Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Reeducation In The American Zone: The Quest For Democracy In Post-War Germany, Lael D. Sharp

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

"'There is an embarrassment ... about trying to force people to have freedom."'1 This statement, given in 1943 by Stringfellow Barr, a member of the General Advisory Committee on Reeducation for the State Department, proved to be prophetic for the reeducation and denazification efforts of the United States in post-war Germany. Faced with a lack of consensus about policy goals, a severe shortage of resources, a scarcity of qualified Germans untainted by National Socialism, and a decimated educational infrastructure, the direct results of reeducation were predestined to be meager. However, if democracy was to take root and flourish in Germany …