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Bernhard Rust (30 September 1883 – 8 May 1945) was Minister of Science, Education and National Culture ( Reichserziehungsminister) in Nazi Germany.
Claudia Koonz Claudia Ann Koonz is an American historian of Nazi Germany. Koonz's critique of the role of women during the Nazi era, from a feminist perspective, has become a subject of much debate and research in itself. She is a recipient of the PEN New Eng ...
, ''The Nazi Conscience'', p 134
A combination of school administrator and zealous Nazi, he issued decrees, often bizarre, at every level of the German educational system to immerse German youth in Nazi ideology. He also served as the party '' Gauleiter'' in Hanover and Brunswick from 1925 to 1940.


Early life

Rust was born in Hanover and obtained a doctorate in German philology and philosophy. After passing the state teaching examination with the grade "''gut''" (i.e. "good") in 1908, he became a high school teacher at Hanover's Ratsgymnasium, then served in the army during World War I. He reached the rank of '' Oberleutnant'', served as a company commander and was awarded the
Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia e ...
first and second class for bravery. He was wounded in action and sustained a severe head injury, which caused serious mental and physical impairments for the rest of his life. He was discharged in December 1918 and returned to Hanover.


Political career

Rust joined the Nazi Party in 1921 and was a cofounder of the ''Ortsgruppe'' (Local Group) in Hanover. When the party was banned in the aftermath of the
Beer Hall Putsch The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party ( or NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and oth ...
, Rust joined the
German Völkisch Freedom Party The German Völkisch Freedom Party (german: Deutschvölkische Freiheitspartei, or DVFP) was an early right wing and anti-Semitic political party of Weimar Germany that took its name from the Völkisch movement, a populist movement focused on folkl ...
and served as an ''
Ortsgruppenleiter ''Ortsgruppenleiter'' (Local Group Leader) was a Nazi Party political rank and title which existed between 1930 and 1945. The term first came into being during the German elections of 1930, and was held by the head Nazi of a town or city, or in ...
'' and later as '' Gauleiter'' for Hanover. When the ban on the Nazi Party was lifted, he rejoined it (membership number 3,390). On 22 March 1925, he was named ''Gauleiter'' for the ''Gau'' of North Hanover. On 10 September 1925, Rust joined the
National Socialist Working Association The National Socialist Working Association, sometimes translated as the National Socialist Working Community ( German: ''Nazionale Sozialiste Arbeitsgemeinschaft'') was a short-lived group of about a dozen Nazi Party ''Gauleiter'' brought togethe ...
headed by
Gregor Strasser Gregor Strasser (also german: Straßer, see ß; 31 May 1892 – 30 June 1934) was an early prominent German Nazi official and politician who was murdered during the Night of the Long Knives in 1934. Born in 1892 in Bavaria, Strasser served ...
. This was an association of northern and western ''Gauleiter'' who supported the "socialist" wing of the Party until it was dissolved in 1926 following the
Bamberg Conference The Bamberg Conference (german: Bamberger Führertagung) included some sixty members of the leadership of the Nazi Party, and was specially convened by Adolf Hitler in Bamberg, in Upper Franconia, Germany on Sunday 14 February 1926 during the "wilde ...
. When the ''Gaue'' were reorganised on 1 October 1928, Rust became the ''Gauleiter'' for Southern Hanover–Brunswick. He retained that position until November 1940, when he was succeeded by
Hartmann Lauterbacher Hartmann Lauterbacher (24 May 1909 – 12 April 1988) was a senior regional leader (''Obergebietsführer'') of the ''Hitler Jugend'', as well as ''Gauleiter'' of Gau South Hanover–Brunswick (Südhannover-Braunschweig) and an SS-''Obergruppenf� ...
. In September 1930, he was elected to the Reichstag from electoral constituency 16, Southern Hanover-Brunswick. He would remain a Reichstag deputy through the end of the Nazi regime in 1945. On 15 July 1932 came his appointment as '' Landesinspekteur'' for Lower Saxony. In that position, he had oversight responsibility for his ''Gau'' and four others (Eastern-Hanover, North Westphalia, South Westphalia & Weser-Ems). That was a short-lived initiative by
Gregor Strasser Gregor Strasser (also german: Straßer, see ß; 31 May 1892 – 30 June 1934) was an early prominent German Nazi official and politician who was murdered during the Night of the Long Knives in 1934. Born in 1892 in Bavaria, Strasser served ...
to centralise control over the ''Gaue''. However, it was unpopular with the ''Gauleiter'' and was repealed on Strasser's fall from power in December 1932. Rust then returned to his ''Gauleiter'' position in Southern Hanover-Brunswick. Shortly after Hitler became chancellor in January 1933, Rust was appointed as the Prussian Minister for Science, Culture and Public Education on 22 April. He was made a member of the
Prussian State Council The Prussian State Council (german: Preußischer Staatsrat) was the upper chamber of the bicameral legislature of the Free State of Prussia between 1920 and 1933. The lower chamber was the Prussian Landtag (''Preußischer Landtag''). Impleme ...
on 11 July and the
Academy for German Law The Academy for German Law (german: Akademie für deutsches Recht) was an institute for legal research and reform founded on 26 June 1933 in Nazi Germany. After suspending its operations during the Second World War in August 1944, it was abolished ...
when it was formed in October 1933. On 1 May 1934, he was selected as ''
Reichsminister Reichsminister (in German singular and plural; 'minister of the realm') was the title of members of the German Government during two historical periods: during the March revolution of 1848/1849 in the German Reich of that period, and in the mode ...
'' of Science, Education and National Culture (''Wissenschaft, Erziehung und Volksbildung'') and set about to reshape the German educational system to conform to his ideals of Nazism. Considered by many to be mentally unstable, Rust would capriciously create new regulations and then repeal them just as quickly. One noted example was in 1935, when he changed the traditional six-day school week to five days, with Saturday to be "Reich's Youth Day", when children in the Hitler Youth and the
League of German Girls The League of German Girls or the Band of German Maidens (german: Bund Deutscher Mädel, abbreviated as BDM) was the girls' wing of the Nazi Party youth movement, the Hitler Youth. It was the only legal female youth organization in Nazi Germany. ...
would be out of school for study and testing. He then ordered the creation of a "rolling week", with six days for study, followed by the "youth day" and a rest day, in eight-day periods. Thus, a rolling week starting on Monday would end with rest on the following Monday. The next rolling week would start on Tuesday and end eight days later on the next Tuesday. When the eight-day week proved unworkable, Rust went back to the former system. It was Rust who in 1933 issued a rule that students and teachers should greet each other with the Nazi salute "as a symbol of the new Germany". He added his opinion that it was "expected of every German", regardless of membership in the party. Rust was instrumental in purging German universities of Jews and others regarded as enemies of the state, most notably at the
University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded i ...
. Nazi Germany's future leaders received their instruction elsewhere, in an
NPEA National Political Institutes of Education (german: Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalten; officially abbreviated NPEA, commonly abbreviated Napola for ''Nationalpolitische Lehranstalt'' meaning National Political Teaching Institute) were ...
, or "Napola" (NAtionalPOLitische erziehungsAnstalten), of which there were 30 in the nation, where they would receive training to become administrators of conquered provinces. He bluntly informed teachers that their aim was to educate ethnically-aware Germans. Rust also believed that non-Aryan science (such as
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
's " Jewish physics") was flawed and had what he felt to be a rational explanation for that view. In an address to scientists, he said, "The problems of science do not present themselves in the same way to all men. The Negro or the Jew will view the same world in a different light from the German investigator".
Erika Mann Erika Julia Hedwig Mann (9 November 1905 – 27 August 1969) was a German actress and writer, daughter of the novelist Thomas Mann. Erika lived a bohemian lifestyle in Berlin and became a critic of National Socialism. After Hitler came to power ...
, the daughter of
Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...
, wrote an exposé of the Rust system in 1938, ''School for Barbarians'', followed in 1941 by
Gregor Ziemer Gregor Athalwin Ziemer (May 24, 1899 – August 1982) was an American educator, writer, and correspondent. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1922 with an English degree. Ziemer lived in Germany from 1928 to 1939, ...
's ''
Education for Death ''Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi'' is an animated propaganda short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released on January 15, 1943, by RKO Radio Pictures, directed by Clyde Geronimi and principally animated by Milt Kahl, Wa ...
''.


