Karl Liebknecht School
Encyclopedia
The Karl Liebknecht School (German: Karl-Liebknecht-Schule), named after Karl Liebknecht
, was a German-language elementary school
in Moscow
. It was established for the children of German refugees to the Soviet Union
. It opened in 1924 and was closed in 1939. A number of students and teachers were caught up in the Great Purge
and the Hitler Youth Conspiracy
, many of them executed.
, communists in other countries were encouraged to come to the Soviet Union to help build the world's first communist
state. Germany under the Weimar Republic
was in turmoil, particularly during the between 1919 and 1923, and had a large Communist Party. Numerous members went to the Soviet Union, both for training and as refugees from persecution by political enemies. The Karl Liebknecht School was founded to educate the children of German refugees in the German language, however some Russians also sent their children there.
The school acquired a nickname, Shkola Nashikh Mechtei ("the school of our dreams") and had an orchestra, which was popular with local Muscovites. Hans Hauska, a member of the German Theater's Left Column
, led the choir.
In the first years of the school, as was the case in early Soviet education, there was no history taught. Also, common to other schools employing ideas of progressive education, there no tests or grades, however some by 1935, some practices were "denounced as Trotskyite" and were abandonned. With the help of headmistress Elsa Weber, the school moved into a proper school building on September 1, 1928.
named Sophie Krammer. The previous headmaster was Helmut Schinkel, who had begun working there in 1932, but had made political mistakes. For the final five months, the headmaster was a Russian, named Antip Vassilyevitch Brukov.
The Soviet–German relations worsened following the coming of the Nazis to power in Germany in 1933, which seriously affected the school. In the middle of the school year, a group of pupils were deemed by the NKVD
to be a fascist
group. The pupil determined to be the leader, in the ninth grade, and another child were arrested, along with one teacher. Each was later sentenced. In 1936, the NKVD determined that among the teachers was a "counter-revolutionary, fascist-Trotskyite group". Other cases took place both inside and outside the school. In one case in 1936, a married couple was driven to suicide and in 1937, a number of pupils were executed. Two teachers, Kurt Bertram and Rudolf Senglaub, and thirteen students were arrested in the Hitler Youth Conspiracy, including Kurt Ahrendt, a leader of the Young Pioneers
, who was executed three weeks after his arrest. By the time the purges subsided, 25 teachers and 40 pupils and former pupils had been arrested, as well as many parents. Many never returned. The school was closed in 1938 after it was decided that schools for national minorities were not in sync with the communist party line
.
When the school was closed, children were sent to local Russian schools, to which not all children adapted well.
There was a summer camp for the German-speaking children, the Ernst Thälmann
summer camp, which was also closed at the same time.
Karl Liebknecht
was a German socialist and a co-founder with Rosa Luxemburg of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany. He is best known for his opposition to World War I in the Reichstag and his role in the Spartacist uprising of 1919...
, was a German-language elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. It was established for the children of German refugees to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. It opened in 1924 and was closed in 1939. A number of students and teachers were caught up in the Great Purge
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
and the Hitler Youth Conspiracy
Hitler Youth Conspiracy
The Hitler Youth Conspiracy was a case investigated by the Soviet secret police, during the Great Purge in the late 1930s. Essentially a theory in search of evidence, it nonetheless resulted in the arrest of numerous German teenagers and some in their twenties and beyond, who were accused of having...
, many of them executed.
Background
After the October RevolutionOctober Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, communists in other countries were encouraged to come to the Soviet Union to help build the world's first communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
state. Germany under the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
was in turmoil, particularly during the between 1919 and 1923, and had a large Communist Party. Numerous members went to the Soviet Union, both for training and as refugees from persecution by political enemies. The Karl Liebknecht School was founded to educate the children of German refugees in the German language, however some Russians also sent their children there.
The school acquired a nickname, Shkola Nashikh Mechtei ("the school of our dreams") and had an orchestra, which was popular with local Muscovites. Hans Hauska, a member of the German Theater's Left Column
Left Column (theater troupe)
The Left Column was an agitprop theater troupe during the 1920s and 1930s. The troupe worked in support of the Workers International Relief...
, led the choir.
