National Socialist policy and everyday school life in Budapest
How Young People Were Ideologically Indoctrinated by National Socialism in the Years 1940–1944 at the Schools and Educational Institutions of the Volksbund der Deutschen in Ungarn
The “Wiener Volksgruppenabkommen” (Vienna Ethnic Group Agreement) of 26 August 1940, enabled the unhindered spread of National Socialism in Hungary and meant that the German “Volksgruppe” (ethnic group) in Hungary, which had now been brought into line with Germany’s politics, was able to open its own schools and educational institutions. These were intended to shape the ideology of young people in accordance with the National Socialist “Third Reich”. The following article provides an insight into everyday school life in Budapest between 1940 and 1944.
The “Volksgruppenabkommen” and its consequences
In September 1940, “the first ethnic German
Gymnasium
Gymnasium
Gymnasium is a term in various European languages for a secondary school that prepares students for higher education at a university. It is comparable to the US English term preparatory high school or the British term grammar school.
in what was then ”1, the
Jakob-Bleyer-Gymnasium
Jakob-Bleyer-Gymnasium
The Gymnasium, that is grammar school, was named after Jakob Bleyer (1894–1933), on whom the “German movement” in Trianon Hungary was based and who is said to have led the Germans in Hungary to an “awakening”.
,2 was opened in .3 Its first and only principal,
Johann Weidlein (1905–1994)
Johann Weidlein (1905–1994)
Johann Weidlein, “Volkstumsforscher” (folklore researcher) and historian. Characteristic of his later works in the FRG are an apologetic view of history and the relativization of the “Volksbund” period with the emphasis on the “victim role” of the Germans in Hungary vis-à-vis Magyar “racial nationalism”.
, described this as a “turning point, both in the history of the Hungarian-German school system and in the history of the German people in Hungary”.4
The opening of the Jakob-Bleyer-Gymnasium was made possible by the “Wiener Volksgruppenabkommen” (Vienna Ethnic Group Agreement)5 between the “Third Reich” and Hungary. Signed on August 26, 1940, this agreement not only enabled the Germans in Hungary to fully commit to National Socialism and its ideological principles, but also gave them political and ideological access to the “German” youth,6 which they had long been awaiting. The Volksbund der Deutschen in Ungarn (People’s Association of Germans in Hungary), or “VDU”, which had been founded in autumn 1938 as a result of the First Vienna Award and was now the only officially recognized representative body
of the German “Volksgruppe”, gradually developed into an
“Volksgruppenorganisation" (ethnic group organization) based on the Reich model.7 From 1940 onwards, the “Volksgruppenführung” (ethnic group leadership) under Franz Anton Basch (1901–1946) Franz Anton Basch (1901–1946) Franz Anton Basch (1901–1946) was a National Socialist politician of Banat origin who was active in Hungary and, among other positions, was head of the “Volksbund der Deutschen in Ungarn“ (“People’s Association of Germans in Hungary“) from 1938 on. In 1940, Adolf Hitler appointed Basch “Volksgruppenführer” of the Germans in Hungary. Towards the end of the Second World War, Basch fled to the German Reich, but was extradited back to Hungary after the war and executed there in 1946. endeavored to “catch up” on everything that the Magyarization efforts
Two essential measures were taken, which would now finally allow Hungary’s “German” youth to be addressed collectively, brought together, and integrated into the work of the “German movement”: the first was the creation of a German-language education system from kindergarten to secondary school and second was the establishment of a German youth organization.11 While the former was tackled immediately after the “Volksgruppenabkommen”, the official founding of the Deutsche Jugend (German Youth) Deutsche Jugend (German Youth) The “Deutsche Jugend” (German Youth), or “DJ”, was the youth organization of the Germans in Hungary. The “Hitler Jugend” (Hitler Youth), or “HJ”, served as a model for the organization, which was approved in the spring of 1941. , or “DJ”, only took place on June 29, 1941 at the National Youth Day (Landesjugendtag) in.
Kingdom of Hungary
hun. Magyar Királyság, deu. Königreich Ungarn
The Kingdom of Hungary was re-established in 1920, shortly after the disintegration of Austria-Hungary in the context of the lost First World War and following two short-lived successor states, the First Hungarian Republic in 1918 and a communist soviet republic in its wake. Since the victorious Entente powers rejected the reinstatement of a Habsburg monarch, Miklós Horthy (1868–1957) was appointed by parliament as provisional regent. He permanently prevented the return of a Habsburg royal head of state, and at the end of 1921, parliament deposed the Habsburgs as the Hungarian royal house without defining a successor, leaving the throne vacant until the end of the kingdom.
The conservative-nationalist and strongly anti-communist style of leadership of Horthy and his prime ministers, as well as the hope of restoring the Greater Hungary Empire, which had been divided into several states by the Trianon treaties after the First World War, brought Hungary close to the fascist regimes in Germany and Italy. This hope was partially realized in connection with the Munich Agreement and the subsequent dismemberment of Czechoslovakia. Hungary occupied southern areas of Slovakia and Transcarpathia, which had a majority Hungarian population, as a result of the First Vienna Award, which was contrary to international law. In return for support for Hungary's territorial claims, the Kingdom of Hungary accepted its own racial laws, which were modeled on those of the German Reich. A significant portion of Hungary's Jewish population was deported to concentration and extermination camps.
