ABSTRACT
BY dismissing so many Jewish and other non-Aryan or non-Nazi teachers, by depriving thousands of Jewish professional men of their jobs, and by deliberately reducing for a time the number of university students, the Nazis were unwittingly bringing about a serious dearth of properly trained men in the various professions. By 1937 there were grave shortages of teachers, engineers, chemists, and other trained men. Matters were aggravated by the fact that all university students had to do six months’ labour service, and the men students had to do two years’ military service in addition. Moreover, they entered the university ill prepared, because school-teaching had deteriorated, and too much time was devoted to extra-school activities. In 1941 the Ministry of Education reported a serious shortage of trained personnel for Government offices and schools, and proposed a reduction in the standard of qualifications and of examinations. In the same year the German Occupational Guidance Bureau estimated that by 1950 there would be a deficit of over 20,000 teachers, 20,000 lawyers, and about 14,000 qualified engineers.65 And this in spite of the lure of reduced periods of study for various professions since 1939 or earlier. Let us look at the plight of some of the professions separately.
