommsen et al., Industrielles System und politische Entwicklung in der Weimarer Republik, Düsseldorf, 1974; Udo Wengst, "Grossindustrie und Machtergreifung," Politische Studien 34 (1983), pp. 37-47; Peter Hayes, Industry and Ideolony: IG Farben in the Nazi Era, New York, 1987; Gerhard Th. Mollin, Montankonzerne und Drittes Reich: Der Gegensatz zwischen Monopolindustrie und Befehlswirtschaft in der deutschen Rüstung und Expansion 1936- 1944, Gottingen, 1988; Gustav-Hermann Seebold, Stahlkonzern im Dritten Reich: Der Bochurner Verein 1927-1945, Wuppertal, 198 1 ; John R. Gillingharn, Industry and Politics in the Third Reich: Ruhr