A conference of the Ministers of Education of the various states of West Germany has decided that no reform of the curriculum in the teaching of contemporary German history is necessary to ensure that German youth is made aware of the crimes of the Nazi regime, it was disclosed today.
A spokesman for the conferees said they had agreed that “the problem is not so much to change regulations but to ensure that existing educational requirements are put into practice. ” He pointed out that teachers in all West German states had been instructed to teach the school children about the danger of dictatorships and the crimes of the Nazi regime.
Some teachers, he conceded, had glorified the “social achievements” of the Nazi regime while neglecting to inform their pupils of the persecution and extermination of the Jews. The number of these teachers, he asserted, was so small that they constituted little danger. He promised, however, that “in extreme cases, we will act swiftly and strongly. “
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