This Classroom Experiment Explains How Hitler Rose to Power & No One Protested

"Why did the Nazis rise to power in Germany and why were the Germans ignorant about the Holocaust and concentration camps? Why didn't anyone protest the fascism?", a student asked his history teacher.

"I'm not very sure", the teacher replied.

Ron Jones, a history teacher in Cubberley high school in Palo Alto, pondered over the logical question that his student asked. A Stanford graduate and famous for his unconventional pedagogical experiments, Jones came up with a game that actually turned out to be a 5-day social experiment known as "The Third Wave."

To demonstrate the totalitarian rule in Germany and how the Nazi party brainwashed and manipulated German civilians, he came up with a set of principles for his experiment-

• Strength through discipline

• Strength through community

• Strength through action

• Strength through pride

• Strength through understanding

Day 1: Strength through discipline

Mr. Jones introduced the art of discipline in his class of fewer than 30 sophomores. He i̶n̶v̶i̶t̶e̶d̶ commanded the students to sit in a straight posture and move up and down the aisle in an attentive position. No distraction or no murmuring was allowed.

The activity was repeated numerous times throughout the day. He asked the students to address him by "Mr. Jones". Silent reading sessions were encouraged and students who disobeyed were reprimanded. The drill was repeated until the students conformed to all the rules.

By practicing an authoritarian learning environment, Mr. Jones unveiled some shocking revelations - students who never participated in any activity in the class started speaking, better questions were being asked, and overall, the class became more punctual. For day one, this was definitely a positive outcome!

Day 2: Strength through community

On the second day, the discipline drill continued. In addition, they were asked to adhere to a common uniform. The students sat in a concentrative posture when Mr. Jones made his way to the class.

He wrote the mantras -" strength through discipline and community" in bold letters - and directed the students to stand up and recite them in unison. Two students joined, then four, and then the whole class. This became the motto and students recited the motto together as a community with varying degrees of loudness.

Later that day, Mr. Jones came up with a common salute and named it the Third Wave salute. To his surprise, the whole class followed it for the next couple of days without any reminders.

Day 3: Strength through action

On Day 3, Mr. Jones planned to expand the community of the Third Wave by issuing a membership card. The cards were issued to only those students who successfully demonstrated the third wave principles.

Three students were assigned to keep an eye on everyone who failed to comply with the rules.

Mr. Jones was shocked when more than twenty students approached him to report a deviated behavior of one of the students who did not perform the Third Wave salute.

Later that day, he assigned responsibilities to students for drawing the Third Wave banner.

Day 4: Strength through pride

By day 4, Mr. Jones was quite exhausted and could not distinguish between role-playing and his real behavior. The students took the game way too seriously and the teacher realized that now it was time to start wrapping it up.

With more than eighty students in the class, Mr. Jones fabricated another story about how this program crossed a classroom activity and should now spread to become a nationwide movement called the "Third Wave youth program".

Only the Third Wave members were entitled to participate and fight to bring political change to the country. At the end of the day, Mr. Jones announced -

"It's all set for tomorrow. Be in the small auditorium ten minutes before 12:00. Be seated. Be ready to display the discipline, community, and pride you have learned. Don't talk to anyone about this. This rally is for members only."

Day 5: Strength through understanding

On the final day, Dr. Jones prepared the auditorium for the rally. The students began to fill the hall row by row. With a sense of fervor on their faces and Third Wave banners in their hands, more than 200 students crammed into the room.

Dr. Jones started with the Third Wave salute followed automatically by two hundred arms. "Strength through discipline" was recited by all of them in repetitive chorus.

Next, he wanted to unveil the party leader to students. He started the projector and played the footage of Hitler and the Nuremberg Rally instead.

The bewildered students looked at Mr. Jones. He paused, broke his silence and began to talk.

"Listen closely, I have something important to tell you." "Sit down." "There is no leader! There is no such thing as a national youth movement called the Third Wave. You have been used. Manipulated. Shoved by your own desires into the place you now find yourself. You are no better or worse than the German Nazis we have been studying."

What does the experiment tell about human psychology?

The same students who criticized and opposed Hitler's fascist principles were easily trapped into becoming a mini authoritarian group. Why?

Because the class was obliged to follow certain principles - an authoritative figure to look up to, a common set of driving principles, dress code/salute, and a symbol. The students were given a sense of belonging and togetherness. They were brainwashed and infused with a sense of pride in revolutionizing their country.

The ones who did not conform to the rules were outrightly asked to leave the community. Thus creating a common enemy.

Like the members of a cult, they were manipulated and brainwashed. The experiment explains the cult-like personalities of many of the modern-day dictators - Joseph Stalin, Saddam Hussein, and more recently Kim Jong-un.

Lastly

The Third Wave was highly criticized and Dr. Jones was fired from the school. The social experiment was clearly successful in radicalizing the malleable minds of young children.

In 2008, the German film Die Welle (The Wave) was released which was based on Ron Jones' social experiment The Third Wave. And in 2010, a documentary Lesson Plan shared experiences of former students who participated in Mr. Jones's unconventional experiment.

References-

1. The third wave, 1967: an account - Ron Jones

2. Netflix's We Are the Wave Is Inspired By an Infamous '60s High School Experiment on Nazi Germany