German Propaganda In The Third Reich Analysis

The Holocaust can be seen as one of the most devastating genocide that occurred in history and that is well known in many places worldwide. One may assume that those who played a part in the acts done by the Nazis in Germany may have been mentally disturbed and/or sick, evil people. However, the novel Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland by Christopher R. Browning provides another alternative to this statement. Browning provides the reader with the idea that anyone is capable of becoming a murderer, especially when the opportunity presents itself. In his book he attempts to prove this statement through multiple ideas and theories and also provides events which took place to analyze some of those ideas.

The Holocaust took place during the late 1930s to the early 1940s, a time when many external and internal factors were affecting Germany and its people (Hill 1). Nevertheless Nazi leaders and common Germans killed almost two thirds of an estimated nine million Jewish people (Hill 2). One of the most puzzling questions about the Holocaust is why did common Germans take part? It is difficult to formulate an exact answer to the question because it deals with a whole nation, but many historians have hypothesized explanations related to the German’s unwilling and willing participation (Goldhagen 375).

In Christopher Browning’s book, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland tells the story of Battalion 101, a group of 500 policemen in their 30’s and 40’s who were sent into Poland to participate in a ‘special action’ without being told exactly what they are doing. Overtime they realized their mission is to Kill Jews and racially purify Europe. Most of the killing during this period of mass murder took place in Poland. Battalion 101 together with other Order Police battalions contributed to the manpower needed to carry out this enormous task. Browning comments that these men all went through their developmental period before the Nazis came into power. These were men who had known political standards and moral norms other than those of the Nazis. Most men came from Hamburg; one of the least ‘nazified’ cities in Germany and the majority came from a social class that had been anti-Nazi in its political culture. In seems this would not seem to have been a very promising group from which to recruit mass murderers on behalf on the Nazi vision of a racial utopia free of Jews. However, their actions helps us understand not only what they did to make the Holocaust happen, but also how they were transformed psychologically from the ordinary men into active participants in the most horrific offence in human history. In doing so, it aims on the human capacity for extreme evil and leaves this subject matter with the shock of knowledge and the

Bartov, Omer. Germany 's War and the Holocaust: Disputed Histories. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2003. Kindle.

The arguments of Christopher Browning and Daniel John Goldhagen contrast greatly based on the underlining meaning of the Holocaust to ordinary Germans. Why did ordinary citizens participate in the process of mass murder? Christopher Browning examines the history of a battalion of the Order Police who participated in mass shootings and deportations. He debunks the idea that these ordinary men were simply coerced to kill but stops short of Goldhagen's simplistic thesis. Browning uncovers the fact that Major Trapp offered at one time to excuse anyone from the task of killing who was "not up to it." Despite this offer, most of the

Bernard Giesen covers how the trauma of the Holocaust created a collective memory that was influenced and shaped by the loss of German identity. The German national identity is one that stresses its unique and exceptional nature, so with the loss of World War II came shame and connected with the loss of identity (Giesen 115). The first identity after the war, somewhat similar to Americans in this way, was silence (Giesen 116). When the trials began, especially after the Eichmann trial, a new narrative was born, that of individual criminal guilt (Giesen 121). This excluded those who destroyed the German identity of uniqueness by legally excluding them from society (Giesen 125). A new narrative was again created, this time with a focus of the German people living below politics (Giesen 126). As more new generations grew up, more questions were asked about the Holocaust. They did not want to be associated with the “perpetrators” and so public conversation of the Holocaust became more of a focus (Giesen

The Nazi’s had much unneeded prejudice towards what they saw as weaker or inferior races, and used tactics that were complete violations of every person’s basic human rights. Nazis did much more than only attack the Jews in World War Two, their hatred and fear spread to many more ethnic groups and cultures than the Jews alone. Jews as well as many Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Homosexuals were ended up being persecuted and killed in concentration camps because of their beliefs.

Were they just ignorant,blindly following orders, afraid to speak out against the Nazis??? Many theories have been tossed around that maypartially be true, but none of them fully explain the German’sfailure to try and stop the genocide.Thetruth of the matter is more like a perfect storm. When one examines thetheanti-Semitism that prevailedat this time in this part of the world,along with the religious leaders of the timewho failed to act, and the rise ofa political party with itspropagandaefforts to manipulate the people, it becomes clearer how ordinary Germans failed to stop the genocide.

