Hitler Propaganda And Nazi Propaganda

"Propaganda attempts to force a doctrine on the whole people... Propaganda works on the general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea." These words of Adolf Hitler are taken from his book Mien Kampf (My Struggle) published in 1926. Propaganda was an elaborate and essential tool used extensively by Hitler and the Nazi's during their terrorizing reign of Germany and throughout Europe. Not only was it used to promote and endorse the party and its leader's extreme anti-Semitic values, but also to mask the horrifying truths of what was to become known as the Holocaust.

By looking at In the Garden of Beasts we can see that Hitler and the Nazi Regime successfully used propaganda and deception to gain power in Germany. This is important because propaganda is widely used to manipulate others into supporting one’s ideas while deceiving them from the truth.

What would make a group of people ignore their country’s own genocide? In Nazi Germany, the answer was propaganda. From the end of World War I, the German leaders knew how important propaganda was. By the time Hitler had complete control of the military, the powerful propaganda film Triumph de Willens was already being produced . By the time the second offensive started, they had already launched an international propaganda magazine called Signal. Both of these are prime examples of the purpose of German propaganda. Like earlier British propaganda, it had two primary roles. First, the control of the people. Gobbels’ propaganda about “national enemies” made it seem as if the Nazis were the only alternative to a loss in national security. The second goal was scaring foreign powers. Through international magazines and radio broadcasts such as Signal, German power and victories were highlighted and shown to the world. The three key issues are the attacks on Jews and Communists, the origins of these methods, and the uses of these methods to create a powerful Nazi government. Through slandering and suppression of the opposition of the Nazis, Hitler’s media soon became the voice of the country. The Nazi Party used propaganda to gain power out of fear for national security.

Some ways the holocaust was implemented was the use of propaganda, the relocation of people to Ghettos, the creation of laws to strip people of their rights, and the use of technology to increase the efficiency of the machinery of genocide. I think one of the most effect sytstem was using propaganda because a picture is worth a thousand words. Seeing how the Nazis used propaganda and how that system was very effective and terrible.

Propaganda in general is the idea of getting others to believe in one’s own beliefs. Propaganda is the “attempt to influence behavior…by affecting through the use of mass media of communications, the manner in which a mass audience perceives and ascribes meaning to the material world.”1 Propaganda was a major part of Germany’s way to brain wash people into following Hitler and his army. The theme of Hitler and Goebbels, (Paul Joseph Goebbels, was appointed Hitler’s Reichspropagandaleiter, the Nazis national director of propaganda), using propaganda, “was to merge the traditional German patriotism with Nazi ideological motifs”2, this was basically used from1919 to 1945.

Nazi's portrayed propaganda throughout multiple ways in society to make people side with them ("Propaganda, Nazi"). These included book burnings, advertisements,

The Nazi regime had a top-notch propaganda ministry of the time. In fact, the government was able to adjust the public’s idea quickly. For the most part, They were able to control all media sources. As shown above, The public thought that the Jewish community was responsible for the hardship that they faced after the WWI. Furthermore, The head of the propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels was able to accomplish his goals by keeping the public from watching or listening to anti-Nazi ideas and to construct Nazi ideas are compelling to the audience (Trueman).

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor from Japan on December 7, 1941. American President Franklin Roosevelt declared a former declaration of Allied war aims with British prime minister Winston Churchill. Japan intended the bombing of Pearl Harbour to cripple America from interfering with their plans of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Pearl Harbour was a military camp filled with ships and planes, the bombing destroyed many valuable equipment and many soldiers were killed and injured. The United States shared many goals with Britain and Russia to defeat Germany, while acting defensive against Japan. The propaganda made by the General Motors Company was used to encourage the public to produce more goods and funds to the war efforts. Propaganda posters

Through propaganda, the Nazis’ ideals are spread effectively to the people so that they have the support as a complete country, accomplishing the first step in their plans. For the Germans, “propaganda [is] the tool by which nearly every facet of German life [dictates]” (Kinser???). Propaganda has become a stepping stone for what the Germans has to offer, even more to anti-semitism. Similarly, the ideologies of German are anti-semitic so they use that to their advantage, combining it with propaganda even though most images are false. The Germans blames the Jews for all their errors and has become the scapegoats for Hitler. All the posters about Jews by the Germans, “[has] little to no truth behind them, but [are] rather elaborate myths [that are created] to single out a group of people that [are] seen as a threat” (Kinser?). This prompts to unity amongst the people with the same perspective toward a single race.

The anti-Semitic propaganda led the minority Nazi party into the place of superiority so they could influence the public that Jews were subhuman. Various forms of propaganda ranged from posters, radio broadcasts, marches and more. These helped influence those or pressured those had opposing views of those of the Nazi party. Sheldon Kishner mentions in his article Nazi propaganda shaped German opinion, “No sooner had Hitler been appointed chancellor than he embarked on a quest to destroy the free press and thus shape popular opinion” (6) This limited the information the public was to intake in daily life and shaped their opinions of what was going wrong in the country. Since

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.

     The Nazis utilized propaganda to spread the Nazi ideology, philosophy, and mentality into the German population. The hope of the Nazis was the ideas and mentality expressed were going to be part of the Germans everyday regime, and their everyday lives. The thought of the evil Jews was to consume the Germans minds, bodies, and their souls. The thought of other enemies was not to be permitted; the Jews were the only enemy. They were to be the “enemy of the common people.”

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.

70 Million. 3%. 6 Years. All these numbers have one thing in common, World War 2. It is horrendous to think that 70 million people’s lives can end in 6 years. Still, this number could be far more drastic had it not been for a number of things. Propaganda was one such thing. It was used to: implementing rations, swaying moods, or even in some cases controlling opinions. This was utilized by both the axis and allied powers throughout the war.

The central theme to this essay will be to answer the question “Discuss the roll that graphic design played in political/social change in a specific period”. This essay will look into what Hitler’s propaganda meant for the Nazis and the population of Germany. Propaganda is the dissemination of information to influence or control large groups of people. In totalitarian regimes like Nazi Germany, propaganda plays a significant role in consolidating power in the hands of the controlling party. (ushmm, 2015) This essay in conjunction will look into what Hitler’s propaganda meant, what methods conducted by Adolf Hitler and the Propaganda Ministry, directed by Dr. Joseph Goebbels use to infiltrate their enemies and commit mass genocide of the