Goebbels, propaganda, Mass media, Culture and Censorship in Hitler’s Germany. By Kat Coyte, Lucy Matthews, Helen Fitz- Hugh, Sam Hall, Katherine Thompson, Becky Williams, Becky Highcock, Olivia Keenan, Tamsin Rutter and Emily Stevenson.

Joseph Goebbels Goebbels was responsible for putting Hitler’s ideas about propaganda into practice. He proved his talent for propaganda during the election campaign between 1930 and On the 13 th March 1933 he took charge of the new ‘Reich ministry of popular enlightenment and propaganda’ which had control over official information in German culture. He had to prevent anything critical of the Nazis being said or written and made sure than TV and radio broadcasts were pro-Nazi Germany.

Controls were put on what journalists could write and they set up a press agency to tell newspapers what the news should be. He encouraged new films most were love stories, comedies or adventure and the rest were political. Goebbels won the power struggle for the control of the radio and formed the Reich radio company controlling all local radio stations. Cheap radios were made and by % of German house had a radio and for those who didn't 6000 loudspeaker pillars were made. Radios had a limited range so that only Nazi’s could be received. Goebbels job was to make the Germans believe in Nazi ideas and be loyal to Hitler and the party. He used every available method to win people over. He was vain, ambitious, a womaniser and bitter anti-Semite.

Propaganda The Nazis knew they had to win over the German people in order to remain in power. It was Goebbels job to ensure this happened – he said ‘the essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end the succumb to it utterly and can never escape from it’. To achieve this he Made sure newspapers only printed Nazi stories Controlled radio stations and ensured everyone heard the Nazi message Organised rallies, marches and rituals and encouraged people to use the ‘Heil Hitler’ salute. Ensured films were all pro-Nazi.

Mass Media Newspapers – Goebbels took over most of the publishers and put controls on what journalists could write. Anti-Nazi newspapers were closed by 1944 some Nazi newspapers threatened people who cancelled their subscriptions. In 1933 there were over 4700 newspapers in Germany of which the Nazis only controlled 2.5%however by 1939 the Nazis controlled over 2/3 of the newspapers. The Nazis also made rules about who could become a journalist and by 1935 over 1300 Jews and Marxist journalists were sacked. Films- Cinemas were popular so Goebbels encouraged new films which were pro-Nazi to be made. Two examples of propaganda are ‘Jud suss’ which told the story of an evil Jew and the film ‘Otum kruger’ which was an anti British film about the Boer war. Admission was only allowed at the beginning so you had to watch the news reels which carried the Nazi message.

Festivals – Parades and festivals were key to the Nazis success. People were expected to attend them. These important days included Hitler's birthday, the founding of Nazi party day and commemoration of the Munich beer hall putsch among others. These were staged to perfection, men marched exactly 0.75m away from each other carrying flags and banners. Above them in the sky 150 search lights created a dome of light which could be seen over 100km away. These war often filmed, and failure to take part showed a person as unreliable and suspect and as a punishment they might lose their promotion or state benefits or worse.

Culture Goebbels set up the Reich Chamber of Culture of which musicians, writers and actors had to be members. This enabled Goebbels to stop any musician, actor, writer or artist working if they were thought to be unsuitable, by ending their membership of the Chamber. Some people protested by leaving Germany, however some just started to produce work acceptable to the Nazis. Hitler and the Nazi party aimed to control every part of peoples lives, including their free time, a huge party organisation called ‘Strength Through Joy’ (Kraft Durch Froid- KDF) had the job of organising leisure activities for people run by Dr Robert Ley, leader of the German labour front. This drew up massive leisure programs, including cheap holidays and a plan to provide labourers with cheap cars.

In 1929 the Nazis set up the ‘Militant League for German Culture’ which organised protests and demonstrations against ‘modern’ art in all its forms. They staged a protest against Berthold Brecht and composer Kurt Weill’s new Threepenny Opera and outside the anti-war film ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’. There were guidelines in music for what was acceptable; it should be German: folk songs, marching music and classical music by Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. Performances of classical music by Jewish composers were banned. Some popular music was allowed but never dance music or Jazz, which was considered ‘black’ music and racially inferior. Theatre should concentrate on German history and political drama, only plays by traditional playwrights like Schiller, Goethe and Shakespeare, were performed because they were acceptable to the Nazis. No new drama was released whilst the Nazis were in control, in 1935 the education ministry created the Schiller Prize for the best new German play, but the judges found none good enough so it was not awarded. Cheap theatre tickets were available, and if you joined the Nazi Cultural Association, you could see ten plays at half price, but could not chooser which plays or when, because Goebbels controlled this too.

Nazi Germany was no place for talented writers; men like Thomas Mann and Berthold Brecht join 2500 novelists, poets and playwrights who left Germany between The action taken by the Nazis to burn books in Berlin on the 10th of May 1933 was a clear message to everyone. Goebbels organised the raiding of libraries and the seizure of books by writers who were not approved of. They were ceremoniously burned, in 1936, the same thing was done to 5000 paintings. Goebbels drew up a list of banned books which were removed by the Gestapo from bookshops and libraries, in May 1933 the Nazis encouraged students to burn the books they believed were un-German and Jewish. Goebbels wanted books about race, war and the Nazi Movement, one popular topic was the heroic actions of German soldiers in WW1, such books described the thrill of combat and how Germans should be prepared to die for the fatherland.

Art and Architecture Hitler had tried to learn a living as an artist and had very definite ideas of art, disliking modern art and sculpture, and preferring art that showed heroic German figures and the power of the master race. In 1937, the Nazis opened the House of German Art to show officially approved art. Hitler believed architecture was the finest of the arts and that it could influence peoples lives. He favoured two styles; the monumental style for public buildings, and the country style for family homes and youth hostels.

Censorship Goebbels had to use censorship to stop other messages from spreading. Entertainment and information was censored such as jazz music at dances because of its black origins. Films were censored to ensure they betrayed the Nazi message. In 1993 students in Berlin destroyed books because they were either communist or Jewish. Private talking was banned and if it was reported to the Gestapo you could be sentenced to death. On the radio the typical broadcast were Hitler's speeches, German music and German history. Everything else was censored out.

Question In the black book, using the source on page 54, compare the differences between Germany in 1918 and Why is this source used as propaganda for the Nazis. E.g. what does it show?