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The Restriction and Removal of Jewish Children and Teachers from Schools in Nazi Germany 

The rise of the Nazi regime in Germany in 1933 marked the beginning of a gradual but  systematic effort to marginalize and then eliminate the Jewish population. One of the key areas where this exclusion manifested was in the education system. The systematic removal of Jews – teachers and students -- from educational institutions was a cornerstone of Nazi antisemitic policies, leading to widespread discrimination, professional disenfranchisement, and the eventual eradication of Jewish presence in German academic and educational spheres.​ 

The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service (April 7, 1933) marked the first major step in restricting Jewish influence within schools. This law mandated the dismissal of non-Aryans from civil service positions, including teachers and school administrators of Jewish teachers and school administrators from public universities and schools. The rationale was to "purify" the education system and remove any so-called “non-Aryan” influence.  This led to the abrupt dismissal of thousands of Jewish educators from their posts. Notably, this purge occurred with minimal resistance from non-Jewish colleagues, many of whom either supported the regime's policies or remained indifferent. For instance, at Berlin University, instructors publicly expressed support for the Nazi regime shortly after Hitler's rise to power, signaling an alignment with the new political order and an acceptance of its exclusionary policies.  ​Prominent academics, such as philosopher Martin Heidegger at the University of Freiburg, endorsed the new regime, further isolating their Jewish counterparts. ​ Exceptions were briefly made for veterans of World War I, and those who had been employed before 1914 (these exceptions were removed by 1935).  Teachers who remained often faced severe harassment from colleagues and students, whom administrators encouraged to report any “non-German” or “anti-Nazi” statements.   Although the law did not immediately expel Jewish students, it laid the groundwork for their future exclusion. 

The Law Against Overcrowding in Schools and Universities, issued on April 25, 1933, dramatically limited the number of Jewish students in public educational institutions. This new law mandated a maximum quota of 1.5 percent for newly admitted "non-Aryan" students and a maximum quota of 5 percent total enrollment for non-Aryan students in any one public school. The law provided exceptions for the children of front-line soldiers from World War I, foreign Jews, and so-called half-Jews and quarter-Jews. Those who remained encountered pervasive antisemitism.​ Nazi propaganda began to permeate the classroom.  Textbooks and curricula, especially in biology and history, were systematically altered to reflect Nazi ideology, presenting Jews as racially inferior and responsible for Germany’s problems.  While Jewish children were not yet officially expelled from public schools, they were subjected to increasing discrimination and hostility.  

One Hamburg woman described her nephew’s tormented reaction to the new conditions in school: 

[He] used to greet us when he came home from school with 'Heil Hitler.” He [declared] he did not want to be a Jew and that he did not believe in being one. He wanted to march with the other boys … and join Hitler Youth …. One day, he came home from school complaining of a having been struck in the head by his chum who [had] called him “dirty Jew!” He had a severe headache, and his father gave him aspirin which did not relieve him.  Trying to help himself to more aspirin, he picked up the veronal bottle by mistake and overdosed himself with the sedative … [He] became delirious.  He kept shouting “Heil Hitler,’ which was the last words we heard him say. (Kaplan 99)

Teachers, indoctrinated with Nazi ideology, often humiliated Jewish students or encouraged their classmates to ostracize them. Some educators assigned them separate seating, while others unjustly lowered their grades. Additionally, Jewish children were progressively excluded from activities such as swimming lessons, school trips, and parties. ​ 

In addition to these measures, Jewish students were systematically excluded from extracurricular activities and public events. Nazi youth organizations such as the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls (BDM) became mandatory for Aryan children, reinforcing a sense of separation and superiority over their Jewish peers. Teachers and leader encouraged them to stage  acts of cruelty toward Jewish students, further contributing to an environment of fear and exclusion 

The enactment of the Nuremberg Laws on September 15, 1935, marked a turning point in the formal segregation of Jews. The Reich Citizenship Law and the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor defined Jewish identity based on ancestry and prohibited Jews from enjoying citizenship rights. Although the laws did not directly address education, they emboldened local authorities and Nazi sympathizers to further isolate Jewish students.  

From 1936 onwards, regulations explicitly targeting Jewish students became more widespread. For example, in November 1936, Field Marshall Hermann issued a directive calling for the exclusion of Jewish children from "Aryan" schools where feasible. Local school boards took advantage of this directive, barring Jewish students or transferring them to segregated Jewish schools. 

Section 2: Eradication of Jewish Educational Rights 
Kristallnacht Pogrom of November 9-10, 1938 marked the complete breakdown of Jewish educational rights. Jewish schools, synagogues, and businesses were vandalized and destroyed, leaving the community in disarray.

At a meeting on the “Jewish Question” convened by Göring, on November 12, Reichsminister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels stated:

I see in this a particularly grave danger. I think it is imperative to give the Jews certain public parks, not the best ones-and tell them: "You may sit on these benches" these benches shall be marked "For Jews only." Besides that they have no business in German parks. Furthermore, Jewish children are still allowed in German schools. That's impossible. It is out of the question that any boy should sit beside a Jewish boy in a German gymnasium and receive lessons in German history. Jews ought to be eliminated completely from German schools; they may take care of their own education in their own communities. (Avalon)

The Reich Ministry of Education issued a decree on November 15, 1938, officially expelling all Jewish children from public schools. From that point onward, Jewish children could only attend separate Jewish schools, labeled as "Jewish houses of learning”, which were underfunded, lacked resources, and were often subjected to constant scrutiny and harassment by the Gestapo.   This ban marked the final step in completely isolating Jewish youth from German society. 

