>>514133616
Yes — quite a few high-level Nazis came out of Germany’s elite boarding school / internat culture, especially the old Prussian-style cadet schools and academically prestigious humanist gymnasiums.
A few key points:
Prussian Cadet Corps – This was the military boarding school system that trained boys from aristocratic and upper-middle-class families for officer careers. Many future Nazi generals, SS leaders, and bureaucrats had been shaped in this environment. The culture emphasized hierarchy, obedience, harsh discipline, and unquestioning loyalty — traits that meshed well with later Nazi structures.
German Gymnasiums & Internats – Elite humanist gymnasiums and residential schools were major pipelines for the educated bourgeoisie and aristocracy. They instilled nationalist, conservative, and often authoritarian worldviews, even before the Nazis came to power. Many Nazi intellectuals and technocrats came from these circles.
Corps & Student Fraternities – After boarding school, many of these men went into university student corps (Burschenschaften and Corps), which were highly nationalistic, elitist, and often steeped in dueling culture. These organizations provided social networks that later aligned strongly with Nazism.
Some examples:
Heinrich Himmler (Reichsführer-SS) – son of a strict Bavarian headmaster, educated in elite gymnasium culture.
Reinhard Heydrich (architect of the Holocaust) – also a product of strict gymnasium upbringing with military cadet training.
Hermann Göring – attended elite military schools, son of a high-ranking official.
Many Wehrmacht generals (like Erich von Manstein and Wilhelm Keitel) – came directly from Prussian cadet schools.
So while not every Nazi leader came from this background, the culture of German elite boarding schools, cadet academies, and corps fraternities produced a disproportionate number of the movement’s leadership — especially among the officer class and upper bureaucracy.