When Hitler decided to use the Jewish as an escape route to blaming them for problems and ruining Germany’s reputation, it would be common to assume that no one would support him or his Nazi party. Unfortunately, this was not the case. It is very hard for me personally to grasp how it is possible that the German people could simply go along with the persecution of Jews and how they were going about it. However, I think that the bystanding and acceptance might have occurred mainly because of the idea of a “Master Race.”

Post-war Germany was characterised by the social, political and economic turmoil that defined the new Weimar nation and with German society still suffering from a deep sense of national humiliation, it was unsurprising that the Volk (people) were attracted to the creation of a Volksgemeinschaft and the potential rebirth of German strength. Dr Joseph Goebbels’ ruthless propaganda machine ensured a positive image of Nazi society across all of Germany while counterbalanced by an institution of terror. The constant fear of violence and threat of concentration camps served to inhibit the forces of the opposition. Through this dual implementation of propaganda and coercion, the German people willingly collaborated or were coerced into carrying out Nazi

Adolf Hitler often proclaimed, “Whoever has the youth has the future.” This future would entail the most destructive war in history and the systematic murder of millions of people. This research will study how the Hitler Youth, a youth organization affiliated with the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (Nazi Party), affected the German population, particularly its members, from 1922 to 1945. Specifically, this research will examine how formal and informal Hitler Youth training influenced its experiencers’ decisions to acquiesce to and perpetrate the Holocaust. This research about the Hitler Youth’s effects on people’s behavior during the Holocaust will analyze the role of Nazism versus preexisting societal trends in cultivating genocidal mindset.

One theory is while imprisoned for treason for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, Hitler wrote the memoir and propaganda book “Mein Kampf”, meaning “my struggle”, in which he predicted a general European war that would end in “the extermination of the Jewish race in Germany.” While the most commonly conceived concept from given knowledge and statements by the Nazis lead people to believe that the Jews were seen as a lower race by the Nazis and were segregated to prevent the mixture of bad genes into that of their superior race, then killed to prevent this ever happening in the future. But in terms of deeper analysis one could easily consider the possibility of it being a method of gaining power and having no real relationship to the Jewish race except for maybe by personal grudge or random selection. In history it is seen that many leaders gained power or justification by establishing a false religion or explanation that supports their best interests and this is an applicable idea to Nazi Germany, they had established the ability to kill off any citizens they wanted and became a dominant force due to this. This would explain the seemingly unconventional mass murder of the Jews for what seem like ridiculous and unjustified reasons, while still inhumane and cruel, understandable in terms of human

The Nazi movement within Germany purposefully and methodically concentrated power within Adolf Hitler. This concentration of power ultimately created a society of dependence, instigating a state of confusion fuelled by paranoia and duplicity. This climate of terror is essential in maintaining a totalitarian state, as it leads to the populace’s subservience of the government. Concentrating all the power within the state, the German citizens essentially have none themselves, resulting in the autonomy of the populace and the loss of individuality; replaced by a group identity mandating that the primacy of the state overrules the needs and desires of any single citizen.

Acquaintance with the mass of opinion reports surviving from the Nazi state, complex and difficult though these sources are, allows little scope for sweeping generalisations about attitudes and behaviour of the German people during the Third Reich. There is too much evidence of daily dissent and even manifestations of limited, opposition and protest – limited in significance, certainly, but noteworthy just the same - to support notions of a society terrorised by a totalitarian state into meek submission and automaton-like obedience and compliance. The opposite generalisation, of a consensus holding to the end, of a society which never seriously deviated from its backing for Hitler and the regime, seems equally flawed. A survey of the

The year is 1941. The Nazi party has been in control of Germany since 1933 and has taken over more territories. Their hunger for power pushes them to control and mind-wash a larger population. The nazi party forced people to follow the rules, implanting their superiority. If the rules were to be broken, then murder was imminent. Although most of the people that lived in Germany did follow what the Nazis had to say, the few that didn’t played a risky game. People lived a very stressful life because of the threat of Nazis.