After the start of the Second World War, the Kingdom of Hungary did not allow the Germans to attack Poland from its territory, but even allowed members of the Polish population to enter the country. In 1941, however, it joined the German invasion of Yugoslavia. Even before the Kingdom entered the Second World War, Hungary continued to benefit from its proximity to the Axis Powers, for example in the annexation of Romanian territories. Between 1920 and 1941, the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary almost doubled in size, from 92,833 km² to 17,149 km², and its population almost tripled, from 7.98 million to 14.67 million.
In 1941, the Kingdom initially joined the German war against the Soviet Union. The German Reich reacted to the appointment of a moderate government and plans to withdraw from the war by occupying Hungary. On October 16, 1944, Horthy and his government were replaced by a pro-German government led by Ferenc Szálasi (1897-1946). However, the High National Council of the interim government set up on December 21, 1944 in Debrecen, with Béla Miklós (1890-1948) at the head, prevailed as early as March 1945 with the support of the Soviet Union and was able to take power. On February 2, 1945, the Kingdom of Hungary was replaced by the Second Hungarian Republic. The territories of Czechoslovakia and Romania that had been incorporated during the period of the kingdom were occupied by or with the help of the Soviet Union in 1944 and formally separated from Hungary in May 1945.
Budapest
Budapest (population 2023: 1,686,222) is the capital and largest city in Hungary. It is located in the center of the country, on the Danube. Budapest was formed from the merger of the cities of Buda on the left bank and Pest on the right bank of the Danube. Pest was already the capital of Hungary from the beginning of the 11th century and from the 13th century often alternated in this function with Buda. When the both cities were merged as Pest-Buda during the revolution in Hungary in 1848, they already formed a single entity. After the restoration of the monarchy (from 1526 as part of the Habsburg Monarchy), however, this merger was abolished in 1849 and re-established 1873. In this context the Hungarians replaced the Germans as the majority in the city. After the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918, Budapest remained the capital of a now independent Hungary. After Hungary's entry into the Second World War on the side of the German Reich in 1941, most of the city's Jews were ghettoized in 1944 and later deported to concentration camps or murdered. The 1956 popular uprising against Soviet tutelage in Hungary began in Budapest. In connection with the uprising and its suppression, the capital lost around 70,000 people. Today, Budapest is not only the country's largest economic and cultural center, but also one of the most important in East Central Europe.
The opening of the Jakob-Bleyer-Gymnasium was made possible by the “Wiener Volksgruppenabkommen” (Vienna Ethnic Group Agreement)5 between the “Third Reich” and Hungary. Signed on August 26, 1940, this agreement not only enabled the Germans in Hungary to fully commit to National Socialism and its ideological principles, but also gave them political and ideological access to the “German” youth,6 which they had long been awaiting. The Volksbund der Deutschen in Ungarn (People’s Association of Germans in Hungary), or “VDU”, which had been founded in autumn 1938 as a result of the First Vienna Award and was now the only officially recognized representative body
of the German “Volksgruppe”, gradually developed into an
“Volksgruppenorganisation" (ethnic group organization) based on the Reich model.7 From 1940 onwards, the “Volksgruppenführung” (ethnic group leadership) under Franz Anton Basch (1901–1946) Franz Anton Basch (1901–1946) Franz Anton Basch (1901–1946) was a National Socialist politician of Banat origin who was active in Hungary and, among other positions, was head of the “Volksbund der Deutschen in Ungarn“ (“People’s Association of Germans in Hungary“) from 1938 on. In 1940, Adolf Hitler appointed Basch “Volksgruppenführer” of the Germans in Hungary. Towards the end of the Second World War, Basch fled to the German Reich, but was extradited back to Hungary after the war and executed there in 1946. endeavored to “catch up” on everything that the Magyarization efforts
Magyarization
As the nationalities were held responsible for the disintegration of the historic Kingdom of Hungary after the Treaty of Trianon, Hungarian nationality policy aimed to assimilate the minorities living in the country. This took place in a variety of ways and concerned in particular the use of the mother tongue and access to education in the mother tongue. Furthermore, the Magyarization of “German” names was a necessary prerequisite for social and professional advancement.
of the Hungarian government had previously made impossible in the area of youth work: In order to prevent the young people from becoming involved in the
Ungarländisch-Deutscher Volksbildungsverein
Ungarländisch-Deutscher Volksbildungsverein
The “Ungarländisch-Deutscher Volksbildungsverein” (UDV) (literally: “Hungarian-German People’s Education Association”) was established as early as 1923, but was not formally founded and officially recognized until 1924. Its main objectives were to promote culture and language among Germans in Hungary, with the UDV being heavily engaged in the field of German education. Jakob Bleyer was the founder, managing director and central figure until 1933, while the first chairman was the publicist Gusztáv Gratz (1875–1946). The UDV’s informal voice was the “Sonntagsblatt. Wochenzeitung für das deutsche Volk in Ungarn” (from 1935: “Neues Sonntagsblatt”), which was also founded by Bleyer in 1921. After Bleyer’s death, the debate over the direction of the UDV intensified, including the question of whether it should play a stronger political representative role and take on a more nationalist orientation. These conflicts led to the founding of the “Volksbund der Deutschen in Ungarn” (“People’s Association of Germans in Hungary”) by Franz Anton Basch in 1938. The UDV, in turn, was dissolved in 1940.
