Elements of Nazism Notes

PROPAGANDA Biased information of misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. Ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated and that are spread in order to help a cause, a political leader, a government.

The Nazis effectively used propaganda to win the support of millions of Germans in a democracy and, later in a dictatorship, to facilitate persecution, war, and ultimately genocide. 

Youth Indoctrination The Nazi Party targeted German youth for its propaganda messages. Millions of German young people were won over to Nazism in the classroom and through extracurricular activities. In 1936, membership in Nazi youth groups became mandatory for all boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 17. After-school meetings and weekend camping trips sponsored by the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls trained children to become faithful to the Nazi Party 

Racial Ideology Racism is the belief in the superiority of one race over another, which often results in discrimination and prejudice towards people based on their race or ethnicity. Hitler believed that Germans were members of a superior group of races that he called “Aryan” who he believed were gifted above all other races and asserted that Germans were placed on Earth destined to rule a vast empire across Eastern Europe. He also believed that superior races had the right to “exterminate” inferior ones.

This 1938 racist illustration compares “German Youth” with “Jewish Youth”. It is subtitled “From the face speaks the soul of the race”. The Nazis used racist theorist to label groups of people as inferior and as the “enemy”.