This book investigates the anti-semitic foundations of Nazi curricula for elementary schools, with a focus on the subjects of biology, history, geography, race hygiene and literature. The author argues that any study of Nazi society and its values must probe the education provided by the regime in order to understand how the official knowledge of the state was circulated and legitimized.
Anti-Semitism and Schooling under the Third Reich chronicles an extreme case of what happens when schools are put in the service of a political and racial agenda. Schools, according to Wegner, play a major role in advancing ideological justifications for mass murder, and in legitimising a culture of ethnic and racial hatred. Using a variety of primary sources, Wegner provides a vivid account of the development of Nazi education.