Wall Newspaper Posters from 1941 and 1942

The Parole der Woche was a weekly current events poster issued by the Nazi Party between 1936 and 1943, when it was discontinued due to paper shortages caused by the war. It was a commentary on current events, and reflected the central propaganda message of the week. They were accompanied by a playing card sized condensed version that was often pasted to the backs of official correspondence.

I have added two of them from my collection. The first, from fall 1941, boasts of German submarine successes. The second was issued in spring of 1942, and accuses England of being a Soviet puppet.

Peculiar Uses of the German Propaganda Archive (II)

This is the second in a series of occasional commentaries on unusual purposes to which the GPA is put. Just today, I came across the interesting image at the bottom of this post. I'm almost sure the original image was taken from my site. Although one might find reasonable arguments to make against President Obama and his policies, he's probably not a likely second coming of Adolf Hitler. These kinds of arguments stop the conversation, since what possible reply is there to the charge: "You're just like Hitler?"

The Hitler comparison was commonly made with George Bush, but Obama is now "ahead" in the Hitler comparison race. As of today, a Google search for "Bush and Hitler" gets about 1,200,000 hits, whereas "Obama and Hitler" gets just over 8,000,000.

My advice is to stop reading any comparison of Hitler to someone else, unless that someone else really is a Nazi.

State of Deception Exhibition

I usually don't recommend books on this blog, other than my own, but I strongly suggest buying State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda. It has 194 pages, including many unfamiliar illustrations (two of which I provided).

The book accompanies an exhibition on Nazi propaganda running at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Eight More Weekly Quotation Posters

I've added eight more of the weekly quotation posters issued between 1937 and 1944. Each had an inspiring quotation, usually from a Nazi leader. They were posted throughout Germany in public places.

A Nazi Pamphlet from Early in 1932

I'm particularly interested in ephemeral propaganda — posters, leaflets, and pamphlets with a large circulation, but a short life. Today I've added a pamphlet titled The Sensationalist Newspapers Lie! This was issued in large numbers early in 1932, before the March and April presidential elections, and is aimed at members of the Social Democratic Party. It gives a clear idea of the kinds of arguments the Nazis were tailoring to a specific audience.