(Hungarian-German People’s Education Association), or “UDV”, which had been founded in 1923 by Jakob Bleyer, the Hungarian government set the minimum age for joining the organization at 24;8 furthermore, student fraternities, such as Suevia, founded in 1923, were only allowed to recruit university students.9 Trianon Hungary's school and youth policy, which was rooted in the country's policy of ethnic homogenization, was also held responsible for the decline in the number of Germans in Hungary and the lack of an educated ruling class.10Two essential measures were taken, which would now finally allow Hungary’s “German” youth to be addressed collectively, brought together, and integrated into the work of the “German movement”: the first was the creation of a German-language education system from kindergarten to secondary school and second was the establishment of a German youth organization.11 While the former was tackled immediately after the “Volksgruppenabkommen”, the official founding of the Deutsche Jugend (German Youth) Deutsche Jugend (German Youth) The “Deutsche Jugend” (German Youth), or “DJ”, was the youth organization of the Germans in Hungary. The “Hitler Jugend” (Hitler Youth), or “HJ”, served as a model for the organization, which was approved in the spring of 1941. , or “DJ”, only took place on June 29, 1941 at the National Youth Day (Landesjugendtag) in
Mágocs
hrv. Magoč, deu. Magotsch
Mágocs (population 2023: 2,122) is a small town in the Hungarian county of Baranya in the south of the country. In the ethnically mixed village, 8% of the population is German and 6% Roma (2021).
All children of members of the Volksgruppe should have the opportunity to receive an education at ethnic German schools under the same conditions that apply to Hungarian schools, namely at secondary, intermediate and elementary school as well as at technical schools.12
“Volksgruppenpolitik” (ethnic group policy) based on the “Third Reich”
Although a complete Nazification of the German "Volksgruppe" in Hungary could not be achieved in the period from 1940 to 1944, a radicalization and gradual appropriation of the National Socialist model could nevertheless be observed. The idea of race and the concept of the German “Voksgemeinschaft” (national community) became increasingly widespread in Hungary, especially towards the end of 1940.13 This was particularly characteristic of the youth leadership, which was much more National Socialist and “loyal to the Führer” than the actual VDU leadership.14 This can be attributed to the fact that “Volksgruppenführer” (ethnic group leader) Basch saw the nation’s youth as its “most holy” treasure and assigned them a special task.15 For, as Weidlein put it, young people who were brought up “in the spirit of their ancestors, i.e. with unconditional loyalty to their homeland and their ancestral folklore” should in future “work for their own people”.16 Thus, from 1940 onwards, the longed-for cadre formation within the “German movement” was strongly influenced by National Socialist ideals.17
National Socialist indoctrination in the National Socialist educational institutions
As Zsolt Vitári summarizes, “National Socialist indoctrination was implemented most intensively and effectively in the so-called National Socialist educational homes.”18 For the VDU schools, including the Jakob-Bleyer-Gymnasium, the Hungarian state curriculum, which was intended to ensure the patriotic education of “German” youth for the Hungarian government, was binding. What was not possible in terms of the curriculum was made up for in
National Socialist educational institutions
National Socialist educational institutions
National Socialist Educational Homes (NS-Erziehungsheime) and National Socialist Educational Establishments (NS-Erziehungsanstalten), summarised under the general term National Socialist educational institutions (NS-Erziehungsstätten), were the Hungarian equivalents of the Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalten (National-political Educational Establishment), or “Napola”, and the Adolf Hitler Schools in the German Reich. Similar to their role models, they were elite institutions and primarily promoted the education of an educated leadership class within the “ethnic group”.
;19 they supplemented the work done by schools and provided “valuable educational work of their own”.20 This required close cooperation between the DJ, the VDU schools and the National Socialist educational institutions.21 While the “scientific and intellectual education” took place in the schools, the National Socialist Educational Homes (“NS-Erziehungsheime”) and National Socialist Educational Establishments (“NS-Erziehungsanstalten”) were responsible for “physical training and team education”, as well as “moral education of character and ideological training”.22 The difference between the latter two was that the National Socialist Educational Establishments were intended to train the actual “next generation of leaders”23 and therefore had higher admission requirements24: Here, you had to be “racially valuable” to gain admission.25
As boarding schools, the National Socialist educational institutions were not affiliated to the respective schools, but operated as independent facilities.26 There were close links between the schools, the National Socialist educational institutions and, after its official foundation in 1941, the DJ, whose aim was the National Socialist education of young people.27 In Budapest there was a National Socialist Educational Establishment for the “elitest of the elite”28, a National Socialist Educational Home for boys and a National Socialist Educational Home for girls. A large proportion of their pupils attended the Jakob-Bleyer-Gymnasium or other VDU schools in the capital. Girls were only admitted to the Gymnasium as private pupils.29 Only the children of VDU members were allowed to attend VDU schools; all pupils also had to belong to the DJ, which was regarded as the “guarantor of National Socialist youth education”30 and was responsible for “the ethnic, ideological and physical training of young people”.31 In particular, the “duty to German blood heritage”32 was one of the main virtues for the DJ. An appeal by the “Volksgruppenführer” to the “German” youth mandated that: “anyone of German blood and ethnic German sentiments must immediately rush to the flags of the DJ.”33
