3 - “Citizens,” Volksgenossen, and Soldiers: Education in the Labor Services

Summary

Both the German and the American labor services had a pedagogical mission. The first head of the educational program in the CCC, Clarence S. Marsh, characterized the Corps as a “folk school movement” that was evolving from the needs and interests of the volunteers themselves. In the RAD, the pedagogical dimension constituted the primary mission of the institution. This section will begin with an examination of the Labor Service of the Nazi dictatorship, followed by a brief discussion of the CCC and a concluding comparative synthesis.

According to Ernst Krieck, the preeminent educator in Nazi Germany, there were three facets to education: first, it should provide instruction in technical skills and knowledge as well as specialized education for a particular profession - that is to say, vocational and professional training; second, it should exert a shaping influence on a person's emotional outlook, character, and will; third, it should encompass Weltanschauung, by which Krieck also meant education in the narrower sense, and thus, school education and academic knowledge.

The Nazi elite was driven by the totalitarian intention of imparting new content to all three areas of education, thereby permeating the mental world, the lifestyle, and the character of the Germans with National Socialist ideology. At the same time, however, the regime had problems thoroughly reshaping society in its image.