German fascism, Soviet communism, and Latvian nationalism in the education of Latvia (1940–1944)

This article focuses on the position of leading Latvian pedagogues in cooperation with Nazi occupiers and the paradoxical transformation of Latvian nationalism into resistance against fascism and communism. Latvian attitudes towards Nazism were formed during Soviet occupation in 1940 when Latvian society, especially the intelligentsia, suffered under severe Communist oppression. Upon occupation by the Nazis in July 1941, teachers expected to return to the “good old days” of the nation state. However, the new occupiers had their own agenda, which did not coincide with Latvian interests. We discuss planned Nazi reforms for the Latvian education system and Latvian pedagogues’ interpretations of the Nazi concept Volksgemeinschaft by comparing the Education Monthly (EM) journal published from 1937 to 1939 with EM published from 1942 to 1944. We conclude that Latvian pedagogues viewed Volksgemeinschaft and its associated reforms as a means to unify the Latvian nation and protect it from external enemies–communists as well as Nazis. Although the Nazis hoped that Volksgemeinschaft would be a monolithic concept in pedagogy, opportunities for interpretation existed and Latvians as far as possible adapted it to suit their own national interests.