Bildbericht der Woche (1939)

The Bildbericht der Woche was a weekly film strip issued by the Nazi Party’s propaganda office, the Reichspropagandaleitung.  It was intended for use in the countryside or neighborhood meetings where people were less likely to attend a movie theater to see the weekly newsreel.  About 1575 copies were produced each week in 1941.

This is #12, issued in late March of 1939 just after Hitler had taken over the rest of Czechoslovakia and bullied Lithuania into returning the Memel district, which had been lost under the Treaty of Versailles.  The speaker presenting the show would have had a text to read explaining each picture, which I unfortunately do not have.  Should you be able to identify any of the pictures more precisely than I have been able to do, kindly let me know.

1938 Nazi Editorial Cartoon on the USA

After the Munich Agreement that turned over the Sudetenland to Germany, the U.S. grew increasingly worried about Germany.  The German side generally reacted vehemently to any criticism from abroad. This editorial cartoon appeared in the Wiener Neueste Nachrichten of 29 October 1938.

The caption loosely translates as “Clean up your own mess!”  A Jewish looking figure from the U.S. is about to dispatch a message to Europe, only to find a broom sent from Europe to clean up America’s problems.  The items in the mess are Chicago (gangsters), strike, corruption, bribery, a communist bomb, unemployment, and sacks of money.

Speech by Gauleiter Robert Wagner (1938)

I’ve not been adding much to the GPA lately, given other projects.  Today, however, while looking for something else I came across a 1938 speech by Gauleiter Robert Wagner (Baden), delivered to a party gathering in 1938.  I’m slowing building a page of speeches by the various Gauleiter, so I took the time to translate this one.

Gauleiter Robert Wagner

Rare Book by Leni Riefenstahl for Sale

Every so often I decide it’s time to sell something so as to be able to buy other things.  Today, I’m adding Leni Riefenstahl’s 1935 book Hinter den Kulissen des Reichparteitag-Films (“Behind the Scenes at the Reich Party Rally Film”), published in 1935.  It is a soft-cover book of 104 pages with numerous photographs and what is purportedly Riefenstahl’s text (she later claimed she had not written it).  It is rarely offered for sale.

It even has a slip inserted with a note from Adolf Hitler praising the book:

 If you are interested in Riefenstahl, this is a book you will want to have. Take a look at my German Propaganda Book Shop for the details.

1937 Poster on Naval Affairs

The Reichsbund Deutscher Seegeltung was a Nazi organization that worked to build public support for the German navy and commercial fleet. This poster uses the standard slogan “Seafaring is Necessary!” in announcing a lottery, the profits of which would go to supporting the organization.  I thank a visitor to the site for providing this poster that I have added to the poster page.

A 1932 Nazi Pamphlet for the Communists

I’m continuing to add early Nazi propaganda material to the site.  Today, I add a translation of The Bolshevist Swindle, a pamphlet published early in 1932 that was directed to the communists. It takes most German communists to be honest but deluded workers, and tries to prove that Stalin’s policies in the Soviet Union are worse than those of any Western capitalism.  At about the same time, a pamphlet by the same author titled The Sensationalist Newspapers Lie!  was released that was directed at the Socialists.

There are other pamphlets from the period on the GPA as well, including several published during the March and April 1932 presidential elections.  They demonstrate how serious the Nazis were in adapting their appeals to reach the most disparate audiences.

Nazi Pamphlet “Hitler to Brüning” (December 1931)

I’m gradually adding translations of material from before 1933.  Today, I’m posting an interesting pamphlet titled Hitler to Brüning. It’s the text of Hitler’s response to Chancellor Brüning’s emergency decree of early December 1931, which among other things banned political uniforms, meetings, and insignia.  Brüning at the time lacked a parliamentary majority and was maintained in power by Reich President Hindenburg, who under the Weimar Constitution had the authority to permit that.

It is an interesting example of Hitler’s rhetorical style — and was at the time persuasive not only to his Nazi followers, but probably to many others as well.