This is scary stuff. Parents who homeschool their children are being thrown into jail in the facist nation of Germany. Here are the details of one case:
Last Thursday the German police arrested Katharina Plett, a homeschooling mother of twelve. Yesterday her husband fled to Austria with the children. Homeschooling is illegal in Germany since Hitler banned it in 1938. The Plett family belongs to a homeschooling group of seven Baptist families in Paderborn. We wrote about their case last year.
Stefan Sedlaczek of the Catholic website kreuz.net heard about her arrest on Saturday. He reports today that a female plain-clothes police officer rang at Katharina Plett’s house on Thursday around 11:00 am. When she opened the door other police officers, who had hidden themselves, forced their way in. Mrs Plett was allowed to change, but a police officer followed her into her bedroom in case “she would arm herself and shoot us all.” The woman was able to inform her husband by mobile phone before the police brought her to Bielefeld.
The authorities later informed her husband that she has been imprisoned in Gelsenkirchen. Apparently she has been given a ten day prison sentence. When Sedlaczek rang the Gelsenkirchen prison authorities to get confirmation of Katharina Plett’s whereabouts, he was told that no information would be given. A written request for information has so far not been answered either. Unless we are mistaken, the German mainstream media have not written anything about this case yet.
Yesterday, Katharina’s husband fled with their children to a Christian family center in Wolfgangsee in Austria. A homeschooling couple from Hamburg has also fled to Wolfgangsee. Their case was covered in the media. In Austria parents are entitled to homeschool during a one year trial period, after which the authorities decide whether the parents are allowed to continue homeschooling or not.
An underclass being forced to flee to Austria, thrown into prison, and being called on by the police because of their education choices. Google will quickly reveal that this is not the only case like this. Hitler is famous – well, for many things actually – but of relevance here, he is famous for saying to those who woulf not join his side: “We don’t need you; we already have your children.” This is why he banned homeschooling. Hitler’s legacy lives on in the Fatherland.
This is why the classical liberal right of families to make their own eucation choices is so important. When the state literally controls the education of your children and can force you to give up your right to teach them, they become you, and you become all but redundant. Notice that – I didn’t say that if you kids go to school you are redundant, I said that if you have no choice but to hand your kids over to the state on demand so that they can be taught, you are redundant.
This is just one terrifying insight to the glaring, huge, and unmissable difference between the liberal left that dominates Europe, and Christian Classical Liberalism. Christian Classical Liberalism recognises that separation of Church and State is great, but we need a whole lot more. Not only should the state not run our religion, but they shouldn’t run our ideological and educational choices, or our lives.
Matt Tucker
Germany is particularly terrible in this regard. They have a bad track record of disallowing free speech and such.
Matt Tucker
I also gotta wonder how many Hitler laws are still in effect!
Tim
This is truly frightening stuff. Terrifying, in fact. Meanwhile, of course, there is a real threat growing in Europe that will undoubtedly culminate in catastrophic bloodshed within a generation. Hint to the German authorities: it isn’t the Baptist homeschoolers you have to fear. (“Arm herself and shoot us all” — yeah, right.)
I told my wife the other day that there is room in the American midwest for seven German-speaking Baptist homeschooling families. If they want to come over, we’ll welcome them. If they can’t afford it, we’ll take up a collection. I’d contribute in a heartbeat.