As boarding schools, the National Socialist educational institutions were not affiliated to the respective schools, but operated as independent facilities.26 There were close links between the schools, the National Socialist educational institutions and, after its official foundation in 1941, the DJ, whose aim was the National Socialist education of young people.27 In Budapest there was a National Socialist Educational Establishment for the “elitest of the elite”28, a National Socialist Educational Home for boys and a National Socialist Educational Home for girls. A large proportion of their pupils attended the Jakob-Bleyer-Gymnasium or other VDU schools in the capital. Girls were only admitted to the Gymnasium as private pupils.29 Only the children of VDU members were allowed to attend VDU schools; all pupils also had to belong to the DJ, which was regarded as the “guarantor of National Socialist youth education”30 and was responsible for “the ethnic, ideological and physical training of young people”.31 In particular, the “duty to German blood heritage”32 was one of the main virtues for the DJ. An appeal by the “Volksgruppenführer” to the “German” youth mandated that: “anyone of German blood and ethnic German sentiments must immediately rush to the flags of the DJ.”33
The purpose of the National Socialist educational institutions is to align boys with the National Socialist cause and provide them with a thorough National Socialist education in addition to their education at school.34
Cooperation between the VDU schools and the National Socialist educational institutions
The close cooperation between the VDU schools and the National Socialist educational institutions is shown by the fact that the entrance examinations for the former were carried out in cooperation with the latter.35 The directors of the National Socialist educational institutions also ensured that their “charges” made good progress at school, otherwise they would have been excluded not only from the respective educational institution, but also from all others of its kind.36 In addition to active DJ membership, admission to the schools and National Socialist educational institutions also required a letter of recommendation from the responsible VDU regional leader and proof of ancestry back to the grandparents.37 In order to “acquire an outwardly soldierly attitude”,38 extensive drills were carried out in the National Socialist educational institutions. A particular focus was placed on pre-military training and the shaping of boys in particular.
“Lined up in the celebration hall on the occasion of the Führer’s birthday celebration.” Two uniformed boys “stand guard in front of the Siegrune” and the bust of Adolf Hitler, surrounded by swastika flags (see also note 63).
“The young comrades of the Jakob Bleyer Gymnasium in Budapest and the pupils of the National Socialist Stefan Ludwig Roth Educational Establishment in Sächsisch-Regen greet the leading men of our movement.”
The National Youth Day in Mágocs in 1941
The National Youth Day in Mágocs on June 29, 1941, which was also the official founding celebration of the DJ, shows that young people were increasingly being educated in the National Socialist spirit.39 It is said that 12,000-15,000 young people took part in the National Youth Day, including pupils from Jakob-Bleyer-Gymnasium. Combined with a midsummer celebration, this rally was also held under National Socialist auspices.40 A VDU propaganda pamphlet about the founding festival of the DJ stated that: “[The youth] proved on June 29, 1941 in Mágocs that they are able and willing to take up the march to fight for a united National Socialist ethnic group.”41 The VDU leadership was heavily criticized by the Hungarian government for its openly National Socialist propaganda at the National Youth Day.42
Difficulties in everyday school life as a result of the unresolved school issue
A high proportion of the pupils at the Jakob-Bleyer-Gymnasium had significant gaps in their education, which made lessons difficult. The reason was that many of the children, especially those from the outlying areas of Budapest, had rarely received schooling in their native language and therefore did not have the necessary knowledge of German.43 There were also claims that their intellectual development often did not correspond to the expected level of a grammar school pupil.44 Lessons were taught in standard German, with the exception of Hungarian language and literature, which were taught in Hungarian.45 Due to deficits in the German-language school system, pupils had linguistic difficulties, often in both languages in the lower classes and in Hungarian in the higher classes.46 In order to reduce dialect differences and solve language problems – most Germans in Hungary spoke a (local) dialect, and hardly any spoke standard German – a so-called “Spielschar”47, or performance troupe, was founded, which rehearsed and performed choruses, scenes and amateur plays.48 This “Spielschar” served to “cultivate the German language and literature”49 and at the same time to “strengthen the awareness of national identity”.50 Here, pupils learned German songs, which reportedly awakened a “genuine joy in German folk songs and German folk music”.51 Music was believed to create the “most direct relationship to the ethnic upliftment of National Socialism",52 which is why great importance was placed on musical education. The aim of the regular performances by the “Spielschar” at VDU celebrations and events in Budapest and the surrounding districts was also to promote the DJ and to encourage networking with the local VDU group.53 The pupils of the National Socialist educational institutions, in turn, usually held propaganda marches featuring drummers and fanfares, during which National Socialist marching songs were sung – also in the capital Budapest.54
The D[eutsche] J[ugend] aims to shape the new German man and the new German woman. It wants the grey mass of all the young people who have stood by us to rise up and become a powerful organization, called and empowered to seek and find forms and paths that will lead to this new German citizen, the National Socialist.55
Networking with the VDU local branches
One characteristic of the DJ was that it attracted rather children from poorer backgrounds to its youth work.56 In order to afford the boarding school costs of the National Socialist educational institutions, poor families could apply57 for a reduction in fees or a student loan from
Deutsche Volkshilfe (DV)
Deutsche Volkshilfe (DV)
Office for Social Affairs of the VDU, which began its activities on January 1, 1942.
