Ideological Permeation of Nazi Society
The conference programme examined the structures and mechanisms that constituted Nazi society and which enabled and legitimised Nazi crimes. The National Socialists’ rule was based on the comprehensive ideological permeation and mobilisation of society under the banner of a “Volksgemeinschaft”, coupled with the violent exclusion of all groups not belonging to this imagined community. The shaping of German society in this sense was a process that was always ongoing and never uncontested, a form of governmentality which most Germans reproduced in one way or another, thereby contributing to the realisation of the “Volksgemeinschaft”.
The production and staging of the “Volksgemeinschaft”
Building on the academic debate of recent decades surrounding the concept of the “Volksgemeinschaft”, predominantly younger researchers highlighted in their presentations a wide variety of areas in which the“Volksgemeinschaft” was produced. These included girls’ diaries and private photo albums from the 1930s and 1940s, architectural structures, some of which still stand today; sports associations; the ghettoisation of so-called „antisocials“ in segregated housing estates or their internment in camps; and also pupil assessments carried out by teachers in special schools.
The proximity of the conference venue to the Bückeberg Documentation and Learning Centre proved helpful in linking the academic presentations to contemporary practices in the culture of remembrance. It was at this site that some of the largest propaganda mass events took place during the 1930s – the so-called Reich Harvest Thanksgiving Festivals – through which the “Volksgemeinschaft” was staged in the media.
Excursions and workshops
Excursions to the Bückeberg site and to the museum in the castle at Bad Pyrmont, where an exhibition sheds light on the history of the spa town under National Socialism, were among the highlights of the conference, despite the sweltering heat. In addition, a series of workshops used practical examples to illustrate the applicability of the concept of a “Volksgemeinschaft” in historical and political education. These covered topics such as local history lessons in schools, working with the Osnabrück Gestapo records, teaching history at sites associated with perpetrators such as Wewelsburg Castle or the former farmers’ school in Goslar, as well as the teaching of the history of the Ith Gliding School at what is now the BAFzA Education Centre and the history of Hanover’s urban society during National Socialism at the ZeitZentrum Hannover. A concluding panel discussion once again examined the question of the opportunities and limitations of the “Volksgemeinschaft” concept in historical and political education, bringing the conference to a close with numerous ideas for further reflection.
For a more detailed report on the conference, see also: Christoph Rass (24 June 2026). Produktion von ›Volksgemeinschaft‹. Notizen zu einer Tagung in Hameln.