Paula Fürst (August 6, 1894 – probably June 1942) was a German reform educator of
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
descent.
Education and early development
Paula Fürst was born in
Głogów
Głogów (; german: Glogau, links=no, rarely , cs, Hlohov, szl, Głogōw) is a city in western Poland. It is the county seat of Głogów County, in Lower Silesian Voivodeship (since 1999), and was previously in Legnica Voivodeship (1975–199 ...
to Otto Fürst, a Jewish merchant and Malvine Fürst, née Rosenberg. Following the untimely and early death of her father, Paula moved to Berlin together with her mother and her older sister. During her studies in French and History she became acquainted with the principles of
Montessori education and was deeply impressed with this "new way of education". She obtained a Montessori diploma through studies in Berlin and Rome and became head of the first Montessori class in Berlin. In addition, she was a frequent lecturer on pedagogical topics.
Life and work under the Nazi regime
According to Nazi ideology, the Montessori method was mainly propagated by "Jewish elements" and contributed to selfish and anti-national behavior. Consequently, Paula Fürst was forced to resign from her position as teacher in 1933. In the same year, she became head teacher of the Theodor Herzl School of Berlin, a Zionist school with 600 students. As the Nazis tightened the grip on Jewish life in Berlin and Germany, conditions at the Herzl School deteriorated rapidly. Following the
Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...
of November 1938,
Leo Baeck
Leo Baeck (23 May 1873 – 2 November 1956) was a 20th-century German rabbi, scholar, and theologian. He served as leader of Reform Judaism in his native country and internationally, and later represented all German Jews during the Nazi er ...
offered Paula Fürst the position of head of all Jewish schools in Germany which she accepted. She also accompanied many children of the
Kindertransport
The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children (but not their parents) from Nazi-controlled territory that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World ...
to London but refused to stay abroad although life for Jews in Germany had become unbearable and the beginning of World War II was imminent.
Deportation and death
Paula Fürst was arrested on June 19, 1942 and deported to
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
on June 24, 1942 together with 201 people. Historians theorize that she died in a death camp, possibly
Auschwitz, later that year.
References
Publications
*
Manfred Berger: ''Recherchen zur Situation des Kindergartenwesens im Dritten Reich'', in: ''Unsere Jugend'', 1988/H. 2, S. 64 ff.
* Manfred Berger: ''Paula Fürst - eine in Vergessenheit geratene Montessori-Pädagogin'', in: ''Montessori. Zeitschrift für Montessori-Pädagogik'', 2005/H. 3, S. 147 ff.
* Manfred Berger: ''Führende Frauen in sozialer Verantwortung: Paula Fürst'', in: ''Christ und Bildung'', 2005/H. 4, S. 27
* Martin-Heinz Ehlert: ''Paula Fürst. Aus dem Leben einer jüdischen Pädagogin''. Berlin 2005, .
External links
* http://www.berlin.de/ba-charlottenburg-wilmersdorf/bezirk/lexikon/textehlert.html
* http://www.berlingeschichte.de/strassen/Bez17a/P627.htm
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuerst, Paula
German people who died in Nazi concentration camps
1894 births
1942 deaths
People from Głogów
Heads of schools in Germany
German Jews who died in the Holocaust