For the last few months of World War II the main theme of Nazi propaganda was that if Germans kept fighting, their loyalty and bravery would be crowned with victory. That began to look thin as time went on. Today I add an article dated 3 April 1945 that suggested without too much confidence that victory was still possible, but the basic theme was that Vienna was a lost cause, so the Viennese may as well die fighting.
German Propaganda Archive
Additions, with occasional commentary, to my on-line collection of propaganda from Nazi Germany and the German Democratic Republic
Monday, January 4, 2021
Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Goebbels on British Propaganda (April 1941)
In April 1941 the war was looking good from the Nazi perspective. Goebbels published the article I am adding today that gloated over the failures of British propaganda.
Goebbels mentions a British Ministry of Information campaign on the theme “How Not to Do It.” I’ve tried to chase down that campaign, with limited success. The MoI did began a campaign in June 1941 with the theme “Mend and make do.” Professor David Welch tells me that one element of that campaign was advice on “How not to do this,” which is close to the theme Goebbels provides. Perhaps information on the campaign was released before it began?
If anyone has more information I would surely appreciate it.
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Luther and Hitler 1933
I would like to know more about this poster. It was issued in 1933 on the 450th anniversary of Luther’s birth. I do not know anything more than that, and would welcome enlightenment.
The translation: “Hitler’s battle and Luther’s teaching are the German people’s sure defense.”
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
On Nazi Speaking Guidelines
- Directives for the Anti-Bolshevist Propaganda Action: 20 February 1943
- Goebbels’s essay “The European Crisis”: 28 February 1943
- What Does Bolshevization Mean in Reality?: March 1943
- Speaker Express Information (“The Jewish Question as a Weapon at Home and Abroad”): 5 May 1943
- Goebbels’s essay “The War and the Jews”: 9 May 1943
- Speaker Express Information (“Twilight of the Jews”): 18 May 1943
- Anti-Semitic directives for magazine editors: 21 May 1943
- Goebbels’s essay “Driving Forces”: 6 June 1943