Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Training Nazi Propagandists

By 1939, the Nazi propaganda apparatus faced a challenge.  Experienced propagandists now had important jobs and new ones had to be trained.  The propaganda leadership was discussing how to do that.  There had to be practical training. As Goebbels said, one could no more produce propagandists by theoretical lectures than one could teach swimming on dry land.

In an article I’m adding today, the Gaupropagandaleiter of East Prussia outlines his methods. Forty new propagandists were sent out with ten experienced ones for 2-3 day stints in towns and villages, where they gained experience and guidance.


The article was published in the party’s monthly for propagandists.  Many other articles from Unser Wille und Weg are also available on the GPA.

2 comments:

Troy Rittenhaur said...

My grandparents were Germans who lived through the National Socialist government of the time, although they lived in Dresden. They told me that at times, the local SS group (later Hitlerjugend) would knock on doors to hand out leaflets that more or less ordered them to attend the next propaganda meeting. The local block leader would make sure of it, by stopping by that day to remind them of the meeting.

I saw one, and speaking fluent German and reading fluent German, the words were "Herr und Frau Rittenhaur" on the top--so they knew they had to attend given that they were specifically invited.

Anonymous said...

I've been reading some of the stuff you've translated. I'm glad you have it all freely accessible, it's extremely interesting to read the behind the scenes stuff not intended for the masses.