Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

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and/or gymnastics teacher had either received teaching certification or had such
certification renewed. 28 In March 1937, guidelines for Jewish teachers instructing
Jewish pupils were despatched nationally. 29 At this point, the authorities in
Magdeburg not only sought to segregate pupils, but also to monitor stringently
and maintain control over any Jewish activity in education. The relevant
authorities in Magdeburg and Berlin continued to disagree on when the segregated
school was to be established. In Magdeburg, the office of the inspector of schools
exerted its full control over Jews educating Jews and the position of Jewish pupils
in public schools. Given the persistent local requests for segregated schooling, it is
not surprising that after September 1935 the situation for Jewish pupils in public
schools seriously deteriorated.
The creation of a sense of ‘otherness’ relating to Jewish children was highly
effective within the school system, owing to the combination of propaganda, the
application of official racial antisemitism coupled with the controlled nature of the
environment. The application of antisemitism in the classroom operated both
directly and in subtle ways. Both forms had the desired effect on the victims, who
were well aware of the inherent dangers of retaliation. Interviewees remarked that
the generally small number of Jews in any given class made them even more of a
target.
Pupils endured blatant forms of antisemitism in the classroom and in the
general confines of the school from fellow non-Jewish pupils and from non-
Jewish teaching staff. One pupil found the situation in his school so unbearable
28 Correspondence from Der städtische Schulrat für Magdeburg, An den Herrn
Regierungspräsidenten zu Magdeburg, 19 May 1937, Bestand Rep. C 28 II, Signatur
Nr. 130, Band 1, LHASA MD, op. cit., p. 55.
29 Privatunterricht an Juden, 12. März 1937, Bestand Rep. C 28 II, Signatur Nr. 130,
Band 2, LHASA MD, op. cit., pp. 12–13.