. The local branches of the VDU also often paid the tuition fees for children from their area.58 One example is Josef Rothausky (1930–2021) from . He stated that his school education was subsidized by the municipality from 1942,59 but his school and boarding school costs were presumably covered by the local branch of the VDU in Budaörs: He owed this to the close cooperation between the teachers at the schools, the National Socialist educational institutions and the VDU local branches, especially as the teachers were also involved in the work of the latter.60 Franz Riedl (1910–1984) from Budaörs, for example, was not only head of the National Socialist Education Establishment in Budapest, but was also the VDU's local branch leader in Budaörs from 1942.61 Rothausky came to the Jakob-Bleyer-Gymnasium on his explicit recommendation, which was made possible with the funding provided by the VDU local branch, with Riedl as its leader.62
Budaörs
deu. Wudersch
Budaörs (population 2023: 29,398) in the Hungarian county of Pest is located to the west of the capital Budapest. The town has existed since at least the 13th century. Until their expulsion in 1946, the German-speaking population dominated the town; today, only 3% of its inhabitants claim to be of German origin. The original Swabian settlement form has been preserved in the urban structure of Budaörs.
Ideological education at Jakob-Bleyer-Gymnasium
While ideological education was primarily the task of the National Socialist educational institutions, the yearbooks of the Jakob-Bleyer-Gymnasium show that the school was also increasingly coming under National Socialist influence.63 This is because the ideological model was being expressed more and more in the content of lessons (for example, with the introduction of “racial studies” as a school subject) and in the everyday life of young people outside of school (participation in “Führer birthdays”). The yearbook of the second school year shows that the pupils of the Gymnasium celebrated Adolf Hitler's birthday with a trip to the Ofner Bergland as part of a school program.64 The young pupils of the Jakob-Bleyer-Gymnasium were also present at the HJ reception on Kossuth Lajos tér, the symbolic parade ground in front of the Hungarian parliament, on May 7.65 Pupils also attended the VDU's regular rallies and high-ranking visits from the “Reich” as “accessories”.66
The march of the German Youth also echoes in the streets of the capital. It fills German life with new substance and meaning.67
Influence of the war on everyday school life
As the war progressed, pupils became more and more involved in paramilitary activities, and, from the second school year onwards, increasingly took part in extracurricular events of a military nature. On December 14, 1941, they stood guard on Andrássy út, a boulevard in the center of Budapest, at the military parade held to mark the return of the
“Honvéd”
“Honvéd”
Royal Hungarian Army (Magyar Királyi Honvédség, “Honvéd” for short), name of the Hungarian armed forces between 1922 and 1945.
from the Eastern Front.68 On January 8, 1942, they took part in the reception of the German Minister of Foreign Affairs
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Joachim Ribbentrop (1893–1946, since 1925 von Ribbentrop) was a National Socialist politician and, from the mid-1930s, a central member of the National Socialist leadership around Adolf Hitler (1889–1945). With his political and social contacts, Ribbentrop had already provided considerable support for Hitler's seizure of power and rose from being Hitler's foreign policy advisor to the position of a “Reichsminister of Foreign Affairs” (1938) within a few years. As such, Ribbentrop, together with Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, signed the so-called Hitler-Stalin Pact in Moscow on August 23, 1939, whose annexes, among other things, regulated the division of Poland as a follow-up to the invasion of Poland that commenced on September 1, 1939. In 1946, Ribbentrop was tried as one of the major war criminals in the Nuremberg trials and sentenced to death.
.69 The DJ was also actively involved in organizing and participating in the “Führer's birthday celebrations”; in 1943, the VDU organized the “Führer's birthday celebration” in in County. The “Pimpfe” of the National Socialist Educational Establishment in Budapest contributed to the festive program with their fanfare band and choir.70
Consequences of the ongoing war rippled out into everyday school life. Initially, it was the male school teachers who were affected: Due to call-ups for military service and the often prompt return of those previously called up, there was a constant fluctuation in the teaching staff.71 This was initially bridged by changing the curriculum and using substitute teachers.72
The approaching front also brought changes for the pupils at the Gymnasium: the fourth school year ended prematurely on April 1, 1944.73 From spring 1944, forced recruitment into the Waffen-SS74 was carried out in Hungary, which also affected the older pupils at the school; the DJ was gradually regarded as a “human resource” for the Waffen-SS – after all, the boys in its ranks had been educated with the explicit aim of turning them into soldiers. This is also reflected in the fact that the Jahrbuch der deutschen Jugend in Ungarn (Yearbook of the German Youth in Hungary), published every year from 1940, was renamed Jugend und Soldaten (Youth and Soldiers) in 1944.75 The “Volksgruppenführer” Basch began his programmatic foreword to the “German” youth, which was characteristic of all editions of the yearbook, with the following thought: “Today, the majority of our national youth are under arms. Through their courage in battle and willingness to serve as soldiers, they have earned everlasting fame.”76
For those pupils who had already completed the 7th grade and were to be forcibly recruited into the Waffen-SS, the Hungarian Ministry of Education approved a six-week Matura (maturity diploma) course.77 At the end of this course, the pupils received their 8th grade certificate and were admitted to the Matura exam, after which they were conscripted into the Waffen-SS. Thus, the school not only encouraged the forced recruitment of its pupils, but also explicitly supported and enabled it by holding early Matura examinations.
