Freestanding, adjustable blackboard used in a schoolroom in Nazi Germany
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 70.875 inches (180.023 cm) | Width: 63.500 inches (161.29 cm) | Depth: 25.625 inches (65.088 cm)
a: Height: 62.750 inches (159.385 cm) | Width: 63.500 inches (161.29 cm) | Depth: 25.625 inches (65.088 cm)
b: Height: 39.250 inches (99.695 cm) | Width: 58.125 inches (147.638 cm) | Depth: 0.875 inches (2.223 cm)
Creator(s)
- Hersteller Manufacturers (Manufacturer)
Archival History
The blackboard 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
Adjustable, two-sided chalkboard with chalk and sponge box in a standing wooden frame made for and used in a schoolroom in Dresden, Germany, during the government of the Third Reich, 1933-1945. 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
a. Light brown stained wooden blackboard support frame composed of 2 side pieces and crossbars. The side pieces have front and back legs that angle to form an A-shape; the front legs extend diagonally towards the rear. The shorter back legs are attached at the midpoint with a mortis and tenon joint. Near the top of the front legs a green metal bracet is screwed over 2 semi-oval slots to adjust board height. In the bottom slots rest green painted metal bolts that secure the frame to the board. Under the slate board, an upper and lower cross bar is attached to each leg with mortis and tenon joints. A rectangular dovetailed accessory box is nailed to the right upper crossbar. The side pieces are secured with mortis and tenon joints to a rectangular base with beveled ends. b. Rectangular, double sided, green painted slate board with a light brown stained wooden frame. The frame is composed of 4 sections joined by corner bridle joints and secured by 4 square head wooden nails in each corner. There is a rectangular piece of wood and green metal attached halfway down one edge. One side of the slate board has an interior frame.
Subjects
- Schools--Germany--Dresden.
- Fascism and education--Germany--History--20th century.
- National socialism and education--Germany.
- Education--Germany--History--20th century.
Genre
- Furnishings and Furniture
- Object