Bernhard Rust

Bernhard Rust Minister of Education.

Bernhard Rust (1883 - May 1945) was Minister of Education of the Reichserziehungsministerium in Nazi Germany. He was born in Hannover, and studied Germanistics, Latin and Greek in the university, before serving in the army during the First World War. He was awarded the Iron Cross for bravery.

He joined the NSDAP in 1922. He worked as a high school teacher, but lost his job in 1930, Rust had a history of mental instability and often issued contradictory policy directives. Rust was then elected to the Reichstag later that year. In 1934 he became Minister of Education for the Reich. Rust was instrumental in purging German universities, most notably the University of Göttingen, of Jews, political enemies and other non-Nazis. He once remarked: "the whole function of education is to create Nazis."

Rust committed suicide when it became clear that Germany was losing the war.