State of Deception:

Nazi Propaganda

Timeline Layer

"Women! … Save the German family. Vote for Adolf Hitler!"Poster by Felix Albrecht. The text on the poster reads: "Women! Millions of men without work. Millions of children without a future. Save the German family. Vote for Adolf Hitler!"--Bundesarchiv Koblenz (Plak 002-016-048)

1932

Mjölnir [Hans Schweitzer], "Our

Last Hope—Hitler," Presidential

elections of 1932. In the

presidential elections of 1932, Nazi

propagandists appealed to Germans

left unemployed and destitute by the

Great Depression with an offer of a

savior.--USHMM Collection

1932

One Pot Sunday--Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels share a meal on "One Pot Sunday." One Sunday a month, Germans were called upon to eat a one pot meal and contribute their grocery savings to public charities. The pot is in the foreground of this photograph. Events such as One Pot Sunday were designed to reinforce communal cohesiveness.--USHMM, courtesy of William O. McWorkman

1933-1935

A young member of the Hitler Youth. A "wolf-cub" or junior member of the Hitler Youth hands Hitler a letter written by the child's sick mother. Nazi propagandists cast Hitler as a military leader, a father figure (as shown in this photograph), and a messianic leader brought to redeem Germany. --USHMM, courtesy of William O. McWorkman

1933-1935

Nazi Party Reich Propaganda Directorate, "Yes! Leader, We Follow You!" Nazi propaganda constantly

reinforced the notion that Hitler was the embodiment of the national will. Here, a determined looking Hitler in military dress stands with clenched fist, poised for action above the adoring crowd. This poster, designed for a 1934 public referendum on uniting the posts of German chancellor and president, conveys unanimous popular support for Hitler.--USHMM Collection

August 19, 1934

1935Der Bannerträger (The Standard Bearer) by Hubert Lanzinger, circa 1935. -U.S. Army Center of Military History, Washington, D.C.

This portrait depicts Hitler as a messianic figure gazing toward a better future for Germany, with the Nazi flag billowing behind him. Austrian-born artist Lanzinger (1880-1950) painted this work in oils on a wood panel. It was first displayed at the Great German Art Exhibition in Munich in 1937. Some say that Hitler himself picked this image after being dismayed by the other selected artwork. Heinrich Hoffmann, Hitler’s official photographer and an exhibition judge, had the image made into a postcard around 1938. After the war, a U.S. soldier pierced the painting with a bayonet.

"Greater Germany: Yes on 10 April" (1938) This election poster emphasizes the message of jumping on the Nazi political bandwagon, as represented by the hands raised in a unified Nazi salute. Nazi propaganda frequently stressed the power of a mass movement to propel the country forward, subtly underscored by the upward angle of the hands. This poster typifies the propaganda strategy of using simple confident slogans, with bold graphics often using the characteristic Nazi colors of red, black, and white.--Bundesarchiv Koblenz (Plak 003-003-085)

April 10, 1938

Mjölnir poster: "Victory or Bolshevism" After the massive defeat at Stalingrad, Nazi propagandists began to alternate messages of fear and hope, demanding fanatical devotion to the homeland and ruthless treatment for the nation's enemies. This poster appeared just after Stalingrad. It was part of a major propaganda campaign with the theme "Victory or Bolshevist Chaos." This poster offers a stark contrast between the peaceful, abundant future promised by the Nazis and the threat of a bleak and miserable life under Communism.--Bundesarchiv Koblenz (Plak 003-029-043)

February 1943

1933-1935??

"Students/Be the Führer's propagandists" With militant appeals to nationalism, freedom, and self-sacrifice, the Nazi Party successfully recruited students disenchanted with German democracy and their current student organizations.--Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.

CHIUNE SUGIHARA ISSUES TRANSIT VISAS FOR JEWISH REFUGEES:Chiune Sugihara, Japanese consul general in Kovno, Lithuania, who in July-August 1940 issued more than 2,000 transit visas for Jewish refugees. Helsinki, Finland, 1937-1938.In the summer of 1940, when refugees came to him with bogus visas for Curacao and other Dutch possessions in America, Sugihara decided to facilitate their escape from war-torn Europe. In the absence of clear instructions from Tokyo, he granted 10-day visas for transit through Japan to hundreds of refugees who held Curacao destination visas. Before closing his consulate in the fall of 1940, Sugihara even gave visas to refugees who lacked all travel papers.