Bánd
deu. Bandau
Bánd (German: Bandau; population 2023: 686) is a village in the Hungarian county of Veszprém in the west of the country. The German minority makes up 27% of the population (2021).
Veszprém
deu. Wesprim, deu. Weißbrünn, slk. Besprim, slk. Vesprím, lat. Vesprimi
Veszprém (population 2023: 56,029) is one of Hungary's oldest cities. It is located in the west part of the country. A fortress from the pre-Hungarian period provided the basis of the city. Veszprém was elevated to the first episcopal seat of Hungary in 1009 (since 1993 archiepiscopal seat). The bishops of Veszprém were responsible for the coronation of Hungarian queens. The city was one of the first university locations in Hungary. On the basis of the grain market, the town developed into an important trading center. In the course of history, Veszprém was destroyed several times in wars, such as by the Ottoman troops in the 16th century or at the end of the Second World War, and by the earthquake of 1810. Thanks to the successful reconstruction of the historical substance in the 1940s and 50s, the city is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Hungary. In 2023, Veszprém shared the title of European Capital of Culture with two other cities.
Consequences of the ongoing war rippled out into everyday school life. Initially, it was the male school teachers who were affected: Due to call-ups for military service and the often prompt return of those previously called up, there was a constant fluctuation in the teaching staff.71 This was initially bridged by changing the curriculum and using substitute teachers.72
The approaching front also brought changes for the pupils at the Gymnasium: the fourth school year ended prematurely on April 1, 1944.73 From spring 1944, forced recruitment into the Waffen-SS74 was carried out in Hungary, which also affected the older pupils at the school; the DJ was gradually regarded as a “human resource” for the Waffen-SS – after all, the boys in its ranks had been educated with the explicit aim of turning them into soldiers. This is also reflected in the fact that the Jahrbuch der deutschen Jugend in Ungarn (Yearbook of the German Youth in Hungary), published every year from 1940, was renamed Jugend und Soldaten (Youth and Soldiers) in 1944.75 The “Volksgruppenführer” Basch began his programmatic foreword to the “German” youth, which was characteristic of all editions of the yearbook, with the following thought: “Today, the majority of our national youth are under arms. Through their courage in battle and willingness to serve as soldiers, they have earned everlasting fame.”76
For those pupils who had already completed the 7th grade and were to be forcibly recruited into the Waffen-SS, the Hungarian Ministry of Education approved a six-week Matura (maturity diploma) course.77 At the end of this course, the pupils received their 8th grade certificate and were admitted to the Matura exam, after which they were conscripted into the Waffen-SS. Thus, the school not only encouraged the forced recruitment of its pupils, but also explicitly supported and enabled it by holding early Matura examinations.
Evacuation and the end of the war
For those pupils who were too young to be drafted into the Waffen-SS, and for female pupils, the ongoing war soon brought everyday school life to an end. In the fall of 1944, attempts were made to resume school operations, but the school building had to be vacated in October: At the end of October, as the front approached, the “Volksgruppenführung” in Hungary ordered the evacuation of the school together with other VDU schools and National Socialist educational institutions to the “Sudetenland” in .78 Lessons were resumed there.79 After another evacuation at the end of February 1945, the pupils saw out the end of the war in what is now Austria and later found a “new home” in the American occupation zone in Germany. Most of the pupils who had been drafted into the Waffen-SS did not live to see the end of the war: most were killed in action outside Budapest in the fall and winter.80
Liberec
deu. Reychinberch, ces. Lychberk, deu. Habersdorf, ces. Liberk, lat. Liber, lat. Libercum, deu. Rychberg, deu. Rychmberg, deu. Reychmberg
Liberec (population 2023: 107,982) is one of the largest cities in the Czech Republic. It is located in the north of the country, near the borders with Poland and Germany. The city center lies in a valley between the Jizera Mountains and the Jeseníky Mountains. The settlement was founded before 1352 by German settlers in an area that was barely populated at the time. During the Hussite Wars (1419-1434), the town was a Hussite stronghold against Catholic Upper Lusatia. liberec was granted city rights in 1577. The city owed its development at the time to the textile production. The textile industry also formed the basis for the industrialization that began in the early 19th century. Due to the influx of workers in the course of industrialization, the proportion of the Czech population in the town grew, although even after the collapse of the Habsburg Empire and the founding of Czechoslovakia in 1918 it barely reached 20% until the end of the Second World War. After the German occupation following the Munich Agreement in 1938, the city was incorporated into the German Reich. In 1945, most of the German population was expelled from the now Czechoslovak town, and people from Central Bohemia and Slovakia settled in its place.
Conclusion
From 1940 onwards, “Germanness” in Hungary was gradually equated with National Socialism and the “Third Reich”.81 However, the gradual spread of National Socialist indoctrination among Germans in Hungary can only partly be attributed to pressure from the “Third Reich”. The VDU's membership was not homogeneous and comprised a broad spectrum of staunch National Socialists and committed followers.82 Although the DJ strove to involve all “German” young people in the National Socialist mission,83 this was not able to be fully achieved in the coming four years, despite efforts to this end in the VDU schools and National Socialist educational institutions: Due to time constraints and the lack of (human) resources, it was simply not possible to send all “German” children to a VDU school facility and educate them in line with the ideological guidelines. Nevertheless, the National Socialist educational institutions did achieve success in becoming strongholds of National Socialist training, cadre formation and mobilization. Together with the VDU schools in Hungary, they shaped the ideological and political attitudes of their pupils in close symbiosis with National Socialist ideology.84 As National Socialist ideology had a much greater influence on everyday school life in Budapest than in the other VDU schools in the country,85 the pupils at Jakob-Bleyer-Gymnasium received a more intensified ideological education.
