Polarization: The Images and

Text of Nazi Propaganda

prop-a-gan-da [prop – uh – gan – duh]

1. information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.

2. the deliberate spreading of such information, rumors, etc.

3. the particular doctrines or principles propagated by an organization or movement.

A 1937 poster announcing an

agricultural fair in Kiel.

Text: "Before: Unemployment,

hopelessness, desolation, strikes,

lockouts. Today: Work, joy,

discipline, comaradarie. Give the

Führer your vote!"

Text: "Don't give. Sacrifice."

―This poster links the German

Labor Front (the DAF) to World

War I. The point is that just as

soldiers were comrades regardless

of their standing in civil life, so

too all German workers were

comrades in the DAF, regardless

of whether they were white or

blue collar. This appeared in

1933.‖

Text: "Mothers! Fight for your

children!"

Note that the mother portrayed

has four children, consistent with

the Nazi goal of encouraging as

many births as possible.

Text: "As long as the German

people has racially valuable

children, its future is assured."

A magazine cover from October

1942 shows a model Aryan

soldier.

This issue included the stories

"Racial Forces in Hellenic

History" and "Jewry as the

Embodiment of Deceit."

Text: "Shame on you, chatterer!

The enemy is listening. Silence is

your duty." 1943

Text: "Victory or Bolshevism.‖

1943

A 1940 poster advertises the worst

of the Nazi anti-Semitic films,

"The Eternal Jew."

Caption: "The Jew: The inciter of

war, the prolonger of war."

Late 1943 or early 1944.

This is the cover of the book The

Eternal Jew, symbolically

presenting many of the arguments

against Jews. The ugly Jew is

holding part of Russia under his

arm, branded with the hammer

and sickle. One hand holds a

whip. The other hand holds

bloody coins.

Booklet: "When you see this symbol..."

"Remember what the Jews have done to our people." (The page reviews World War I, for which the Jews are held responsible.) "Now for the first time, World Jewry openly says what it wants: 'Germany must die!'"

"And you can read the Jew's solution in the booklet The War Aim of World Plutocracy…The German Wehrmacht will ensure that World Jewry's terrible plan, as proclaimed by the Jew Kaufman, will never become reality.

"You must ensure through your behavior that Jewry never again has even the slightest influence on our people.

Title: ―Away with Him,‖ March 1933

―The long arm of the Ministry of

Education pulls a Jewish teacher

from his classroom.‖

How is the teacher portrayed?

What can you notice about the

students?

Why might this image appeal to

Germans?

Title: ―The Economy and Jewry,‖

November 1937

This issue accuses Jews of every

manner of economic misdeed. The

cartoon is titled "Demon Money."

A Jewish monster, engraved with

the Star of David and the symbols

for the American dollar and

British pound has its claws on the

planet.

Title: Why? 18 May 1944

―Why, for what purpose is the blood

flowing? Behind the scenes, the

Jew grins. That makes the answer

clear: They bleed for the Jews. ―

What connection is the propagandist

trying to illustrate?

This is the cover to the most infamous issue of Der Stürmer,the 1934 issue accusing Jews of practicing ritual murder to secure the blood of Christians to use in Jewish religious rituals. The headline reads: Jewish Murder Plan against Gentile Humanity Revealed. The issue actually got banned by the Nazis after it had been out for a while, not because of anti-Semitic content, but because it compared alleged Jewish ritual murder with the Christian sacrament of communion. A full English translation of the issue was published in the United States in 1976 by a group in the "Christian Identity" tradition.

―Trust No Fox on His Green Heath and No Jew On His Oath‖

But the Germans — they stand foursquare.

Look, children, and the two compare,

The German and the Jew.

Take a good look at the two

In the picture drawn for you.

A joke — you think it is only that?

Easy to guess which is which, I say:

The German stands up, the Jew gives way.

The German is a proud young man,

Able to work and able to fight.

Because he is a fine big chap,

For danger does not care a rap,

The Jew has always hated him!

Here is the Jew, as all can see,

Biggest ruffian in our country;

He thinks himself the greatest beau

And yet is the ugliest you know!

Acknowledgement

All images and text were taken from the German Propaganda Archive at

Calvin College. The site is maintained by Randall Bytwerk, PhD,

Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences.

The material can be accessed on the web at the following address:

http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/ww2era.htm