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“Trust No Fox”
Austen Dunn, Tania Awalegaonkar and Elizabeth Geyer
German children read a pro- Nazi book.
(Nurnberg)
What is propaganda?
What methods of propaganda did the Nazis use?
Who was the propaganda directed towards?
Why did people believe the messages that the Nazis were sending?
What was the Reich Propaganda Ministry?
What role did propaganda play in the Nazis’ success?
Works Cited
What is propaganda?
Propaganda has been used frequently throughout history, Hitler himself gave a
definition of propaganda in his autobiography Mein Kampf (My Struggle, written in 1926) He
said that "Propaganda tries 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."
Propaganda can be completely false or based on fact. The Nazis used both types. Propaganda is
used in every war by every country. It is also very effective. During World War II the United
States made Loony Toons cartoons depicting the dictators of the Axis as various farm animals.
There were also editorial cartoons with depicting Mussolini and Hitler and Japan in
uncomplimentary ways. During that time Dr Seuss drew editorial cartoons in the same theme.
Like this one saying that the United States was distracted by competing political groups when
they should have been concentrating on fighting the Nazis.
The endless cat fights on our own home fronts
(Dr. Seuss)
Propaganda is still used today to promote certain candidates for president or show
opinions on politics. There are a lot of editorial cartoons in the Free Lance Star every week that
are propaganda. Even during the civil war people were making illustrations to tell their political
opinions. Propaganda is a popular effective way to influence people and it has been used and
will continue to be used for a very long time.
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What methods of propaganda did the Nazis use?
One of the Nazis key weapons was propaganda. They had their messages spread
throughout the media. Film was one of the most effective forms of propaganda that the Nazis
used. The Nazis made a variety of movies depicting Jews in uncomplimentary ways. One film
they made was called The Eternal Jew. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum website this movie portrayed Jews as “wandering social parasites consumed by sex
and money.” Another Nazi film was The Triumph of the Will which glorified Hitler and rallied
support for the National Socialist Movement. Another film they made was in 1944 when they
let an International Red Cross Team inspect a camp ghetto in the modern day Czech Republic.
The camp underwent a “beautification” program they made a movie of the ghetto using the
residents as the “cast.” It was meant to show the kind treatment of the Jewish residents that
supposedly went on there. After the movie was made they deported all the “cast” to Auschwitz
killing center.
According to Linda Jacobs Altman’s book The Holocaust, Hitler and Nazi Germany,
Joseph Goebbels was the leader of the Reich Propaganda Ministry. He staged ritual book
burnings and “May 10, 1933 in Berlin books written by Jews, communists and other enemies of
the Reich were publicly burned in huge bonfire. While flags flew, bands played and soldiers
marched, a crowd of Nazi loyalists threw armloads of banned books into the flames. And all
these things gave participants a sense of belonging into something larger than themselves. This
fervor translated into loyalty to Hitler… in time hating Jews, gypsies, and other ‘polluters of
German blood’ seemed like part of the normal order of things (60)” There were also
conferences and lectures to rallies that were “showy events with blaring trumpets, pounding
drums, waving banners and thousands of uniformed Nazis marching in close order drill (59)”
and support for the “Final Solution”. Goebbels also introduced the famous “Heil Hitler”.
The Nazis also used newspapers and books to project their messages throughout the
world. There were many editorial cartoons that depicted Jew as enemies of Germany. There
was in a particular newspaper called Der Stürmer (The Attacker) which was a prominent Nazi
paper during the Holocaust. There were many anti semantic children’s books like Trust No Fox
and The Poisonous Mushroom. These books instilled Nazi values in Germans at an early age.
They gave birth to new Hitler Youth.
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Who was the propaganda directed towards?
The Nazis targeted the vulnerable German citizens with their propaganda. According to
the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website, children were a main focus and were
influenced from a young age. Hitler tried to convince the “young” of Germany and instate their
trust in him early on. This would help the children grow up to believe in him, and he would
have support. The children were the easiest to persuade with simple objects such as books,
posters, cartoons and many other “innocent”, everyday items. One of the children’s book
series included “The Poisonous Mushroom” and “Trust No Fox”. Hitler created a group of
Germany’s adolescents called “Hitler’s Youth” and occasionally met with them to voice his
views and make them feel needed. In the film Triumph of the Will, Hitler’s Youth is glorified and
takes up many minutes during the movie.
Hitler’s Youth
(Bilderdienst)
The Nazis also aimed to persuade sodiers and the military. The public, knowing that their armed
forces were on their sides the civilians
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Why did people believe the messages that the Nazis were sending?
