Purged Textbooks

How shall the enemy be re-educated and by whom? While statesmen and educators debate, the Allied Commission in Italy has already made a start. An Educational Subcommission headed by Major C. W. Washburne, onetime Winnetka, Ill. superintendent of schools, is now distributing a million new textbooks for little ex-Fascists.

The commissioners found the old state-issued textbooks crammed with Fascist fee-fo-fum.

P: Primers, illustrated with colorful pictures of Fascist soldiers, taught the alphabet with such examples as "F as in fascio." One of the first reading lessons: " 'Duce, Duce,' the voice of the children reaches up into the office where the Duce is working. The Duce hears it and smiles and works for them. Says the Duce: 'Be good children and obey. To obey is your first duty.' "

P: Arithmetic books offered this typical problem: "In order to live Mussolini once had to work as a stone mason. He describes it in his diary. He worked eleven hours per day, received 32 centesimi per hour, made 121 trips per day with his wheelbarrow full of stones. How many lire did he make per day, per week? How many trips with his wheelbarrow did he make per month?"

P: Geography books identified the Mediterranean as "Mare Nostro," taught only Italian geography until the fifth grade. Then they indicated the relative size, strength and importance of other nations with drawings of a Fascist-saluting giant (Italy) beside a diminutive figure representing the other nation.

In the new books, all such political mind-molders have been replaced with references to soil, crops, etc. But the Subcommission left the really tough job of Axis textbook revision still to be done. Lacking time to provide new chapters explaining why Fascism is bad and democracy good, it simply deleted all references to political and social events after World War I.

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