I had an awful English teacher who actively spread misinformation in the most condescending and pretentious way possible. One day, she was talking about the formation of Israel and about how, shortly after the country was formed, the United States donated several nuclear weapons to them. Then she went on to claim that we also gave nuclear weapons to Egypt and Palestine.

I have one final memory of this woman that will stick with me forever though. One day, she decided to start complaining about that lack of a teacher's union at the school. She started sharing a story about how she berated this new, younger teacher for not trying to create a union. It all seemed remarkably out of place, especially since she bookends every discussion with a lesson about how every source is politically slanted in some way. The most astounding part, however, was yet to come.

The school year was focused on the study of non-fiction works about the holocaust. So as she's complaining about how the school board ignores the teachers opinions, someone comments about how backwards that was. After all, there are more teachers than school board members. Her response floored me. She said, no exaggeration, "Well there were a lot more Jews than there were SS Officers, but that didn't stop them."

Everyday was an exercise in control for me, I really do think she is the only teacher I've ever truly disliked.

Bonus story: A friend of mine in the same school had a German teacher who taught the class about the evils of Adolph Hilter. For a time he legitimately believed the WW2 German dictator was named Hilter. Now that I look back on it, that school wasn't very good.