Goebbels on the Success of Nazi Propaganda Abroad (1943)

The Nazis began a major anti-Semitic propaganda campaign in May 1943. Anti-Semitism was to be incorporated in as many ways as possible.  A few weeks after the start of the campaign Goebbels’s weekly article in Das Reich titled "Driving Forces” focussed on the alleged influence of Nazi propaganda abroad and on supposed Jewish attempts to limit its success.

My Recent Lecture on Nazi Anti-Semitism

I gave a lecture at Oregon State University on April 9, 2018 on Nazi anti-Semitism.  It is available on YouTube:

Instructions for a 1943 Nazi Anti-Semitic Campaign

Even though much of the killing of the Holocaust was finished by May 1943, the Nazis still promoted anti-Semitism. They feared that Germans might decide that anti-Semitism was no longer  relevant. In May 1943, as part of a broader anti-Semitic campaign, the Deutscher Wochendienst, a confidential newsletter for magazine editors, provided a catalog of anti-Semitic argument that editors were to use in their publications.

I am adding a full translation of that issue. And although I rarely include the German original of material on the site, I am including a pdf of the original, since it is such a rare and illuminating document.

Germany’s View of Colonies in 1941

Germany lost its African colonies after WWI.  Even before the Nazi takeover in 1933, many Germans demanded the return of those colonies, a demand the Nazis fully supported. A variety of organizations promoted awareness of Germany’s former colonies.

In 1941, it seemed entirely reasonable to think that Germany would be able to regain those colonies.  The yearbook of the Reich Colonial Federation began that year by reviewing the indignities to which German colonists had been subjected, concluding that Germany was now in a position not to ask for the return of its colonies, but simply to take them.

Goebbels Responds to Insults

Joseph Goebbels was himself a master of invective, but wasn’t happy when others used it against him.  Today I am adding a 1929 essay from Der Angriff in which he takes up a variety of accusations against him.  He basically says he will not dignify them with a reply, but will instead respond in ways his enemies do not expect.

Erwin Schockel's "The Political Poster"

Erwin Schockel’s book Das politische Plakat is one of the most interesting Nazi books on propaganda.  Published in 1938 (with a second printing in 1939), it was intended as the first of a series of books for Nazi propagandists.  The outbreak of war put an end to the plan.

I’ve translated what to me is the most interesting chapter: a discussion of good and bad posters, with many examples.  For example, this poster from the Economic Party is discussed as an amusingly bad poster.

This, on the other hand, is a good one:

Schockel thinks it has a serious weakness: Hitler looks like a Hollywood film actor in soft focus rather than the all-powerful Führer.

Nazi History in Gau Westfalen-Süd

The Nazis produced a series of histories of their early years in various German districts.  These were typically thick volumes filled with stories of brave Nazis fighting against great odds until Hitler’s victory in 1933.

Today I am adding sections of one such book, a history of party activities in Gau Westfalen-Süd.  Since the book runs over 600 pages, I am translating only enough to give a sense of its contents.