A 1938 Painting of Adolf Hitler Surfaces

One of the benefits of my work is that people frequently write me asking for information about something in their possession.  One of the most interesting of those comes from a woman whose father, a B-17 pilot, found this remarkable painting while visiting the bombed-out remains of the beer hall in Munich where Hitler had held many of his early meetings.  I have added it to the page of Nazi paintings of Hitler.

I am not familiar with the artist, one F. Thiele.  I welcome information from anyone who know more about the artist or this painting.

More on “Yankee Beetles” in the GDR

The GPA has material from a 1950 East German pamphlet accusing the United States of dumping potato beetles on the GDR.

The BBC recently did an interesting story on the topic, including interviews with people who were East Germans at the time and who found themselves in the fields with the unpleasant task of plucking potato beetles from the undersides of leaves.  They were rather dubious about the charge, they recall.

International Ethnic Mush (1941)

I particularly like to add ephemera to the GPA — pamphlets and other items that were produced in large numbers, but not intended to grace library shelves for coming generations.  Today’s addition is a remarkable pamphlet titled International Ethnic Mush or United National States of Europe?  It was published in the first half of 1941 by Robert Ley, head of the Nazi labor organization and a person unsavory even by Nazi standards.

The print run was 2,000,000, and I assume it was widely distributed.  It is filled with crude anti-Semitism and a fair amount of Germanic pride.  Ley tells his readers that they are the master race that has earned the right to rule Europe.

Julius Streicher Speech: 31 October 1939

Today I’m adding what was probably Julius Streicher’s last major speech, delivered on 31 October 1939.  He was in considerable difficulty at the time, and was shortly afterward exiled to his country estate outside Nuremberg.

World War II was in its “phony war” stage.  Poland was defeated, but little was happening on the battlefields.  Streicher includes his usual anti-Semitic arguments and encourages his audience to have faith in Hitler.

New Site on Anti-Semitic Propaganda

An interesting new site on German propaganda includes a wide range of images of anti-Semitic material from 1930-1945.  It’s based on the remarkable collection of material held by the site’s owner.

Bytwerk Book Unbanned in China

Back in August 2012 I reported that my book Bending Spines: The Propagandas of Nazi Germany and the German Democratic Republic had been banned on the Chinese mainland, although it remained available in Hong Kong.  A visitor to the blog tells me that the ban has been lifted and the book is now available. I'd appreciate reports from other Chinese readers.  His note follows:

“I just bought and read the Chinese translation of your book. I understand why the Chinese mainland government wants to ban the book, but now the book is available again. 

There are some interesting points in the book that reminds me of what the Chinese government has done in the past (specifically before and during the Cultural Revolution), but many statements don't apply any more. 

There is still a propaganda department in the Chinese Communist Party, but right now cultural diversity is at its peak since the founding of PRC (which is not really a achievement). The Internet has greatly changed the lives of the Chinese people. Though the government has a strict Internet censorship policy, the effect remain limited since there are so many people online. The great fire wall also banned many foreign sites, but we can still visit those banned sites using VPN or other methods, and Internet censorship will face a bigger challenge when IPv6 become more and more popular.”

 I’d appreciate reports from other Chinese readers.  

Digitized Nazi Propaganda Sources

I am sometimes asked to include the German originals on the site.  That would be a lot of extra work, and I am primarily aiming the site at those who cannot read German or at scholars who will be able to secure the original materials should they be needed.

However, increasing amounts of relevant material are appearing on-line.  The Austrians are digitizing long runs of newspapers.  Various Nazi periodicals are available. I often find books digitized.

To help people find such sources, I am beginning a new page that provides links to digitized Nazi propaganda material. I am including only scans from originals.  Places like archive.org have considerable material that has either been typed from the originals or scanned by OCR methods — and these are not always dependable.

I am sure there is a great deal more than I have listed — and more will keep coming.  I’ll welcome suggestions for additions.