'This is one of the great developments of the 19th century towards democracy'
By Bob Unruh
A government bureaucrat in Germany says that nation demands all children attend government-approved schools because they all must be "integrated" into society the same way.
"This is one of the great developments of the 19th century towards emancipation and democracy," a recently dated letter to a homeschool advocate said.
WND has reported a number of times on Germany's aggressive enforcement of its Hitler-era ban on homeschooling, and even when parents decided they would flee to Iran to seek a less-oppressive educational environment for their child.
One German student, Melissa Busekros, at one point simply was taken into custody by members of a team of police officers and confined to a mental institution for her crime of being homeschooled. 
Wolfgang Drautz, consul general for the Federal Republic of Germany, has commented on the issue on a blog, noting the government "has a legitimate interest in countering the rise of parallel societies that are based on religion or motivated by different world views and in integrating minorities into the population as a whole."
Drautz said homeschool students' test results may be as good as for those ...   more »