Early Childhood Education during conflict and change: Learning from the World War 2 experience of Breslau, Germany/Wroclaw, Poland

Abstract

This research explores Early Childhood Education (ECE) during an intensely chaotic historical period in one city in Eastern/Central Europe. Breslau, initially a German city, was transferred to Poland and renamed Wroclaw in 1945 after World War 2. Breslau/Wroclaw experienced intense upheaval before, during, and after the war including the almost complete physical devastation of the city and the ensuing massive migration from the expulsion of ethnic Germans and the resettlement of Poles from eastern regions. The impact of war and government policies on the development and continuance of Early Childhood Education as Hitler and National Socialism rose to power, during the months of uncertainty around the end of the war, and on the establishment of a new system of Early Childhood Education in Wroclaw under Soviet domination receive focus in this paper. The results and discussion are applied to contemporary circumstances such as the current crisis in Ukraine, as well as social and political upheaval arising from other emergencies.