National Political Institutes of Education

The main task of the NPEA was the "education of National Socialists, efficient in body and soul for the service to the people and the state".

Until the beginning of World War II on 1 September 1939, the Napolas served as strong politically-accentuated elite preparatory schools within the framework of the general higher education system.

From August 1940 onward, they were part of the Hauptamt Dienststelle Heissmeyer[3] and the schools came under the direct influence of the SS, which supplied and supported them.

Heissmeyer considered introducing uniforms and ranks similar to the SS among pupils and teachers but ultimately kept the Hitler Youth organizational structure.

Napola schools were intensely political, deliberately working to make their cadets fervent believers in the Nazi regime and its ideology.

This came into play as Germany's fortunes fell into a decline from which they would never recover, and Nazi leadership increasingly scraped the bottom of the barrel for manpower.

The privileged students of the Napola schools were mobilized in the final months of the war, serving as poorly equipped and minimally trained but highly motivated infantry.