Editing Bernhard Rust

{{Short description|Minister of Science, Education and National Culture of Nazi Germany}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = 
| name                = Bernhard Rust
| image               = Bundesarchiv Bild 119-1998, Bernhard Rust.jpg
| alt                 = 
| caption             = Rust {{circa}}1934
| office              = [[Reich Ministry of Science, Education and Culture|Reich Minister of Science, Education and Culture]]
| term_start          = 1 May 1934
| term_end            = 30 April 1945
| leader              = [[Adolf Hitler]]
| deputy              = 
| lieutenant          = 
| predecessor         = ''Office established''
| successor           = [[Gustav Adolf Scheel]]
| office2             = Prussian Minister for Science, Culture and Public Education
| term_start2         = 2 February 1933
| term_end2           = 1 May 1934
| leader2             = [[Adolf Hitler]]
| predecessor2        = {{ill|Wilhelm Kähler|de|Wilhelm Kähler (Politiker)}}
| successor2          = ''Office abolished''
| office3             = Gauleiter of South Hanover-Brunswick
| term_start3         = 1 October 1928
| term_end3           = November 1940
| leader3             = [[Adolf Hitler]]
| predecessor3        = ''Office established''
| successor3          = [[Hartmann Lauterbacher]]
| office4             = Gauleiter of North Hanover
| term_start4         = 22 March 1925
| term_end4           = 30 September 1928
| leader4             = [[Adolf Hitler]]
| predecessor4        = ''Office established''
| successor4          = ''Office abolished''
| title5              = Additional positions
| suboffice5          = Member of the [[Prussian State Council]]
| subterm5            = 1933—1945
| suboffice6          = Member of the [[Reichstag (Nazi Germany)]]
| subterm6            = 1933—1945
| suboffice7          = ''[[Inspekteur (NSDAP)|Landesinspekteur]]'' for [[Lower Saxony]]
| subterm7            = 1932
| suboffice8          = Member of the [[Reichstag (Weimar Republic)]]
| subterm8            = 1930—1933
| pronunciation       = 
| birth_name          = Karl Josef Bernhard Rust
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=y|1883|9|30}}
| birth_place         = [[Hanover]], [[Province of Hanover]], [[German Empire]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=y|1945|5|8|1883|9|30}}
| death_place         = [[Nübel]], [[Allied-occupied Germany]]
| death_cause         = Suicide
| resting_place       = [[Neuberend]]
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| party               = [[NSDAP]]
| otherparty          = [[German Völkisch Freedom Party]]
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Martha Haake|1910|1919|end=d.}}
* {{marriage|Anna-Sofie Dietlein|1920}}<ref name="Kurzbiographie">{{cite web |last1=Janthor |first1=Guido |title=Kurzbiographie über den ehem. Gauleiter Bernhard Rust |url=https://www.luftschutzbunker-hannover.de/home/ftp-server/rust_02.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216074413/https://www.luftschutzbunker-hannover.de/home/ftp-server/rust_02.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 December 2018 |access-date=15 December 2018 |location=Hannover |language=de |date=27 September 2004 }}</ref>
}}
| relations           = 
| children            = 4
| parents             = Johann Franz Rust (father)<br/>Josefa Deppe (mother)<ref name="Kurzbiographie"/>
| education           = 
| alma_mater          = 
| occupation          = Teacher
| profession          = 
| known_for           = 
| cabinet             = [[Hitler Cabinet]]
| awards              = <!-- For civilian awards - appears as "Awards" if |mawards= is not set -->
| signature           = 
| signature_alt       = 
| website             = <!--Military service-->
| nickname            = 
| allegiance          = {{flag|German Empire}}
| branch              = Army
| serviceyears        = 1914–1918
| rank                = ''[[Oberleutnant]]''
| unit                = Infantry Regiment 368<br/>Infantry Regiment 232
| commands            = 
| battles             = [[World War I]]
| mawards             = [[Iron Cross]], 1st and 2nd class
| footnotes           = 
}}

'''Bernhard Rust''' (30 September 1883 – 8 May 1945) was Minister of Science, Education and National Culture (''[[Reichserziehungsministerium|Reichserziehungsminister]]'') in [[Nazi Germany]].<ref name="conscience134">[[Claudia Koonz]], ''The Nazi Conscience'', p 134 {{ISBN|0-674-01172-4}}</ref> A combination of school administrator and zealous Nazi, he issued decrees, often bizarre, at every level of the German educational system to immerse German youth in Nazi ideology.  He also served as the party ''[[Gauleiter]]'' in Hanover and Brunswick from 1925 to 1940.

