According
to Theodor Wilhelm and Gerhard Graefe [authors of German Education
Today (Berlin, 1936)] . . . an "overemphasis of the intellect,"
a tendency "to identify life with knowledge," to believe
"that education could be restricted to the development
of the intellect, and . . . could only be effected through the
medium of instruction," excluding feelings, will, soul,
and emotions, caused German youth to revolt against "this
theory of teaching and the kind of school which resulted."
The young longed for "finite values." They did not
want "merely to be instructed"; they wanted "to
be led." Wilhelm and Graefe maintain that young Germans
accepted the dictum of Hitler that "the German youth of
the future must be slim and strong, as fast as a greyhound,
as tough as leather, and as hard as Krupp steel."
It
is probable that the majority of the youth did not rationalize
their feelings and desires to the extent these writers claim.
Rather they were unemployed, dissatisfied, and frequently lacked
the basic necessities of life. Faced by these difficulties they
were critical and established institutions and grasped at any
plan or program that promised better conditions.
