During the lesson the class looked at how Hitler influenced children in Germany to follow him. We looked at the ways he used education to manipulate children’s thoughts. Students were then set the task of writing a diary entry from the point of view of a German student in one of Hitler’s schools.
This is the work of Tomas, a year 8 student..

Dear Diary,

Today, school was top class. Before school, I had sausages and bread for breakfast, not forgetting my prayers and oath to the Fuhrer. Then I got dressed, in my uniform, the one which looks exactly like the soldier down the road’s uniform! After that, I set off to school, which is a twenty minute cycle away, just past the outskirts of Stuttgart. Just before first class, during salutes and prayers, the bully, Erwin Adler walked up to me and started blubbering about how I was unfaithful to the Fuhrer. He might as well of thrown the first punch, but he knew that by provoking me who could claim self defence. So I got a beating for that fight but other than that... The day was better than most. In first, class we did Maths, though it was quite simple. Only addition, subtraction and multiplication. The teacher said that if I kept up this rate of study I’d become an Obersleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) in the Wehrmacht! I really wish I was old enough to join already. In second class, we learnt about the Treaty of Versailles, if it can be really called a ‘treaty’. It was more of a limit by opposing nations, who were jealous of the Reich’s powers. The only reason we lost was some mentally incompetent general who couldn’t complete a basic plan! After lunch, it was physical training. We had a short race, only about 10 miles cross country as today was celebrations for Harvest. We also played a football match, where I scored a goal in the name of Fuhrer! It was brilliant! Our team, Das Schwarze Feuer (The Black Fire) ended up winning 3-0, though that was what was expected as the other team is from a lesser school out in the country where all the poor people live. As I said before, today was a good day and I’m looking forward to tomorrow!

From,
Mathias Ehrlichmann