German Propaganda and its Effects on the Holocaust and World War Two

Propaganda is hard to define as most definitions do not cover the full meaning of the word. The Webster's Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary defines propaganda as " the systematic propagation or discrediting of a given doctrine or cause by circulation of polemical material, such as posters and leaflets" (1353). However, this definition does not cover the full scope of the of the word. Terence Qualter also feels the definition for propaganda needs to be more refined for its new usage. The definition that he gives is "the deliberate attempt...(to) form, control, or alter the attitudes of other groups...(with) the use of the instruments of communication" (27-28). He goes on to say that the propaganda must be aimed at the group in general because that is the basic nature of the word, in that the most effective propaganda is the propaganda which has a large audience. Qualter does mention, however, that there need be no difference in the propaganda to persuade one and the propaganda to persuade the many (28). Germany did this by controlling the flow of information into the country.

The definition of propaganda is: information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. Goebbels developed extremely successful campaigns using simple slogans and images repeated over and over again in order to win public support for the party. The Nazis spend large amounts of money on newspapers, leaflets and poster campaigns. He orchestrated large political military rallies to build support. Those included highly organized events with banners and marching bands.

Propaganda through advertisements was very effective. Propaganda was shown in multiple films to make sure the ideas of Nazi's would stick in society's minds

Much of this propaganda was modeled off of earlier English examples. For example, the World War One anti-German propaganda. One of the false messages spread

“Hitler’s Propaganda Machine” by Robert B. Nelson describes how the Nazi regime used a wide variety of propaganda to widely influence the German people to support Hitler’s dictatorship and furthermore, support the upcoming wars. After World War I occurred, Germany was to blame for the reparations caused from the war; they were in a great amount of debt which destroyed their economy. With this unfortunate situation occurring, Germans supported Hitler’s rise to power in hope to strengthen their economy and country. After Hitler’s rise to power, he put much effort into his Propaganda Machine in order to stabilize powers within the Nazi totalitarian regime. Almost all of Germany’s cultural aspects were influenced by propaganda tactics as well as the reference to anti-Semitism which blamed the Jews for all the troubles that Germany has faced.

Propaganda is information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. Propaganda played a huge part during Hitler’s power because he used it a lot to deceive people in order for him to gain an enormous amount of power. One of the propaganda pieces that was used was a picture of eagle holding a family of Aryans (Holocaust and Human Behavior 49). This illustrates that the Nazi Party would protect the family if the family supported or joined them. This means that a lot of families were basically forced to support the Nazi and what they do even though it was a choice because it was for the better good.

Propaganda was used to be prejudice against Jews;it was something that made them feel bad about themselves and their decisions. Jews were being treated with hostility because of the religion they were.

The use of propaganda that the Nazis made to go against the Jews negatively affected them because most bystanders believed in the propaganda which made the Jews seem “not human” to other people. This further allowed the Nazis to dehumanize the Jews in a way where the Jews had absolutely no freedom.

Propaganda is one of the quickest, most successful ways to manipulate or push particular beliefs upon a large number of people. Politicians, dictators, and many other people in positions of power have used propaganda all throughout history to get civilians to support their ideals. The group that was most successful in using propaganda to gain supporters and spread their harsh beliefs was Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. Hitler’s blatant, yet strategic incorporation of Pro-Nazi propaganda into German society during his rise to power is the reason why the Nazi’s gained so much support. Hitler was effectively able to brainwash such a large group of people because of how well he planned his usage of propaganda and how closely he and Joseph Goebbels

All ranks of Nazi officials played a significant part in the reign of propaganda that impacted the world. The creation of the “Final Solution” to annihilate the Jews and enemies of Europe was heavily culminated with propaganda efforts to keep death camps hidden from the view of media outlets globally. Originally this plan was to systematically remove the Jews, then with the establishment of ghettos and mobile killing units, SS Officers, German authorities and their collaborators were able to kill upwards of six million Jews. This was impactful on the society with almost two-thirds of the Jews in Europe killed by poison gas, shooting and other means.

Propaganda is official government communications to the public that are designed to influence opinion1. Adolf Hitler used propaganda to aid his rise to power and become the leader of Nazi Germany. Hitler feared independent thought and sought to eliminate it through the use literature and radio propaganda, in order to eradicate possible ideological threats and to maintain control. One of the biggest sources of independent thought and ideas is literature, in all forms (books, newspapers, magazines). “During the spring of 1933, Nazi student organizations, professors, and librarians made up long lists of books they thought should not be read by Germans.

First, one must define propaganda and since many have done so already, I shall use the Sheryl Ross model. Her model defines propaganda as “an epistemically defective message designed with the intention to persuade a socially significant group of people on behalf of a political institution, organization, or cause.”

Propaganda is information used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. For example, when someone is running for president you usually see their faces stamped on a poster with a catchy saying. Remember now? Yeah, that's propaganda. It’s everywhere! In books, newspapers and even in movies. Thousand of books all contained german propaganda, even the school books! In fact, a newspaper named Der Strümer claimed that Jews kidnapped small children and encouraged an attack on Jews. As crazy as it sounds the Germans began to believe that the Jews were truly monsters. In fact, many of us today blame the Germans for their awful treatment of Jews, but if we were put in their position we would do the same. Which was support our leader and get rid of the enemy besides it was everyone else was doing. It's time to climb into the shoes of the germans. If my powerful leader blamed a certain group of people for the distraught of my family, of my job, and of my country I would, of course, focus my hate and blame on them. Then imagine it, it's everywhere the hatred of that certain group of people, and it wasn't just Jews either it was a collection of people. Gypsies, Poles, twins, Slavic people, people of color, biracial people and people with physical or mental disabilities. Others were even Nazi victims because of what they did. These victims of the Nazi regime included Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, Communists,

Propaganda was the central instrument acquiring and maintaining the power of Nazi Germany. All of the success can be attributed to propaganda. Propaganda is the information, ideas, opinions, or images that are broadcast, published, or in some other way spread with the intention of influencing public opinion. This was the most effective method the Nazis used to persuade thousands of people about their ideologies. Jewish people, African-Germans, LGBT people, Roma, and others were portrayed as undesirable by Nazi propaganda. It used newspaper cartoons, films, books, radio, and posters in their effort to dehumanize Jewish people. The purpose of Nazi propaganda was to convince members of the public who had not yet been convinced of the importance of Hitler's racial policies and to inspire those who already agreed with him. Words and expressions with generally neutral and/or positive meanings were used to disguise acts of terror and destruction. Nazi Germany could be never rich success without propaganda.

By thoroughly studying historical facts and evidence, it can be concluded that propaganda is the reason behind the widespread anti semitism in Germany that furthermore lead to the Holocaust occurrence. Propaganda is defined as “ideas that are spread, through various branches of media, for the purpose of influencing opinion.”(The) This is a term often used to refer to information that is constructed in favor of or in opposition to any type of political agenda. Though, this “agenda” wasn’t always of positive influence. During World War I, the public discovery was made that propaganda could be used as a very powerful weapon for shaping public judgment and actions. Propaganda became the significant weapon used by several powerful and influential governments. Some of these countries being Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, the U.S., Austria-Hungary, and Germany. The previously stated nations “employed people to craft political messages aimed at mobilizing their populations for war, weakening the enemy’s confidence and will to fight, and at winning over the audiences in neutral countries” (United). Hitler believed so strongly in this powerful weapon that he created a position in his new government titled the Minister of Propaganda and National Enlightenment.