What Hitler Can Teach Our Young

In June, a group of students inappropriately chose Adolf Hitler — Germany’s wartime leader who started World War II and killed six million Jews in Europe — as their group name and idol for a band camp.

Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam felt that the students “were clearly not thinking very hard” and were “clearly unaware of the basic facts of history”. But he also stressed the importance of being open and turning the mistake into a learning experience.

This incident generated interest among my students taking Combined Humanities (History Elective). They are taught that History is not just a collection of facts, dates and places. They are constantly reminded to learn from the past, examine the present and prepare for the future.

After one interesting discussion of Hitler’s role in history, a student emailed me with a “burning question”.

She wrote: “Why doesn’t anyone give Hitler any credit for his determination to fight for Germany? Hitler was a vegetarian, only drank an odd beer or two and never associated himself with venal politicians; but then again, he was without doubt sadistic.” She found it “really interesting just to think about … how driven he was towards his goals. He was a very remarkable speaker and had he been on the right track, wouldn’t he have been able to bring Germany back to power?” She was “dying to know why Hitler resented the Jews so much”. Was there “something more significant” than simple jealousy? Did “some traumatic happening” have a deep impact on him. “I tried reading up. Can’t seem to find any info. Got any idea?” she asked.

There are two possible responses to such comments. Were I interested only in teaching the basic facts of World War II, I would have assigned her more reading material, made her do a research project on Hitler, or sent her to the embassies of Israel or Germany where they are willing to discuss the implications of Hitler’s rule.

By overwhelming her with historical information, I might have hoped she would see the implications and impact of Hitler’s rule.On the other hand, I could also have scolded her for having the audacity to ask such questions, in light of the recent public uproar.

Instead, I praised her — as she had demonstrated that she could think independently, was able to question with reason, and had kept an open mind.
I did, however, also explain to her that we have to examine Hitler’s role in totality: What were the results of his policies and his philosophy? Did
the ends justify the means?

There has been a tectonic shift in the way history
is taught in secondary schools. Students are now trained to question historical fact, examine the sources of historical content for reliability and evaluate the role that historical players like Chairman Mao or Hitler played in history.

One impact of this method of teaching is that students are empowered to question basic historical facts. No longer do they accept history books as the custodians of truth; instead, they will want to seek out the truth for themselves.

If teachers and society do not accept this process of engagement with our youth, if every time students ask uncomfortable questions we shut them up — then they will stop thinking and engaging us.We must allow them to ask searching questions, to challenge conventional ideas; help them discover the difference between truth and propaganda; and guide them gently to the truth through a process of discovery. We have started on the right track to producing a new generation of critical thinkers. Now, what is left is for the older generation to engage the young in
dialogue — and to keep an open mind to the possibility they may just have the answers to the questions we raise.

This article first appeared in TODAY on 16/8/2005