Exhibition at the Hamburg School Museum: ‘Schools under the Swastika and a new Beginning in 1945’

In the spring of 2006, a permanent exhibition entitled ‘Schools under the swastika and a new beginning in 1945’ opened at the Hamburg School Museum in St Pauli, which is part of the State Institute for Teacher Training and School Development. The exhibition was designed for young people aged 14 and older, and it is divided into two historical periods: National Socialism and the immediate post-war era.

Exhibition
There is a reconstructed historical classroom in one half of the exhibition space, complete with a picture of the ‘Führer’ and wall charts for ‘racial science’. Folders with source texts provide information about various topics. In the other part of the room there are five doors concealing display cases that vividly show how National Socialist ideology and war propaganda penetrated all parts of the school system and the normal school day. The original sources featured here include lists of regulations, reports, letters, exercise books and audio recordings.

Youth resistance
Another part of the exhibition is dedicated to youth resistance in Hamburg, such as the Hamburg branch of the White Rose, the group around Helmuth Hübener, and the Swing Kids. Individual resistance activities, escape attempts and the persecution of Hamburg teachers are also addressed. 79 teachers in Hamburg fell victim to Nazi persecution. Photos, personal accounts and artefacts document the problems encountered when schools reopened after the war in the bombed-out city.