==Life before politics==
Rust was born in [[Hanover]] and obtained a doctorate in German philology and philosophy. After passing the state teaching examination with the grade ''"gut"'' (i.e. "good")<ref>Hitlers Bildungsreformer: Das Reichsministerium für Wissenschaft, Erziehung und Volksbildung 1934–1945, by Anne C. Nagel, Fischer publishing house, 2012, {{ISBN|978-3596194254}}</ref> in 1908, he became a high school teacher at Hanover's Ratsgymnasium, then served in the army during [[World War I]]. He reached the rank of ''[[Oberleutnant]]'', served as a company commander and was awarded the [[Iron Cross]] first and second class for bravery. He was wounded in action and sustained a severe head injury, which caused serious mental and physical impairments for the rest of his life. He was discharged in December 1918 and returned to Hanover.<ref>Michael D. Miller & Andreas Schulz: Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925–1945, Volume II (Georg Joel – Dr. Bernhard Rust), R. James Bender Publishing, 2017, p. 415, {{ISBN|1-932970-32-0}}.</ref>

==Political career==
Rust joined the [[Nazi Party]] in 1921 and was a cofounder of the ''Ortsgruppe'' (Local Group) in Hanover. When the party was banned in the aftermath of the [[Beer Hall Putsch]], Rust joined the [[German Völkisch Freedom Party]] and served as an ''[[Ortsgruppenleiter]]'' and later as ''[[Gauleiter]]'' for Hanover. When the ban on the Nazi Party was lifted, he rejoined it (membership number 3,390). On 22 March 1925, he was named ''Gauleiter'' for the [[Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany|''Gau'']] of North Hanover. On 10 September 1925, Rust joined the [[National Socialist Working Association]] headed by [[Gregor Strasser]]. This was an association of northern and western ''Gauleiter'' who supported the "socialist" wing of the Party until it was dissolved in 1926 following the [[Bamberg Conference]].<ref>Michael D. Miller & Andreas Schulz: Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925–1945, Volume II (Georg Joel – Dr. Bernhard Rust), R. James Bender Publishing, 2017, pp. 415–416, {{ISBN|1-932970-32-0}}.</ref>

When the ''Gaue'' were reorganised on 1 October 1928, Rust became the ''Gauleiter'' for [[Gau Southern Hanover-Brunswick|Southern Hanover–Brunswick]]. He retained that position until November 1940, when he was succeeded by [[Hartmann Lauterbacher]].<ref>Karl Höffkes: Hitlers politische Generale. Die Gauleiter des Dritten Reiches. Ein biographisches Nachschlagewerk, Grabert-Verlag, Tübingen, 1986, p. 278, {{ISBN|3-87847-163-7}}.</ref> In September 1930, he was elected to the ''[[Reichstag (Weimar Republic)|Reichstag]]'' from electoral constituency 16, [[South Hanover-Braunschweig]]. He would retain this ''Reichstag'' seat through the end of the Nazi regime in 1945. On 15 July 1932 came his appointment as ''[[Inspekteur (NSDAP)|Landesinspekteur]]'' for [[Lower Saxony]]. In that position, he had oversight responsibility for his ''Gau'' and four others (Eastern-Hanover, North Westphalia, South Westphalia & Weser-Ems). That was a short-lived initiative by [[Gregor Strasser]] to centralise control over the ''Gaue''. However, it was unpopular with the ''Gauleiter'' and was repealed on Strasser's fall from power in December 1932. Rust then returned to his ''Gauleiter'' position in Southern Hanover-Brunswick.<ref>Dietrich Orlow: The History of the Nazi Party: 1919–1933 (University of Pittsburgh Press), 1969, pp. 273–295 {{ISBN|0-8229-3183-4}}.</ref>

