Gregor Ziemer’s position as the headmaster of the American School in Berlin in the 1930s gave him a unique perspective on German youth. After fleeing Nazi Germany, he returned to the United States where he authored a book titled Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi. In it he described Hitler’s approach to indoctrinating the German people.
Ziemer’s book became the basis for two anti-Nazi propaganda films that were widely distributed in the U.S. The first was titled Hitler’s Children. The 83-minute long black and white movie featured a doomed love affair between a German American woman and a Nazi soldier. One of the most shocking scenes from the movie portrayed mass forced sterilizations of women deemed unwholesome enough to bear children.
The second movie was titled Education for Death. It was a 10-minute long color cartoon produced by Disney.
See the Gregor Ziemer papers at UW’s American Heritage Center to learn more about the anti-Nazi propaganda films based on his experiences.
For more information, visit the American Heritage Center site.