These separate Jewish schools faced severe financial and material constraints. Jewish teachers who had been expelled from public schools staffed them, but resources such as textbooks and supplies were scarce.    These schools essentially had three goals: (1) to provide children with a space in which they would be protected from antisemitic attacks. (2) to cultivate a positive Jewish self-image through intensive study of Jewish history and culture. (3) especially starting in 1938, to be prepared for emigration and a life outside Germany (it meant foreign language instruction): 

Nearly every hand went up.  What amazes me now … is not the fact that apparently as early as the middle of 1934 so many families were planning to leave Germany, but that a whole class of seven-year-olds were aware of the situation, and that our teacher expected us to be aware of it. We all knew what “auswandern” meant, and I cannot help wondering how many children in a class of similar age in an ordinary Germany elementary school would at that time have known the meaning of emigration. (Kaplan 105)

However, thousands of Jewish schoolchildren, together with their parents, did not have the good fortune, the opportunity, or the requisite financial means to leave Germany. Instead, they remained at the mercy of the Nazis. The Jewish schools, too, experienced increasing difficulty in operating after the outbreak of war in 1939. On the one hand, the body of teachers and students fluctuated wildly as a result of emigration, so that it was hard to maintain any semblance of a regular teaching schedule or the financial means to survive.  Despite the dedication of teachers and parents to maintain a semblance of normalcy, the quality of education drastically declined.    The exclusion from education was not only a practical measure but also a symbolic one. By denying Jewish children access to learning, the Nazis sought to dehumanize and delegitimize them from an early age. The impact on Jewish children was profound, fostering a sense of isolation, fear, and helplessness.   

Beginning in 1941, even these segregated Jewish schools were systematically shut down as the Nazis escalated their genocidal policies.  On June 20, 1942, all Jewish schools were officially closed, and instruction of Jewish children was prohibited by any “paid or unpaid” teachers.  As a result, Jewish children were de facto exempted from the duty to attend school.  Children, along with their families, were deported to ghettos and concentration camps where educational efforts became virtually impossible. The intention behind closing these schools was to eliminate any semblance of normal life for Jewish children and hasten their removal from society altogether.    In concentration camps, clandestine efforts to educate children persisted despite the dire circumstances. Survivors have recounted instances where older prisoners would teach basic literacy and numeracy in secret, but these acts of resistance were perilous and infrequent. 

The systematic exclusion of Jewish teachers and students from German educational institutions under the Nazi regime was a deliberate strategy to marginalize and dehumanize the Jewish population. By eradicating Jewish presence from schools and universities, the Nazis aimed to propagate their ideology unchallenged and to sever the transmission of Jewish culture and knowledge. This assault on education not only deprived individuals of their livelihoods and learning opportunities but also sought to erase Jewish intellectual contributions from German society. The resilience of Jewish communities in attempting to provide education amidst such adversity stands as a testament to their enduring commitment to knowledge and cultural preservation, even in the face of systemic persecution. 

Discussion Questions

  1. What were the key provisions of the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service (1933), and how did it specifically target Jewish teachers and school administrators? How did the law affect the professional lives and social standing of Jewish educators in Germany? 

  1. What role did academic institutions and prominent scholars, such as Martin Heidegger, play in endorsing or legitimizing Nazi antisemitic educational policies? How did the attitudes of non-Jewish colleagues toward the dismissal of Jewish educators shape the professional environment in universities and schools? 

  1. How did the Law Against Overcrowding in Schools and Universities (1933) regulate the admission of Jewish students, and what exceptions were made for certain groups? What impact did these quotas have on Jewish families and communities? 

  1. In what ways did Nazi ideology permeate school curricula and teaching methods after the enactment of antisemitic laws? How did the changes in subjects like biology and history contribute to the stigmatization and alienation of Jewish students? 

  1. What were the social and psychological impacts of school-based antisemitism on Jewish children during the early years of Nazi rule? How did peer discrimination and exclusion from extracurricular activities affect their sense of identity and belonging? 

  1. How did the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 indirectly influence the educational exclusion of Jewish students, even though the laws did not directly address schooling? What specific measures were taken after 1935 to intensify the segregation of Jewish children in education? 

  1. What was the significance of the Kristallnacht Pogrom (1938) in the context of Jewish educational rights, and how did the subsequent decree by the Reich Ministry of Education formalize the expulsion of Jewish children from public schools? 

  1. What challenges did Jewish schools face in maintaining educational standards and safety after the official expulsion of Jewish students from public institutions in 1938? How did the scarcity of resources and the threat of Gestapo surveillance impact teaching and learning? 

  1. How did clandestine educational efforts persist within ghettos and concentration camps despite the prohibition of instruction and the imminent danger of discovery? What motivated individuals to continue teaching under such conditions? 

  1. What long-term cultural and intellectual consequences did the systematic removal of Jews from the German education system have on both the Jewish community and German society as a whole? How did the destruction of Jewish intellectual life shape post-war reconstruction and memory? 


 

Sources 

Barkai, Avraham. From Boycott to Annihilation: The Economic Struggle of German Jews, 1933–1943. University Press of New England, 1989. 

Friedländer, Saul. Nazi Germany and the Jews: Volume I: The Years of Persecution, 1933–1939.  New York: HarperCollins, 1997. 

Kaplan, Marion A. Between Dignity and Despair: Jewish Life in Nazi Germany. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. 

Koonz, Claudia. Mothers in the Fatherland: Women, the Family and Nazi Politics. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1987. 

National Holocaust Centre & Museum, United Kingdom.  https://www.holocaust.org.uk/   

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/ 

Facing History and Ourselves. https://www.facinghistory.org/ 

https://memoirs.azrielifoundation.org/exhibits/education-disrupted/expelled-from-school/ 

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/1816-ps.asp