Dr. I.L. Kandel’S Article Entitled “Education In Nazi...

Dr. I.L. Kandel’s article entitled â€Å"Education in Nazi Germany† highlights Nazi policy regarding the reeducation of the citizenry with the goal of showing that totalitarian states utilize education as a method of subordinating all individuals comprising the nation. During his analysis, Kandel makes the claim the Nazi Party’s policies regarding education were influenced by the idea of Gleichschaltung – coordination; all policies aimed to construct a uniform citizenry answer to the whim of its single governmental entity. In constructing his argument, Kandel references four major types of educational reform – both informal and formal – that allowed the Nazi Party to consolidate power and gain total control over the beliefs, attitudes, and†¦show more content†¦Doing this satisfied the Nazi goal of creating a Volksgemeinschaft – a racially unified nation whereby the citizens were subject to the will of the state. Regarding the implementation of concentration camps, Kandel writes: â€Å"The first phase of each revolution was marked by terrorism, violence, and murder, with concentration camps or penal colonies for any opposition that might survive or emerge. In a sense, this was a form of education of a negative kind.† Political opponents of the Nazi Party were persecuted and placed in concentration camps as these individuals hindered the ability of the government to create a nation that would follow the Nazi ideology. Goebbels states: â€Å"‘anyone may grumble or criticize the government who is not afraid to go to a concentration camp.’† Concentration camps were used as a form of informal education reconstructing the German citizenry’s beliefs of right action and wrong action; wrong action led to detention within concentration camps. With the help of the Gestapo, the Nazis eliminated tens of thousands of political enemies. Concentration or penal camps allo wed the Nazis to reconstruct the beliefs of the German people to fit the party’s ideals which