German Journalist
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!
Links for WWII German Propaganda
German Propaganda Archive - This extremely helpful link gives you over a
hundred German posters from the early 1930's to the late 1940's. They are in
timeline order, so scroll down to see those posters used during the war.
Since they are written in German, the site offers a description, in English,
of each poster's content.
German Propaganda Archive
Medal of Honor's German Posters - Ironically, these are German Propaganda
posters featured in the Playstation 2 Video Game Medal of Honor: Frontline.
But this site gives an English language explanation of each poster, like the
one above.
Medal of Honor German WWII Posters
The BBC's Nazi Propaganda Page - This link is supported and maintained by
Great Britain, and divides the propaganda posters into five categories
including those depicting Hitler as the "Sower of Peace" and Anti-Bolshevism
(Russians).
BBC's Nazi Propaganda Archive
Critical History's Nazi Propaganda - The posters available at this link
provide such strong visual imagery, the words and text are almost an
afterthought. In some cases, the image itself may be enough to "rally
support". What do you think? Take a look...
Critical History's German Propaganda Posters
Other Resources for German Propaganda in WWII
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