In the first years of the school, as was the case in early Soviet education, there was no history taught. Also, common to other schools employing ideas of progressive education, there no tests or grades, however some by 1935, some practices were "denounced as Trotskyite" and were abandonned. With the help of headmistress Elsa Weber, the school moved into a proper school building on September 1, 1928.
Purges and closing
During the 1934-1935 school year, there were 750 pupils at the school and a new headmistress, a HungarianHungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
named Sophie Krammer. The previous headmaster was Helmut Schinkel, who had begun working there in 1932, but had made political mistakes. For the final five months, the headmaster was a Russian, named Antip Vassilyevitch Brukov.
The Soviet–German relations worsened following the coming of the Nazis to power in Germany in 1933, which seriously affected the school. In the middle of the school year, a group of pupils were deemed by the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
to be a fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
group. The pupil determined to be the leader, in the ninth grade, and another child were arrested, along with one teacher. Each was later sentenced. In 1936, the NKVD determined that among the teachers was a "counter-revolutionary, fascist-Trotskyite group". Other cases took place both inside and outside the school. In one case in 1936, a married couple was driven to suicide and in 1937, a number of pupils were executed. Two teachers, Kurt Bertram and Rudolf Senglaub, and thirteen students were arrested in the Hitler Youth Conspiracy, including Kurt Ahrendt, a leader of the Young Pioneers
Pioneer movement
A pioneer movement is an organization for children operated by a communist party. Typically children enter into the organization in elementary school and continue until adolescence. The adolescents then typically joined the Young Communist League...
, who was executed three weeks after his arrest. By the time the purges subsided, 25 teachers and 40 pupils and former pupils had been arrested, as well as many parents. Many never returned. The school was closed in 1938 after it was decided that schools for national minorities were not in sync with the communist party line
Party line (politics)
In politics, the line or the party line is an idiom for a political party or social movement's canon agenda, as well as specific ideological elements specific to the organization's partisanship. The common phrase toeing the party line describes a person who speaks in a manner that conforms to his...
.
When the school was closed, children were sent to local Russian schools, to which not all children adapted well.
There was a summer camp for the German-speaking children, the Ernst Thälmann
Ernst Thälmann
Ernst Thälmann was the leader of the Communist Party of Germany during much of the Weimar Republic. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1933 and held in solitary confinement for eleven years, before being shot in Buchenwald on Adolf Hitler's orders in 1944...
summer camp, which was also closed at the same time.
Notable pupils
- Stefan Doernberg
- Werner Eberlein, member of the Socialist Unity PartySocialist Unity Party of GermanyThe Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
politburoPolitburoPolitburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
and son of Hugo EberleinHugo EberleinHugo Eberlein was a German Communist politician. He took part of the founding congress of the Communist Party of Germany , and then in the First Congress of the Comintern , where he held important posts until 1928, the result of his involvement with the Conciliator faction... - Peter FlorinPeter FlorinPeter Florin, born in Cologne on October 2, 1921, is a former East German politician and diplomat.-Early life:Peter's father, Wilhelm Florin, was a leading figure in the pre-war Communist Party of Germany....
- Marianne Lange-Weinert, author and daughter of Erich WeinertErich WeinertErich Bernhard Gustav Weinert was a German Communist writer and a member of the Communist Party of Germany .-Biography:...
- Wolfgang LeonhardWolfgang LeonhardWolfgang Leonhard is a German political author, historian, and expert on Communism. He is the only living member of the Ulbricht Group.-Early years:...
- Max Maddalena, Jr.
- Jan Vogeler, son of Heinrich VogelerHeinrich VogelerHeinrich Vogeler was a German painter, designer, and architect.- Biography :He was born in Bremen, and studied at the academy of arts in Düsseldorf from 1890–95...
- Konrad WolfKonrad WolfKonrad Wolf was an East German film director, son of Friedrich Wolf, brother of Markus Wolf....
- Markus WolfMarkus WolfMarkus Johannes "Mischa" Wolf was head of the General Intelligence Administration , the foreign intelligence division of East Germany's Ministry for State Security . He was the MfS's number two for 34 years, which spanned most of the Cold War...