G33+Propaganda


 * 3 Nazism in power**


 * the role of propaganda, terror and repression; SA and SS; opposition to Nazism

Text: Chapter 8.1 "The role of propaganda in the Third Reich"; 8.2 "Terror and repression"; 8.3 "The army and the Nazi state"; 8.4 "Opposition to Hitler"

In March 1933, the **Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda** was established under the control of **Dr. Joseph Goebbels**.


 * What was the role of propaganda in Nazi Germany? **
 * What were the methods of propaganda in Nazi Germany? **

Use the images below to answer these questions.

Goebbels with his children: Helga, Hilde, Helmut, Holde, Hedda and Heide

One People, One Nation, One Leader! || Hitler's 50th birthday, 1939 ||
 * [[image:Ein_Volk_Ein_Reich_Ein_Fuhrer.jpg width="286" height="401"]]


 * March 1933 Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, led by Dr Joseph Goebbels. Promoted Nazi ideology, volksgemeinschaft, leader, “Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer”. Contained Reich Chamber of Culture.
 * Also the Central Propaganda Office of the Nazi party: displays and rallies (e.g. Hitler’s birthday, Nuremberg).
 * //See Doc. 8.1//: “It is the task of state propaganda to simplify complicated ways of thinking so that even the smallest man in the street may understand.” (Goebbels March 1933)
 * The Press: Editorial Law, Oct 1933: newspapers must follow government policy. Journalists were registered with Reich Press Chamber (under the Chamber of Culture). The German News Bureau (under the Propaganda Ministry) issued all stories.

**Radio** ==

=Cinema= =Art=
 * People’s Radio (Volksempfänger): cheap radio for mass distribution. Number of radios in German homes rose dramatically.
 * People encouraged to listen communally. //See Doc 8.3//: “The district party headquarters has ordered that all factory owners, department stores, offices, shops, inns and blocks of flats put up loudspeakers an hour before the broadcast of the Führer’s speech so that the hole work force and all national comrades can participate fully in the broadcast.” (Völkischer Beobachter, 16 March 1934)
 * [[image:Hans_Westmar.jpg width="271" height="412"]] || [[image:Jud_Suss.gif]] || [[image:Der_Ewige_Jude.jpg width="285" height="412"]] ||
 * All film makers must belong to the Reich Chamber of Film. All film employees swore an oath of loyalty to Hitler.
 * Blatant propaganda films initially, e.g. “Hans Westmar” (1934). But under Goebbels direction, film became a more subtle form of propaganda, with entertainment value for the audience.
 * Film helped establish the myth of Hitler.
 * Jews were presented as traitors and a threat to racial purity, e.g. “Jud Süss” (1938); “The Eternal Jew” (1940).
 * Special days of celebration: Hitler’s Birthday (20 April); Mothering Day (12 May – Hitler’s mother’s birthday); //Reichsparteitag// (September – Nuremberg Rally)
 * [[image:Bauerngruppe_Adolf_Wissel_1935.jpg width="529" height="361" caption=""Bauerngruppe" by Adolf Wissel, 1935"]] || [[image:Sculpture_by_Joseph_Thorak_on_the_Berlin_Reich_Sports_Field_1937.jpg width="260" height="355" caption="Sculpture by Joseph Thorak on the Berlin Reich Sports Field, 1937"]] ||

=Architecture=

=Rallies=

Look here: HEART The Holocaust Education and Archive Research Team. This page is about the film //Jud Süss//, but there are links to Nazi propaganda galleries.

=Terror and repression= Heinrich Himmler The Nazi’s dealt with their internal enemies ruthlessly through the **SS** (**//Schutzstaffel//** – Defence Unit; “Black Shirts”) under **Heinrich Himmler**.
 * SS**
 * It was an elite force: high physical and education standards, racially pure.
 * 200,000 members by 1935.
 * Linked by Nazi propaganda to Teutonic Knights.
 * “My honour is loyalty”.
 * Independent of government, responsible to Hitler.

SS used in 1934 Night of the Long Knives, after which it became independent of the SA. 1936, Himmler was made Chief of German Police. He now controlled police, SS, Gestapo, SD.

//Read Document 8.4 and answer the 2 questions (p. 177).//

(Note: For this topic you do not need the role of the SS or the Waffen SS during World War II)
 * Gestapo**
 * Secret State Police. Established November 1934. Internal security.
 * Most feared police organisation in the Nazi state.
 * Brutal methods.
 * Propaganda added to its fearsome reputation, though reality was that it was not as large or widespread as people thought.
 * Above the law: could detain people indefinitely.
 * Depended on denunciations by private citizens of other people. These were more likely in large towns and cities.
 * 45,000 employees by 1939.

//Read Document 8.5 “The Gestapo at work”.//
 * Concentration Camps**
 * Established as soon as the Nazis came to power in 1933 (Dachau and Oranienburg). Originally run by the SA and transferred to control of SS after night of the Long Knives. A special unit of the SS established in 1936 to run concentration camps: Totenkopfverbände (Death’s Head Units).
 * By 1939: over 200,000 people had experienced concentration camps; 21,000 were imprisoned; six major camps were in operation.
 * People imprisoned were political enemies and socially undesirable people. Each person’s status was signified by a coloured triangle.

The intelligence wing of the SS, under control of Reinhard Heydrich, Himmler’s deputy.
 * SD**
 * //Sicherheitsdienst//** - Security Service.

//Answer questions for Document Study page 182.//
 * Opposition to Hitler**

Reasons for lack of opposition – see dot points p.189. Add to these the fear of SS/Gestapo and the impact of informants.

Institutional opposition was neutralised quickly and effectively during process of //Gleichschaltung//.

Personal opposition was isolated, uncoordinated and ineffective. Examples were quickly dealt with as they were discovered. Most personal opposition took the form or private acts of non-cooperation. Active opposition largely came after 1939.


 * Edelweiss Pirates**: young people who rejected the regime and expressed their opposition through their lifestyle.


 * Kreisau Circle**: small group of conservative opponents who met to discuss the future of Germany post-Nazism. Did not support active opposition, though during the war some became more radical.


 * White Rose**: (during the war)

Robert Gelletely (1995): “…many people did not need to be terrorised or coerced as much as tempted and enticed into offering their support for the regime.”

AJP Taylor (1964): “He would have counted for nothing without the support and cooperation of the German people.”