UDC

94(47).084.8

DOI

10.17238/issn2227-6564.2019.4.5

Authors

Dmitriy G. Balashov
Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov; prosp. Lomonosova 2, Arkhangelsk, 163002, Russian Federation; e-mail: balashov.db@yandex.ru

Abstract

On the basis of documents from the State Archives of the Russian Federation, this article studies the policy of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany aimed to change the personnel and social structure of teachers and students. It should be noted that this topic has received little focused attention in historiography. The study dwells on the measures taken by the Soviet Military Administration in Germany to solve the personnel problem and describes the changes in the social composition of higher and secondary schools in the Soviet Occupation Zone. One of the Administration’s tasks in the process of reforming the German education system was the denationalization of the teaching staff and students to create a new – Sovietized – elite. The transformed education system was designed to form a power base for the new authorities. Moreover, in order to restore the industry and secure reparation shipments to the USSR, East Germany required skilled hired labour force. In the course of the reform, the teaching staff was denazified, admission and employment discrimination on the basis of nationality and race was eliminated. Workers and peasants, as well as their children, were given priority and privileges when entering educational institutions and during their studies. This system intensified the proletarianization of teachers as well as secondary and high school students. Postgraduate and other courses after the Soviet model helped to replenish human resources in education. However, improved social welfare of teachers failed to combat the problem of personnel turnover. The author notes that the experience of social transformation of the society through education system reforms, characteristic of the period under study, is relevant today for a comprehensive study of the social policy of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany.

Keywords

East Germany, Soviet Military Administration in Germany, Soviet Occupation Zone, Soviet occupation policy, German public education reform

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