Gleichschaltung German pronunciation: [ˈɡlaɪçʃaltʊŋ]), meaning "coordination", "making the same", "bringing into line", is a Nazi term for the process by which the Nazi regime successively established a system of totalitarian control and tight coordination over all aspects of society. The historian Richard J. Evans translated the term as "forcible-coordination" in his most recent work on Nazi Germany.

Among the goals of this policy were to bring about adherence to a specific doctrine and way of thinking and to control as many aspects of life as possible.

The period from 1933 to 1937 was characterized by the systematic elimination of non-Nazi organizations that could potentially influence people, such as trade unions and political parties. Those critical of Hitler's agenda, especially his close ties with industry^{[citation needed]}, were suppressed, intimidated or murdered. The regime also assailed the influence of the churches, for example by instituting the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs under Hanns Kerrl. Organizations that the administration could not eliminate, such as the education system, came under its direct control.

Eva Herman (born Eva Feldker 9 November 1958 in Emden, Lower Saxony)^{[citation needed]} is a German author and television presenter. She worked as a news presenter on the nationwide Tagesschau news programme from 1989 to 2006 and also presented various other television programmes for the Norddeutscher Rundfunk until 2007. In 2003, an opinion poll by TNS Emnid professed Herman to be "Germany's favourite presenter". However, a number of her statements in books and the media regarding gender roles and family values led to widespread public controversy in 2006 and her dismissal from the German national broadcaster ARD the following year.

Herman in 2006 and 2007 published two controversially received books regarding to her beliefs on gender roles and family policy. In the public debate that followed^{[citation needed]}, Eva Herman gave a public comment in a press conference where she stated that the esteem for motherhood had been abolished by the 68 movement along many values after they were abused by the Nazis. She explicitly distanced herself from every praise for the Nazis, but criticised the 68er's iconoclastic attempt to redefine values and traditions. On grounds of this statement she was subsequently accused^{[by whom?]} of promoting Nazi ideals.

Johannes Karl Holzamer (October 13, 1906 – April 22, 2007) was a German philosopher, pedagogue and former director general of the German television station ZDF.

Karl Holzamer was born in Frankfurt am Main and after the abitur in 1926 studied philosophy, pedagogy, psychology, and German at Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, the Sorbonne, the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main and the University of Bonn. In 1929, he was awarded his Ph.D. from Munich. After university he applied to the Pedagogic Academy in Bonn and did his First Examination as a Volksschullehrer. His reason for becoming a teacher was, according to him: "If you want to educate as a Volksschule teacher, then you have to go to Volksschule yourself."

In 1931, Holzamer was co-publisher of the magazine "Stimmen der Jugend" ("Voices of Youth") in Düsseldorf. Within a short time, he became an assistant at the Psychological Institute of the University of Bonn and in November 1931 became assistant in the psychological department of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk. In politics he got involved in the "Reichsjugendausschuss" (Council of the Youth in the Reich) of the Zentrumspartei. Parallel to his occupations, an application to become a professor was started.