Death

Rust reportedly committed suicide on 8 May 1945, when Germany surrendered to Allied forces.


Spelling reform

Rust prepared a reform of German orthography, and his fairly-extensive version corresponded to the ideas of the spelling reformers of the 1970s (lowercase common nouns, elimination of lengthening symbols). The attempt met internal resistance of the Reich's ministry. The
German orthography reform of 1944 The planned German spelling reform of 1944 was a failed attempt to amend German orthography. Although one million copies of the new rules were printed by 1944 for school use, the reform was never introduced. Their preparation was initiated by the ...
also failed. Before those failures, the rules of the reform had been printed in millions of copies intended for classroom use and published in numerous newspapers. The 1944 reform was postponed on the orders of Hitler because it was "not important for the war effort". Some of Rust's innovations had, however, found their way into the 1942 Duden, such as the spelling of the word ''Kautsch'' for ''Couch'', which persisted into the 1980s. Many of the proposed changes were finally implemented with the German orthography reform of 1996.


References


External links


Short biography of Rust
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rust, Bernhard 1883 births 1945 deaths 1945 suicides Christian fascists Gauleiters German Army personnel of World War I German Protestants German Völkisch Freedom Party politicians Holocaust perpetrators in Germany Members of the Academy for German Law Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Members of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany Militant League for German Culture members National Socialist Working Association members Nazi Germany ministers Nazi human subject research Nazi Party officials Nazi Party politicians Nazis who committed suicide in Germany People from the Province of Hanover Politicians from Hanover Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 2nd class Sturmabteilung personnel