Info section
Authors
Footnotes
1.
2.
On Bleyer and his assessment today, see: Pál Pritz/Réka Marchut, Kisebbségpolitikák – nemzetközi erőtérben. Bleyer Jakab/Jakob Bleyer példáján [Minority policies – in the international field of gravity. Using the example of Bleyer Jakab/Jakob Bleyer], in: Regio 25/1 (2017), 5–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.17355/rkkpt.v25i1.149.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Zsolt Vitári, A jövő magyarországi német elitje? Nemzetiszocialista nevelőotthonok Magyarországon [The future elite of the Germans in Hungary? National Socialist educational homes in Hungary], in: Péter Virányi (ed.), Fordulat a háborúban (1942–1943). Frontok, sorsok, áldozatok [A turning point in the war (1942–1943). Fronts, fates, victims]. Budapest 2024, 137–155, here 137.
7.
8.
9.
On the student fraternities in Hungary in the interwar period, see: László Orosz, Sváb egyetemisták hallgatói mozgalma az I. világháború után [The student movement of Swabian students after the First World War], in: Gábor Ujvári (ed.), Trianon és a magyar felsőoktatás. 4. kötet [Trianon and the Hungarian higher education system. Vol. 4]. Budapest 2021, 297–314.
10.
11.
Minority schools existed de jure in Hungary from 1923, but de facto they were placed at the service of state assimilation policy; only a few members of the German minority in Hungary received instruction in their mother tongue. See also: Péter Ferenc Somlai, A Gömbös-féle kisebbségi iskolareform végrehajtása a főváros környéki német településeken [Implementation of the Gömbös minority school reform in the German settlements around the capital], in: Levéltári Szemle [Archival Review] 4 (2012), 27–38.
12.
13.
14.
15.
“Volksgruppenführer” Dr. Franz Basch on the occasion of the first conference of ethnic German educators on 25 August 1941 in Budapest. Quoted from: Landesschulamt des VDU (ed.), Volksdeutsche Schulerziehung in Ungarn. Aus der Arbeit des volksdeutschen Schulwesens und der Deutschen Erzieherschaft des Volksbundes der Deutschen in Ungarn. Compiled by Josef Senz. Újvidék/Neusatz 1943, 5.
16.
17.
18.
Translation by the author, Viktória Muka, and the translator of the article, William Connor. Zsolt Vitári, A jövő magyarországi német elitje? Nemzetiszocialista nevelőothonok Magyarországon [The future elite of the Germans in Hungary? National Socialist educational homes in Hungary], in Péter Virányi (ed.), Fordulat a háborúban (1942–1943). Frontok, sorsok, áldozatok [A turning point in the War (1942–1943). Fronts, Fates, Victims], Budapest 2024, 137–155, here 137.
19.
On the National Socialist educational homes in Hungary, see Zsolt Vitári, A jövő magyarországi német elitje? Nemzetiszocialista nevelőotthonok Magyarországon [The future elite of the Germans in Hungary? National Socialist educational homes in Hungary], in: Péter Virányi (ed.), Fordulat a háborúban (1942–1943). Frontok, sorsok, áldozatok [Turning Point in the War (1942–1943). Fronts, Fates, Victims]. Budapest 2024, 137–155; Wigant Weltzer, Wege, Irrwege, Heimwege. Schulen, Erziehungsheime und Erziehungsanstalten des Volksbundes der Deutschen in Ungarn, 1940–1944. Rothenburg ob der Tauber 2005. On the National Socialist educational institutions in the Batschka see: Caroline Mezger, Forging Germans. Youth, nation, and the National Socialist mobilization of ethnic Germans in Yugoslavia, 1918–1944. Oxford 2020. On the Volksbund's school system see: Josef [Volkmar] Senz, Volksdeutsche Schulerziehung in Ungarn. Aus der Arbeit des volksdeutschen Schulwesens und der deutschen Erzieherschaft des Volksbundes der Deutschen in Ungarn. Újvidék/Neusatz [1943]. On the main features of National Socialist educational policy and the Napolas, see: Wolfgang Keim, Erziehung unter der Nazi-Diktatur. Darmstadt 2011; Dirk Gelhaus/Jörn-Peter Hülter, Die Ausleseschulen als Grundpfeiler des NS-Regimes. Würzburg 2003.
20.
21.
Zsolt Vitári, A jövő magyarországi német elitje? Nemzetiszocialista nevelőotthonok Magyarországon [The future elite of the Germans in Hungary? National Socialist educational homes in Hungary], in: Péter Virányi (ed.), Fordulat a háborúban (1942–1943). Frontok, sorsok, áldozatok [A Turning point in the War (1942–1943). Fronts, fates, victims]. Budapest 2024, 137–155, here 138.
23.
26.
27.
