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.

Nazi Perspectives on the Battle of Britain

I’ve added two Nazi magazine articles from September 1940, published at the height of the Battle of Britain.  The first, titled “Why London Is Burning,” argues that England is only getting its just desserts for having violated the laws of war in fighting Germany.  The second, published two weeks later, “The Delayed Invasion,” explains why the fact that England has not yet been invaded is of no significance since England is doomed, invasion or no invasion.  Both articles were probably written by German propagandist Hans Fritzsche.

They were the lead articles in Das Reich, the prestige German weekly.  Goebbels usually wrote the leads, but for the period June-December he did not, probably because Das Reich was new and payment details had not yet been worked out.  Goebbels liked to be well-paid.

A Lot of New Material on the Nazi Speaker System

I have a particular interest in the lower levels of the Nazi propaganda system.  A significant part of that was the speaker corp that delivered the Nazi message to people throughout Germany.  These speakers needed to be informed  — and kept from saying the wrong things.

Today I’m adding a dozen or so editions of the Redner-Schnellinformation, an irregular publication for speakers. Some are from the beginning of the crisis on the Eastern Front.  Others deal with how to treat foreign leaders, how to present Rommel’s victories in Africa, or what to say to women.

This material was done in haste, often in response to immediate events.  Mistakes sometimes occur.  For example, in #24 (4 January 1942) speakers are instructed:

We have a political interest in distinguishing clearly and intentionally that part of the American continent, namely North America, that is waging war against us from the other countries of the American continent. Avoid, therefore, speaking of America as the enemy, but rather always heed the fact that our enemy is not all of America, but rather onlyNorth America or the United States of North America, or the USA. Speakers should be sure to clearly distinguish these terms.

Issue #26 (21 February 1942) followed these instructions.  However, they were forgotten by issue #28 (14 March 1942), in which there is this passage:

Given the continuing attempts through using reports of German losses in the East, through lying reports of vast armaments capacity in America, through political agitation in the occupied territories and in the neutral world, etc., they try to create the impression that they have not been affected by the results of the war and that we have no chance of final victory. 

I also added two essays by Joseph Goebbels from Das Reich that speakers were instructed to use as the basis of their speeches: “What is Sacrifice” and “A Word to All.”

Winston Churchill in Nazi Propaganda

Back in 2009 my article on Winston Churchill in Nazi caricatures appeared in Finest Hour, the monthly publication of the Churchill Centre.  It is now available on-line.

Many caricatures are available on the GPA page on Winston Churchill.

German Foreign Office Propaganda from 1941

In the convoluted system of Nazi propaganda, all sorts of people and offices produced propaganda, sometimes to the considerable annoyance of Joseph Goebbels. One interesting outlet was the Deutsche diplomatisch-politsche Korrespondenz, something of a mimeographed press release that was a semi-official  service of the German Foreign Office.  It was intended primarily for the press.   I’m adding translations of three of the issues from 1941.  The first, dated 10 October 1941, earned the wrath of Joseph Goebbels, since it claimed that the campaign in Russia was essentially over and that Russia had collapsed.  That turned out not to be entirely accurate.  Goebbels would have preferred to hold back claims of complete victory until complete victory had been attained.  The second is a completely misguided analysis of British politics.  The third was issued after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but before Hitler’s declaration of war on 11 December.

Slogan of the Week Posters

The Nazi Party’s Central Propaganda Office issued a weekly poster that was kind of wall newspaper. It emphasized the main propaganda message of the moment. A friend of the site led me to a dozen of these from 1941, to add to the two I already had. The Nazis also issued a playing card-sized “Reader’s Digest” version of the large poster, examples of which are available on another page.

Winston Churchill in Nazi Propaganda

The latest addition is a collection of Nazi propaganda about Winston Churchill, which includes a wide range of images from 1933-1944. It will accompany an essay I'm working on.

New Covers from Lustige Blätter

Lustige Blätter was a weekly magazine of humor and satire. I already have quite a bit of visual material from the magazine on the site, but am occasionally adding more. Today, I added two covers from 1941.