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Propaganda played a vital role for the Nazi Party in Germany, both before their rise to power and during WWII. Once Hitler and the Nazis put an end to German democracy, Hitler appointed a man named Dr. Joseph Goebbles to head his "Nazi Propaganda Ministry". This Ministry was in charge of making sure no one ever saw or read anything critical of the Nazi party, or anything of which the Nazi party did not approve. This Ministry was so powerful that on one occasion, Goebbles people, fully supported by a majority of Germans, raided libraries and bookstores all over Germany and took from them anything considered contrary to the advancement of the Third Reich. Book bonfires were lit up on several streets. The reasoning of Goebbles, Hitler and the Nazis was that if you can control what people see, read and hear, you can control their thoughts. If you can control their thoughts, you can do with them whatever you wish... Schools housing students your age in Nazi Germany were not exempt to this mass censorship of thought. Goebbles men would take away from school libraries all non-Reich related material and replace them with books about love for Hitler, blind Nazi Party obediance, and children were actually made to celebrate Hitler's birthday and the classroom and honor the day he took power over Germany. Clearly, propaganda was one of Nazi Germany's most powerful "war machines". Imagine you are a German journalist in WWII. Goebbles is pressuring your boss, the Chief Editor of your newspaper, to pick an inspiring image for the front page - something that will rally support of the war, which is waning because it is late in the timeline of WWII and Hitler is running out of soldiers. As an alternative, he is enlisting boys which many consider too young to fight (which he did). Your boss is very nervous because Goebbles has threatened him with exile if he cannot boost the morale of the German people. Your boss says your job is at stake here! Choose wisely! Follow the criteria on the "Task" page, and report to your boss with your explanatory paragraph!

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Check your local library or bookstore for these titles, which offer further background information about Nazi Propaganda, its power, its uses and its negative and positive affects on the German people. "Bending Spines: The Propagandas of Nazi Germany and the German Democratic Republic" by Randall L. Bytwerk "Backing Hitler: Consent and Coercion in Nazi Germany" by Robert Gellately "Joseph Goebbels: Nazi Propaganda Minister" by Jeremy Roberts

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