Hitler took a middle course. He was enamored of Greece and Rome and wanted their broad strokes learned in school. However, any account of antiquity that did not adhere to his views of the ideal state was punished.
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The robust tradition of German philology was now suspect, an example of "those unbearable humanists of the Weimarer Klassik". Beginning in 1933, numerous scholars were dismissed from their posts, including the most famous Ciceronian, Konrat Ziegler.
Another philologist, Karl Meister, had his dismissal proceedings initiated after giving a lecture entitled "Cicero as orator and politician." This was part of a general purge from the academy of scholars who did not toe the regime's line.
As a result, the Germans, who had been the leading producers of Ciceronian scholarship in 1933, published only 2 articles in 1947. Their tradition of excellence had been wiped out. The primary beneficiaries of this dearth were Americans, who began to busily produce Ciceronian scholarship.
In short, certain figures from antiquity are more easily beloved by totalitarian regimes than others. (And it isn't those who insisted on freedom of speech and thought.) And all academics are figures of suspicion, unless they agree to be spokespeople for the regime.
And finally, the loss of knowledge and tradition is truly heartbreaking, and has long-term effects. Classical studies, which had begun to blossom in Russia, lost almost a century, and the proud position of Germany as THE destination for Altertumswissenschaft never fully recovered.
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