Black leather covered fiberboard knapsack used by a student in Nazi Germany

Identifier
irn3967
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1990.44.1
Dates
1 Jan 1933 - 31 Dec 1945
Level of Description
Item
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) | Width: 13.125 inches (33.338 cm) | Depth: 4.000 inches (10.16 cm)

Archival History

The knapsack was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990 by the Schulmuseum des Rates des Bezirkes Dresden.

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Schulmuseum des Rates des Bezirkes Dresden

Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

Scope and Content

Black leather covered backpack with leather straps used by a student in Dresden, Germany, during the government of the Third Reich, 1933-1945. There were two styles of satchels; the ones with the longer flap, such as this example, were more often used by boys. After Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany in 1933, the Nazi authorities passed new laws that dictated who could teach and be educated in the German school system. Quotas were placed that restricted the number of Jewish students who could attend public schools, and under the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service Act, teachers that were Jewish or considered “politically unreliable” were purged from schools. The act also made Nazi Party membership compulsory for all remaining teachers. At the entrance to school, students had to lift their arms and say, “Heil Hitler!” School curriculum was changed to emphasize sports, history, and racial science with the purpose of indoctrinating students with Nazi ideology. Subjects such as religion became less important, and were eventually removed from the curriculum altogether. Any textbooks used to educate students had to be approved by the party. Censors removed books that did not meet these standards from the classroom, and introduced new textbooks that taught students militarism, racism, antisemitism, obedience to state authority, and love for Hitler. Instruction aimed to produce race-conscious, obedient, self-sacrificing Germans who would be willing to die for Führer and Fatherland. Nordic and other “Aryan” races were glorified while labeling Jews and other so-called “inferior” peoples as “parasitic, bastard races” incapable of creating culture or civilization.

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access

Conditions Governing Reproduction

No restrictions on use

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Squarish satchel made of black leather covered fiberboard with rounded corners and 2 embossed rectangular outlines near the outer front edges. The front flap closure has a brown leather strap that inserts into a metal buckle with a leather loop sewn to the front. On the reverse are 2 long adjustable leather straps with metal buckles sewn on with a triangular leather patch reinforcements; another reinforcement patch is sewn to the interior. The right strap ends in a metal D ring and inserts into a metal hook on the underside; the left ends in a pointed tip and inserts into a metal buckle and anchor. The interior is lined with green plastic. A white paper label remnant with text and numbers is adhered to the interior.

interior, on paper remnant, handwritten, blue ink : 7 7 (European style, upside down)

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.