Propaganda in Nazi Germany

Question 1

Who was Joseph Goebbels?

Answer 1

Goebbels was the minister for enlightenment and propaganda and passionately believed that Hitler was the saviour of Germany.

Question 2

What was Goebbels’ mission?

Answer 2

• To make sure others believed that Hitler was the saviour of Germany
• Throughout the 12 years of Nazi rule he constantly kept his finger on the pulse of public opinion
• Decided what the German public should and shouldn’t hear
• He aimed to use every resource available to him to make people loyal to Hitler and the Nazis

Question 3

What were the Nuremberg rallies?

Answer 3

• Goebbels organised huge rallies, marches, torch-lit processions and meetings
• The best example was the annual summer Nuremberg rally
• There were bands, marches, flying displays and Hitler’s brilliant speeches
• The rallies brought some colour and excitement into people’s lives after the Great Depression
• Gave them a sense of belonging to a great movement
• Convinced Germans that ‘every other German’ fully supported the Nazis
• The rally was organised to emphasise order

Question 4

Books in Nazi Germany

Answer 4

• No books could be published without Goebbels’ permission
• The bestseller in Nazi Germany was Mein Kampf
• In 1933 Goebbels organised a ‘book-burning’
• Books were burned which included unacceptable ideas to the Nazis

Question 5

Newspapers

Answer 5

• Example is Der Führer Newspaper
• Jewish editors and journalists found themselves out of work
• Anti-Nazi newspapers closed down
• Those that remained couldn’t print anti-Nazi newspapers
• Germans bought fewer newspapers since they became dull

Question 6

Music

Answer 6

• Banned jazz music which was popular in Europe
• It was ‘Black’ music and black people were considered an inferior race

Question 7

Posters

Answer 7

• If people missed the radio broadcasts they would see the posters
• Goebbels plastered Germany with posters proclaiming the successes of Hitler
• Also included Nazis attacking opponents

Question 8

Art

Answer 8

• Artists suffered the same kinds of restrictions as writers
• Only Nazi-approved painters could show their works
• Usually had to be paintings or sculptures of heroic-looking Aryans, military figures or images of the ideal Aryan family

Question 9

Cinema

Answer 9

• All films, whether factual or fictional, thrillers or comedies, had to carry a pro-Nazi message
• Newsreels before each feature film told of the greatness of Hitler and Nazi achievements
• There is evidence that Germans avoided this by arriving late! LOL MATE
• Goebbels censored (examined) all foreign films coming into Germany

Question 10

Radio

Answer 10

• Goebbels loved new technology
• Saw the potential of radio broadcasting for spreading the Nazi message
• Made cheap radios available so all Germans could buy one
• Controlled all radio stations
• Listening to broadcasts from the BBC was punishable by death

Question 11

More about the radio

Answer 11

• Just in case people didn’t have a radio Goebbels place loudspeakers in streets and public bars
• Hitler’s speeches and those of other Nazis leaders were repeated again and again
• Nazi ideas came to be accepted as normal by the German people since they heard it so much