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_ph.php?MediaId=2985

JULY-AUGUST 1940

http://bit.ly/sugiharatestimony

AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE HELPS AID JEWISH REFUGEESQuaker delegates of the American Friends Service Committee who set up a relief and rescue operation in Toulouse. France, January 1941.During 1941 and 1942, the AFSC chose Jewish children from children's homes and refugee camps in southern France for transfer to the United States under the auspices of the U.S. Committee for the Care of European Children. The actions of the AFSC showed that interfaith activity on behalf of European Jews could be successful. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_ph.php?MediaId=517

1939-1942

http://bit.ly/americanfriendssc

REIGNER TELEGRAM REACHES THE U.S.:Copy of the Reigner Telegram. United States, August 29, 1942.In August 1942, Rabbi Wise received a cable from Gerhart Riegner, the WJC representative in Switzerland. Riegner reported that the Nazis had planned and were implementing a policy to murder the Jews of Europe; the cable also referred specifically to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. After the State Department confirmed the accuracy of the information in the cable, now known as the "Riegner telegram," the AJC convened a Joint Emergency Committee. The committee sought to coordinate the major Jewish organizations in the United States to lobby the Roosevelt administration to take more steps to rescue European Jews.

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_ph.php?MediaId=970

AUGUST, 1942

JANUARY 1942

http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007743

JEWISH ARMY IN FRANCE:Group portrait of a Jewish French underground group named "Compagnie Reiman." This photograph was taken after the liberation of France. Paris, France, 1945.The Jewish Army (Armee Juive; AJ), is established by Zionist youth groups in Toulouse, France. Members are recruited from both Jewish and non-Jewish youth and resistance groups and are trained in military and sabotage activities. AJ members smuggle money out of Switzerland to France to distribute to Jewish relief agencies. The AJ smuggles about 500 Jews and non-Jews across the border into neutral Spain. In 1944, during the liberation of France, the AJ participates in uprisings in Paris, Lyon, and Toulouse against the German occupation.

AUGUST - OCTOBER, 1943

http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007747

TREBLINKA UPRISING & SOBIBOR UPRISINGA group portrait of some of the participants in the uprising at the Sobibor extermination camp. Poland, August 1944.August 2, 1943, Treblinka prisoners quietly seize weapons from the camp armory. Hundreds of prisoners storm the main gate in an attempt to escape. Many are killed by machine-gun fire. More than 300 do escape; most are recaptured and killed by German police and troops. In early 1943, deportations to Sobibor slowed and prisoners suspected that they would soon be killed and the camp dismantled. They plan a revolt and mass escape from the camp. On October 14, 1943, the prisoners revolt, quietly killing German and Ukrainian guards. The guards open fire and prevent prisoners from reaching the main exit, forcing them to attempt escape through the minefield. About 300 escape; about 100 are recaptured and later shot.

SWEDEN OFFERS ASYLUM TO JEWS OF DENMARK:Danish fishermen used this boat to carry Jews to safety in Sweden during the German occupation. Denmark, 1943 or 1944.At the end of September 1943, the German plan to arrest and deport Danish Jews is leaked to Danish authorities who warn the Jewish population in Denmark and urge them to go into hiding. In response, the Danish underground and general population spontaneously organize a nationwide effort to smuggle Jews to the coast where Danish fisherman ferry them to Sweden. In little more than three weeks, the Danes ferry more than 7,000 Jews and close to 700 of their non-Jewish relatives to Sweden. Despite the Danish efforts, some 500 Jews are arrested by the Germans and deported to Theresienstadt ghetto.

http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007740

OCTOBER 2, 1943

UNITED STATES TAKES ACTION:Meeting of the War Refugee Board in the office of Executive Director John Pehle. Pictured left to right are Albert Abrahamson, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Josiah Dubois, and Pehle. Washington, D.C., United States, March 21, 1944.The U.S. government comes under increasing pressure to heighten rescue efforts in Europe. On January 13, 1944, a memo from the Treasury Department rebukes the State Department for its relative inaction regarding rescue efforts. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt is urged to establish a government commission to coordinate the rescue of Europe’s Jews. On January 22, 1944, Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9417, establishing the War Refugee Board. The Board is committed to enforcing the policies of the U.S. government regarding the rescue and relief of victims of persecution.

http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007749

JANUARY 13, 1944

RAOUL WALLENBERG IN BUDAPEST:Passport photograph of Raoul Wallenberg. Sweden, June 1944Raoul Wallenberg, a diplomat from neutral Sweden, arrives in Budapest on assignment from the Swedish legation and the War Refugee Board to aid in the rescue and relief of Jews in Budapest. Wallenberg issues Swedish protective passes and moves Jews into houses under Swedish protection. In November 1944, when the Germans begin a death march of Jews from Budapest to labor camps in Austria, Wallenberg pursues the march and removes Jews with protective papers and returns them to safe houses in Budapest. Near the end of 1944, over 70,000 Jews are gathered in a ghetto in Budapest. Wallenberg successfully wards off threats from German and Hungarian authorities to destroy the ghetto and its inhabitants. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_ph.php?MediaId=561

JULY 9, 1944