This thesis explores the transformative role of education in West Germany’s postwar reconstruction, focusing on how the nation re-socialized its youth from 1945 to 1975 in the wake of Nazi totalitarianism. While much scholarly attention has been given to the Allied-led reeducation programs aimed at instilling democratic values, this study broadens the lens to include the lived experiences of students, the moral influence of teachers, and the complex dynamics of curriculum reform. Drawing from archival research, oral histories, and textbook analysis, it reveals how classrooms became laboratories of democracy—but also how they remained blind to the emerging multicultural reality of postwar German society. Through a three-phase analysis—spanning from the immediate postwar denazification efforts, to the evolution of civic education in the 1950s and 60s, and finally to the marginalization of Gastarbeiter children in the 1970s—this study highlights both the promise and the limitations of democratic education. It argues that while West German schools successfully nurtured a generation committed to civic responsibility and critical inquiry, they failed to address the needs of an increasingly diverse population. This oversight reveals a paradox at the heart of Germany’s reeducation project: a society taught to confront its past was not prepared to embrace its multicultural future. Ultimately, this thesis calls for a reimagining of democratic education—one that is not only reflective, but radically inclusive.
Melissa-Claire Harder (Fri,) studied this question.