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    "label": "Address by Telford Taylor, The Occupation of Germany and American Foreign Policy",
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    "title": "Address by Telford Taylor, The Occupation of Germany and American Foreign Policy",
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    "ocrText": "TRUMAN.\n5. c ARCHIVES \"NATIONAL SERVIÇE\" RECORDS AND THE\n- 6 -\nWhat I have described is a noticeable and noteworthy trend. How widely-\nheld such views may be today in Germany, I think no one knows. The whole pro-\nblem of German reorientation or reeducation is one of baffling complexity and\nmagnitude. It cannot be forced upon them, and must ultimately be accomplished\nby the Germans themselves. The Germans have been fed lies and propaganda for\nso long that they are now, not unnaturally, highly suspicious of any published\nmaterial and very cynical concerning all public affairs. There are 3 million\nGerman school children in the American occupation zone, and 15,000 schools.\nThere are no text-books or histories dealing with recent European history; the\nNazi books are no longer in use - at least not openly - and no new ones have\nyet appeared to take their place. Recent history and politics are, of course,\nthe most controversial subjects, and are the focus of interest among German\nstudents. But these subjects are, on the whole, taught orally. Fundamentally,\nwe do not know what kind of a picture German students are getting of the years\nthrough which their country has just passed. The entire staff of American\nmilitary government directly concerned with schools and colleges numbers only\nabout sixty, and this is a mere drop in the bucket.\nUnfortunately, while the reorientation of German political and historical\nthinking is critically important - to my mind the crux of the whole occupation -\nit is not spectacular or dramatic. Yet in this field, if any\"here, American\nuniversities and educational foundations can play a vitally important role in\nthe execution of American foreign policy. Neither the Department of State nor\nthe Army is equipped to handle such matters; the government can do little more\nthan point out the need, and it is the responsibility of American scholars and\neducators to grapple with the substance. There is urgent need for sustained\nand large-scale concentration on this problem, for otherwise it will surely go\nby default, and American scholarship will have failed to meet the challenge."
}