Vitári emphasizes that the comprehensive National Socialist education of the youth could not be carried out due to the events of the war and that the DJ was rather a platform “to experience one's own Germanness”. Zsolt Vitári, Volksbund és Német Ifjúság. A magyarországi németek náci szervezetei? [Volksbund and German Youth. Nazi organizations of the Germans in Hungary?], in: Gábor Böhm Gábor/Dóra Czefferner/Tamás Fedeles Tamás (eds.), Bölcsész Akadémia 4 [Humanities Academy 4], Pécs 2020, 189–224, here 190.
28.
Zsolt Vitári, A jövő magyarországi német elitje? Nemzetiszocialista nevelőotthonok Magyarországon [The future elite of the Germans in Hungary? National Socialist educational homes in Hungary], in: Péter Virányi (ed.), Fordulat a háborúban (1942–1943). Frontok, sorsok, áldozatok [A turning point in the War (1942–1943). Fronts, fates, victims]. Budapest 2024, 137–155, here 141–142.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
39.
40.
41.
42.
Zsolt Vitári, A magyarországi “Német Ifjúság” működésének kezdetei. Engedélyezés, legalizálás, állami kontroll [The beginnings of the “Deutsche Jugend” in Hungary. Approval, legalization, state control], in: Századok [Centuries] 155/1 (2021), 135–175, here 150–151, 153; Landespropagandaamt des Volksbundes der Deutschen in Ungarn (ed.), Neue Jugend – neues Volk: erster Landesjugendtag Mágocs 1941. Budapest 1941, 9.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
From the second school year onwards, renamed to “Selbstbildungsverein” (self-education association). On the “Spielscharen” and their founding, see also: Zsolt Vitári, Jugendmobilisierung bei den Ungarndeutschen nach reichsdeutschem Muster? Die Vorbereitung und Gründung der Deutschen Jugend, in: Ottmar Trasca/Virgiliu Tarau/Corneliu Pintilescu (eds.), Building a Nazi Racial Community in the South-East Mobility and Transnational Transfers between Nazi Germany and the South-Eastern European 'Volksdeutsche'. Regensburg 2024, 165–203, here 188.
48.
49.
50.
51.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
Zsolt Vitári, A jövő magyarországi német elitje? Nemzetiszocialista nevelőotthonok Magyarországon [The future elite of the Germans in Hungary? National Socialist educational homes in Hungary], in: Péter Virányi (ed.), Fordulat a háborúban (1942–1943). Frontok, sorsok, áldozatok [A turning point in the War (1942–1943). Fronts, fates, victims]. Budapest 2024, 137–155, here 145.
58.
59.
60.
61.
Réka Marchut, Töréspontok. A Budapest környéki németség második világháborút követő felelősségre vonása és annak előzményei (1920–1948) [Breaking points. The responsibility of the Hungarian Germans in the Budapest area after the Second World War and its prehistory (1920–1948)]. Budapest/Budaörs 2014, 83.
62.
63.
The numerous school photos at Weltzer also bear witness to this. In one, two uniformed boys “stand guard in front of the Siegrune” and the bust of Adolf Hitler, surrounded by swastika flags. Wigant Weltzer, Wege, Irrwege, Heimwege. Schulen, Erziehungsheime und Erziehungsanstalten des Volksbundes der Deutschen in Ungarn, 1940–1944. Rothenburg ob der Tauber 2005, 34.
64.
65.
66.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
On forced recruitment and voluntary enlistment in the Waffen-SS, see: Beáta Márkus, Ungardeutsche in der Waffen-SS. Freiwillige Meldung als Folge der Kontakte zum “Dritten Reich”, in: Ottmar Trasca/Virgiliu Tarau/Corneliu Pintilescu (eds.), Building a Nazi Racial Community in the South-East Mobility and Transnational Transfers between Nazi Germany and the South-Eastern European 'Volksdeutsche'. Regensburg 2024, 291–320.
76.
77.
78.
Erlebnisbericht des ehemaligen Direktors des Jakob-Bleyer-Gymnasiums Dr. Johannes [sic] Weidlein aus Budapest, in: Theodor Schieder (ed.), Dokumentation der Vertreibung der Deutschen aus Ost-Mitteleuropa II. Das Schicksal der Deutschen in Ungarn. Bonn 1956, 14–17, hier 14. For the evacuations, see also: Réka Marchut, Töréspontok. A Budapest környéki németség második világháborút követő felelősségre vonása és annak előzményei (1920–1948) [Breaking points. The responsibility of the Hungarian Germans in the Budapest area after the Second World War and its prehistory (1920–1948)]. Budapest/Budaörs 2014, 112–123.
79.
80.
81.
82.
Beáta Márkus, Az első legális Waffen-SS toborzások és lokális következményeik Magyarországon [The first legal recruitments of the Waffen-SS and their local consequences in Hungary], in: Péter Virányi (ed.), Fordulat a háborúban (1942–1943). Frontok, sorsok, áldozatok [A turning point in the War (1942–1943). Fronts, fates, victims]. Budapest 2024, 117–136, here 121.
83.
84.
85.
Zsolt Vitári, A jövő magyarországi német elitje? Nemzetiszocialista nevelőotthonok Magyarországon [The future elite of the Germans in Hungary? National Socialist educational homes in Hungary], in: Péter Virányi (ed.), Fordulat a háborúban (1942–1943). Frontok, sorsok, áldozatok [A turning point in the War (1942–1943). Fronts, fates, victims]. Budapest 2024, 137–155, here 149.
