Education Programs Against Anti-semitism Reported Rising in Germany

Educational programs on Jews, Israel, anti-Semitism and contemporary German history were increased throughout West Germany during the current year but the teaching methods and many textbooks used are poor, a study published by the Union of German Students Associations disclosed here today.

The comprehensive study, originally prepared last May for the Conference of Educators and Scholars at the Bergneustadt Adult Academy of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, indicated that in the quantitative sense, at least, much had been done in the field of political education and in teaching West German youth and adults about the Nazi period, anti-Semitism, Judaism and the State of Israel.

Among 500 such education programs examined during the 1958-59 school year, it was found that 232 dealt with contemporary history, and 127 with Judaism and Israel. In a total of 53 programs viewed to date for the 1959-60 period, 28 dealt with current history and 11 with Judaism and modern Israel.

The report also indicated there was an extensive effort, “at the administrative level,” by the Conference of Ministries of Culture and by the various state ministries, to intensify political education and teaching about nazism in the schools. However, the report was very critical about the methods of teaching, declaring that such instruction frequently evoked resistance from pupils. The study recommended more teaching on “the positive aspects” of Judaism and Jewish history.

The report charged that textbooks failed to show the basic role of the Jews in pre-Hitler German social, economic and cultural life and that books on religious instruction depicted Judaism largely as an ideology opposed to Christianity.

The study also urged action to remove former Nazi teachers from the schools, arguing that “it is not likely” that such teachers “have undergone basic ideological transformations.”