A NEW film starring Eddie Izzard tells the fascinating story of how a Sussex school became home to daughters of prominent Nazis.
Six Minutes to Midnight, which was co-written by Izzard, shows how the Augusta Victoria College in Bexhill was used to educate young girls related to key figures in Hitler's regime in the 1930s.
Historians believe the school was part of a strategy to build good relations between the two countries, as part of Hitler's original plan to keep Britain on side.
Heinrich Himmler's goddaughter attended the school, as well as Bettina von Ribbentrop, daughter of Germany's foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop.
Other pupils included Countess Haldenberg, niece to the German ambassador Herbert von Dirksen, and Isa von Bergen, the daughter of Hitler's ambassador to the Vatican.
Eddie Izzard, who grew up in Bexhill, has spent years researching the school's little-known history and stars as a teacher in Six Minutes to Midnight, alongside Dame Judi Dench.
Julian Porter, curator at the Bexhill Museum, worked with Izzard to investigate the story of how these wealthy young girls came to be learning Nazi propaganda on the Sussex coast.
He said: "We've been working on it for about ten years. It's a scary story.
"This was going on on our doorstep."
The finishing school aimed to help girls aged between 16 and 21 improve their English before they entered British society, and they took lessons in English customs, etiquette and deportment.
But pupils were also made to sing Nazi songs, practise the Nazi salute and celebrate Hitler's birthday every year.
The school had a swastika and the German imperial flag on its badge as well as the Union Jack, and historians believe the school was part of a plan to infiltrate British society in the 1930s.
Julian said: "A lot of it was more to do with soft power and information gathering.
"Hitler wanted to keep the British Empire out of the war, either as an ally or at least not getting involved, so he could take over the rest of Europe.
"If the devil wants to be your friend, what do you do? This was the dilemma.
"These girls would come out of college at marriage age, speaking perfect English, and they would be looking to marry within high society where they could influence decisions.
"If things went wrong – better to know your enemy."
The college is believed to have been set up in 1934 and was headed by Frau Helene Rocholl, who was connected to the Nazi regime.
But why Bexhill?
Julian said there was already a strong German association with the town that went back to the early 1800s, when German infantry were based there during the Napoleonic wars.
He said: "There was a strong German tradition in Bexhill and it was a centre of education back then, filled with private schools.
"There were already lots of foreign language students in the town. It is also a handy seaside location if you want to invade.
"But this was not the same as having another German school there. It had a swastika flying on its flag."
As well as studying German newspapers filled with Nazi propaganda, the girls spent a lot of time playing sports and having fun and sunbathing at the beach.
Their presence was well known in the town but Julian said there is little evidence of any complaints from residents.
He said: "Everyone knew it was here and the girls seemed to fit in.
"They were accepted and tolerated because as long as they were there, everyone in Bexhill was confident there was not going to be a war, as the Nazis would not bomb their daughters.
"In 1938, during the Munich crisis, the girls did return to Germany for two weeks but then came back.
"During that last month before the war broke out, little is known about what went on at the college, which gave the film a bit of artistic licence."
A Bexhill Observer newspaper article from 1939 shows how Frau Rochell had plans to open a boys' college as well.
Described as "tall and stately", she is quoted as saying: "There's not going to be a war. It's lessons as usual here.
"So convinced am I of peace for years to come that I have taken over another establishment. This will be opened as an international college for boys, where 100 young men from all over the world can be educated together."
But the boys' college never came to be. Staff and the girls fled the school in September 1939, days before the Second World War broke out, and the school was then used as a hospital during the war.
Julian described the story of the school as "hidden history".
He said: "It's quite shocking. What we need to remember is we can look back at the Second World War with hindsight, but there were plenty of fascists here in the 1930s.
"You had the Black Shirts and Mosley. Everyone was still traumatised from the First World War.
"Herbrand Sackville, the ninth Earl De La Warr, was a pacifist, but he was in government and was instrumental in getting war declared.
"He recognised this was not just another war against a country, but an existential threat from an evil ideology of Nazism."
Six Minute to Midnight is available to watch on Sky Cinema and Now TV from March 26.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel