Was My Former Teacher a Nazi?

In 1961 I was eight years old and in third grade attending St. Luke's School. As you may have guessed, St. Luke's was a private Catholic K-8 school. Third grade was a particularly troubling time for me. My parents were at the end of a messy scandal-ridden divorce and working through the unchartered landscape of custody, alimony, and Sunday visitations. There was also the fact that the nuns, who ran the school, knew the ins and outs of my parents' failed marriage.

Although the Sisters were steeped in the teachings of forgiveness and judge not lest ye be judged, still sly remarks reached little ears, and some in my class enjoyed a swipe or two at me. In my defense, I learned to deflect through comedy. At recess and lunch time I performed what we'd now call stand-up routines. My best act was, "I was born in a walnut." I had them eating out of my hand and the torment stopped.

My third-grade teacher, whom I will call Mrs. S. was an older woman with deep circles under her eyes and a wide waist. When my mother asked me who my teacher was and I told her, my mother pressed, "Is she German?" I didn't know and shrugged. My mother asked, "Does she have a German accent?" What the heck was that, I pondered but answered no.

As the year went on she taught us Math, Reading, and History. There was one boy in my class I will call Nick B. When it came to anything historic, such as Napoleon or WWI or WWII causes and battles he argued with Mrs. S saying she had it all wrong. I don't know why we agreed with Nick B. but we did. Mrs. S. retaliated by throwing chalk and hitting the back of our hands with a ruler. (Those of us who agreed with Nick)

Things escalated and Mrs. S brought in a pointer. Not the collapsable ones we see today, but a long wooden stick with a rubber tip. She proceeded to wack any student in class who laughed and sided with Nick B.

She had strong opinions as to what caused the Civil War. She said that it was the argument between the rights of the Nation over the rights of States. She stated we were brainwashed to believe it was about slavery. Even in our third-grade minds, we knew that wasn't correct. The class erupted into chaos. Two young priests had to come in and settle things down.

Nick B. was expelled and Mrs. S left teaching after that brawl. Sister Rosetta, our new teacher, told us that Mrs. S and her husband moved back to Germany.

That was all I thought about it until recently records have been released concerning high-ranking Nazi German military officials that were brought over to America by corporations such as Ford, Chrysler, and General Electric to provide systematic leadership. Ford had a large plant in my city.