Dr Helen Roche talks in this episode about education in the Third Reich and specifically the Nazi boarding schools, the Napolas. Very little has been shared about what went on in the education of the elite Nazi children until Dr Roche's book.

Today we talk about the history and the timeline of these schools and some of the links to the Spartan philosophies and British boarding schools.

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Dr. Helen Roche is Associate Professor in Modern European Cultural History at the University of Durham. Her second book, The Third Reich’s Elite Schools: A History of the Napolas, has recently been published by Oxford University Press. Her work has been featured in the press nationally and internationally, including appearances in the Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, on the BBC and Sky News. 

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Questions and topics to talk about:

1. I would love for you to share some of your journey and how you got to where you are now?
2. Could you introduce us to the Nazi boardings schools, the Napolas please? What were they and when were they formed? What was their role in the rise of the Third Reich?
3. Could you talk about ancient Sparta's influence on German education and especially the Napolas?
4. What was the Napolas' connection to the English and American boarding schools? How much of an influence was the English boarding school model on the Nazi one? What did Hitler feel he could learn from these schools? Did the Nazi achieve their aim?
5. Could you please talk more about the 'character-forming' that the Napolas learned from the British system? It sounds like the Nazis were very keen to learn about this. What were some of the 'character-forming' practices that the Nazis installed? How were they similar or dissimilar to the British schools. What did August Heissmeyer say?
6. Could you talk about the exchanges, visits from headteachers and sports tournaments with the British and US boarding schools? “The ideal outcome of the programme would be for Napola pupils and staff to learn how things were done in England, and then use that knowledge to improve their own educational techniques,” (Guardian 2021)
7. How supportive were the English boarding schools of their German counterparts? In one of your talks you mention the head from Lancing House Prep school show his support?
8. How many of the alumni from these schools went on to prominent positions in the SS and Third Reich? Were these important were these graduates considered once the war began?
9. The private school headmaster and the embodiment of the “Fuhrer-principle
10. Were the Napolas more effective at indoctrinating pupils politically than, for example, the Hitler Youth? If so why was that?
11. What were some of the tough practices that the Napolas put the children through?

#naziboardingschools #historyofboardingschools #boardingschoolsyndromecollectivetraumahealing #woundedleade

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Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems.

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man.

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1

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Many blessings,

Piers Cross

http://piers-cross.com/