Shortly after Hitler became chancellor in January 1933, Rust was appointed as the Prussian Minister for Science, Culture and Public  Education on 2 February. He was made a member of the [[Prussian State Council (Nazi Germany)|Prussian State Council]] on 11 July and the [[Academy for German Law]] when it was formed in October 1933.<ref>Michael D. Miller & Andreas Schulz: Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925–1945, Volume II (Georg Joel – Dr. Bernhard Rust), R. James Bender Publishing, 2017, pp. 418–419, {{ISBN|1-932970-32-0}}.</ref>  On 1 May 1934, he was selected as ''[[Reichsminister]]'' of Science, Education and National Culture (''Wissenschaft, Erziehung und Volksbildung'') and set about to reshape the German educational system to conform to his ideals of Nazism. Considered by many to be mentally unstable, Rust would capriciously create new regulations and then repeal them just as quickly. One noted example was in 1935, when he changed the traditional six-day school week to five days, with Saturday to be "Reich's Youth Day", when children in the [[Hitler Youth]] and the [[League of German Girls]] would be out of school for study and testing. He then ordered the creation of a "rolling week", with six days for study, followed by the "youth day" and a rest day, in eight-day periods. Thus, a rolling week starting on Monday would end with rest on the following Monday. The next rolling week would start on Tuesday and end eight days later on the next Tuesday. When the eight-day week proved unworkable, Rust went back to the former system.<ref>''Current Biography 1942'', p 725; "The Good Earth", ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', 30 September 1935</ref>

It was Rust who in 1933 issued a rule that students and teachers should greet each other with the Nazi salute "as a symbol of the new Germany". He added his opinion that it was "expected of every German", regardless of membership in the party.<ref>"Sub-Dictator", ''Time'', 21 August 1933</ref> Rust was instrumental in purging German universities of Jews and others regarded as enemies of the state, most notably at the [[University of Göttingen]]. Nazi Germany's future leaders received their instruction elsewhere, in an [[National Political Institutes of Education|NPEA]], or "Napola" (NAtionalPOLitische erziehungsAnstalten), of which there were 30 in the nation, where they would receive training to become administrators of conquered provinces.<ref>"How Nazis are Trained", ''Time'', 25 August 1941</ref>

He bluntly informed teachers that their aim was to educate ethnically aware Germans.<ref name="conscience134"/> Rust also believed that non-Aryan science (such as [[Albert Einstein]]'s "[[Deutsche Physik|Jewish physics]]") was flawed and had what he felt to be a rational explanation for that view. In an address to scientists, he said, "The problems of science do not present themselves in the same way to all men. The Negro or the Jew will view the same world in a different light from the German investigator".<ref>''Current Biography 1942'', p727</ref> [[Erika Mann]], the daughter of [[Thomas Mann]], wrote an exposé of the Rust system in 1938, ''School for Barbarians'', followed in 1941 by [[Gregor Ziemer]]'s ''[[Education for Death]]''.

==Death==
Rust reportedly committed suicide on 8 May 1945, when Germany surrendered to Allied forces.<ref>{{citation | first1=Christian | last1=Goeschel | title=Suicide in Nazi Germany | page=152 | publisher=OUP Oxford | year=2009 | isbn=978-0191567568 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EIjccRg7_UYC&pg=PA152 | postscript=. }}</ref>

==Spelling reform==
Rust prepared a reform of German [[orthography]], and his fairly-extensive version corresponded to the ideas of the spelling reformers of the 1970s (lowercase common nouns, elimination of lengthening symbols). The attempt met internal resistance within the Reich's ministry. The [[German orthography reform of 1944]] also failed.

Before those failures, the rules of the reform had been printed in millions of copies intended for classroom use and published in numerous newspapers. The 1944 reform was postponed on the orders of Hitler because it was "not important for the war effort". Some of Rust's innovations had, however, found their way into the 1942 [[Duden]], such as the spelling of the word ''Kautsch'' for ''Couch'', which persisted into the 1980s.

Many of the proposed changes were finally implemented with the [[German orthography reform of 1996]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Bernhard Rust}}
* [http://www.spartacus-educational.com/GERrust.htm Short biography of Rust]
* {{cite web |title=Rust, Karl Josef Bernhard |url=https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz64592.html |website=Deutsche Biographie |language=de}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/015221}}
* {{ReichstagDB|119368617}}

{{Hitler's Cabinet}}
{{Nazism}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rust, Bernhard}}
[[Category:1883 births]]
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[[Category:Christian fascists]]
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[[Category:German Army personnel of World War I]]
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[[Category:Government ministers of Nazi Germany]]
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[[Category:Members of the Academy for German Law]]
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[[Category:Members of the Reichstag 1930–1932]]
[[Category:Members of the Reichstag 1932]]
[[Category:Members of the Reichstag 1932–1933]]
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[[Category:Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class]]
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