Writing a History of the Napolas: Problems and perspectives

Presented at the Modern German History Workshop, University of Cambridge, 17 February 2014.

An in-depth analysis of some of the methodological and evidentiary issues involved in writing a history of the Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalten, the Third Reich’s most prominent type of elite school. How far can working with eyewitness evidence help or hinder this endeavour, and how reliable is contemporary documentary evidence in comparison?

This paper forms part of a long-standing research project on the history of the Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalten.

Material from this research has now been published in Helen’s monograph The Third Reich’s Elite Schools: A History of the Napolas.