Indeed, the German academy, taken as a whole, far from acting as a barrier for Hitlerism, assisted its progress to power. A key element in the Nazi triumph was the generation of schoolteachers who matured in the last decade of the nineteenth century, were infected by the Völkisch anti-Semitism, and had become senior teachers by the 1920s. The textbooks they used reflected the same influences. The university academics similarly contributed to the rise of Nazi influence by preaching national salvation through panaceas and 'spiritual revivals', instead of sceptical empiricism. Above all, Hitler achieved his greatest success among university students. They were his vanguard. At each stage in the growth of the Nazis, student support preceded general electoral support. The Nazis worked in the first place through the student fraternities, which in 1919 adopted the 'Eisenach Resolution', excluding Jews on racial as well as religious grounds.
- From A History of The Jews by Paul Johnson
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