Schools in Linz during the NS-Regime

Oskar Dohle

The National Socialists recognised early on the importance of schools in securing their regime. They therefore assumed control of both the teaching body (through the League of National Socialist Teachers) as well as the pupils (through the Hitler Youth). Other organisations were gradually marginalised or banned. Teachers and pupils who were Jewish or critical of the regime were ruthlessly removed from teaching institutions.

After the „Anschluss“ of 1938 the former Austrian school system was altered to conform to conditions in the „Old Reich“. This probably happened more easily because the „Ständestaat“ (the fascist regime in Austria before 1938) had also tried to transfer its authoritarian structure on to the schools.

After the outbreak of war the school system was included more and more in the war effort, which was demonstrated on the one hand by the employment of schoolchildren during the harvest, and on the other hand the shortage of teachers. The conscription of ever younger pupils for the air defences had a further effect on everyday school life. The beginning of the air raids in the summer of 1944 began a process which ended a few months later with the cessation of lessons. Schools simply ceased to exist until 1945/46 – those buildings which were still intact were used for other purposes.