Alternative Education During the Holocaust

Abstract

Throughout WWII, the Nazis attacked Jewish students’ right to education in Germany and all occupied territories. This project focuses on the ways in which Central and Eastern European Jewish communities, primarily in Poland, attempted to circumvent Nazi legislation and continue to educate their children. Using primarily diaries and memoirs from Holocaust-era children, this project analyzes when and how students continued to study despite Nazi oppression. While research has been conducted on underground schools, this thesis discusses individualized alternative education which does not resemble a traditional schooling center. Alternative education began even before schools shut down with community members creating study groups and privately tutoring students. More alternative education appeared in the ghettos than among children in hiding due to the presence of a larger community; although, as conditions worsened, educational responsibility transferred from adult community members to the students themselves. Late in the war, students self-studied without the structure of formal education. There were limited examples of education in the concentration and extermination camps as well. These findings illustrate how the Holocaust should be included in the history of alternative and home education. This project also reveals how ghetto environments could result in unique educational opportunities for students and demonstrates that children were the main agents in their own educational journeys.No embargoAcademic Major: Histor