Adolf Hitler had an amazing ability with public speaking. His way of captivating his
audiences with only words was amazing. He portrayed a great amount of emotion and
compassion for his cause when he spoke, and easily made the spectators want to listen. Also,
the fact that the Nazis included their messages in simple items like children books, the radio,
and posters around town. People, seeing these messages everyday in their normal lifestyle
made them easier to believe. There is also the fact that the message that they were sending
was one that everyone wanted to believe. Posters and videos simply showed that if the Jews
were removed from Germany, they would have a better country, and it would be able to
prosper. Between the two ideas that Hitler was very advanced in his public speaking
techniques and the thought that Germany would be a better place; because of their hope the
German citizens followed Hitler.
Loss of Racial Pride
(Photographer Unknown/ Artist Unknown)
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What was the Reich Propaganda Ministry?
The Reich Propaganda started in 1933, according to the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum, and was headed by a man named Joseph Goebbels, who was also the
leader for the Nazi Ministry. He believed in beginning the organization of culture, which is how
the arts were brought together with the Nazi goals. They purpose for the Reich Propaganda was
to make sure the message of the Nazi’s was delivered through books, the radio, films,
educational materials, music, art, and the press. In the beginning of the propaganda, the
culture chamber started to regulate all the different aspects of the German culture. The
organization also created Hitler’s Youth and the League of German Girls that met every day
after school. Nazi architecture made monuments show the greatness of their movement. In
their books, they only used certain authors. They created a “black list” of books that were not
permitted to be in public libraries. The “black list” and any Jewish books were burned in large
bonfires, with Joseph Goebbels urging the German citizens to throw the novels into the flames.
In Berlin, at one of the book burnings, Goebbels announced to the German men and women
that “The age of arrogant Jewish intellectualism is now at an end! . . . You are doing the right
thing at this midnight hour—to consign to the flames the unclean spirit of the past. This is a
great, powerful, and symbolic act. . . . Out of these ashes the phoenix of a new age will arise. . . .
Oh Century! Oh Science! It is a joy to be alive!” (the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum) Karl Kautsky and many other Jewish authors’ works perished in the fires.
They Nazis also promoted war novels to prepare the Germans for conflict. Films were
especially important to the conveying of the Reich propaganda. Certain movies like “The
Triumph of the Will”, advertised the adoration of the Nazi party and the Hitler Youth. The
Germans in this ministry banned musical performances from people that were not the
stereotypical German, or “non-Aryan”. The Reich Propaganda Ministry banned everything and
anything that wasn’t “pure” German.
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What role did propaganda play in the Nazis’ success?
The Nazi Propaganda played a huge role in the Nazi success. The only way Nazi’s could
win was through their support. They tricked people into believing everything was okay. Hitler’s
public speaking was a big part of their propaganda. He would tell people that the Germans
were only going to get the Jewish people out of Germany, but actually they were sent to
extermination camps, where they were crudely killed. One of the reasons why the Nazi’s
propaganda was so successful is because it was literally everywhere. It was on television, in
films, on posters, in music, in art. Everywhere you went there was the Nazi propaganda. If
people knew what was really going on, they would have revolted. Maybe not all of them, but
there is a good chance that more people would have fought for the Jewish. People were
constantly reminded of the Jewish people, how they weren’t clean, educated, or worthy of
conversation with any Germans. An example would be in the Pianist, the father was forced to
walk in the gutter because the sidewalk was only meant for Germans. And how the main
character (Władysław Szpilman) was looked down upon when he was talking to the German
woman. The Nazi’s also used personal things to make people hate the Jewish race. They
believed the Jewish people were the cause of the German defeat in World War 1, calling it a
humiliation. According to Susanne Nobles, this psychological method was extremely important
to the Nazi success. Nazi propaganda is the only way the Germans would have been able to get
away with killing off almost all of the Jews. Hiding the truth about what they were actually
doing inside the camps and attaining support were the main focuses of the propaganda and the
entire reason that the extermination of the Jews went on for so long.
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Works Cited
Altman, Linda Jacobs. The Holocaust, Hitler and the Nazi Germany. USA: Enslow Publishers Inc.,
1999
“Nazi Propaganda.”USHMM.org. 25 Oct. 2007. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 6
Nov, 2007 http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?ModuleId=10005202
Hitler, Adolf. Mein Kampf. PGA. Project Gutenberg of Australia. 11/5/07
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200601.txt
Geisel, Theodore. The Endless Cat Fights On Our Own Home Front.
http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/dspolitic/pm/1942/20827cs.jpg
Der Ewidge Jude (The Eternal Jew). Dir. Fritz Hippler. 1940.
Nurnberg, Stadtarchiv. German Children Reading a Pro- Nazi Book. 1938. Germany.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/media_ph.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005202&MediaId=819
Artist/ Photographer unknown. Loss of Racial Pride. Pre-war. Germany.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/media_ph.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005202&MediaId=637
“Karl Kautsky.” USHMM.org. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 7 Nov, 2007
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/bookburning/author_detail.php?content=bbkautzk.xm
“Book Burning.” USHMM.org. 25 Oct. 2007. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 7 Nov, 2007.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005852
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