Propaganda
Brooke, Tyler, Joe, Kevin
The Man Behind It All
Joseph Goebbels was a German
politician who became the head
propagandist of the Nazi Party. He
was one of the strongest followers
and the closest associate of Hitler.
His main goal was to ‘sell’ the idea of
Hitler to the German public. He
eventually gained control of all
media (radio, press, publishing, etc.).
With the power that he has gained, he
was able to successfully eliminate all
Jews and political opponents from
any major positions of influence.
Hitler appointed Goebbels the Reich
propaganda leader of the NSDAP.
Early Life
Goebbels was born into a Catholic workingclass family. He attended the University of
Heidelberg where he received his education
from a majority of Jewish professors.
Goebbels suffered from Polio as a child,
which caused his foot to be crippled. He was
turned away from the military during World
War I due to his deformity.
Not only did Joseph
Goebbels orchestrate
Kristallnacht, but he
was a main supervisor
for the deportation of
Jews to various
concentration camps.
After Adolf Hitler
committed suicide,
Goebbels took over
and became the new
chancellor.
Helga Susanne- 12
Hildegard Traudel- 11
Helmut Christian- 9
Holdine Kathrin- 8
Hedwig Johanna- 7
Heidrun Elisabeth- 4
The Goebbels children
were all given names
beginning with the
letter ‘H’ as a tribute to
Adolf Hitler.
Joseph and Magda Goebbels killed their six
children on May 1, 1945. They committed
suicide later that day.
The ‘Big Lie’ Tactic
What Is It?
The ‘Big Lie’ Tactic feeds off the principle that
people are not willing to question the legitimacy of
a large lie, due to the fact that that they themselves
would not be willing to lie on such a large scale.
“…In the primitive simplicity of
their minds they more readily fall
victims to the big lie than the small
lie, since they themselves often tell
small lies in little matters but
would be ashamed to resort to
large-scale falsehoods.” –Adolf
Hitler on ‘The Big Lie’
Hitler used the ‘Big Lie’
as a way to blame the
Jews for the loss of World
War II. He told the
German public that the
Jews had used this
technique before, when in
reality he was using it
himself to deceive the
German people into
furthering their false
hatred for the Jews.
Joseph Goebbels used the Big Lie to fuel Germany’s
resentment towards the Jews. He later used it as a
way to advocate for the extermination of the Jewish
population. The Nazi party used the Big Lie to turn
anti-Semitism into mass murder. As the propaganda
continued, the German citizens deemed that the
Jews were the cause of all of their problems;
therefore deciding that the Jews should be
exterminated.
“…so Germany had a duty and a right to "exterminate"
and "annihilate" the Jews in self-defense” (Big Lie)
The Poisonous Mushroom
Main Facts
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Published in 1938
Author: Ernst Heimer
Original language: German
Genre: Children's literature
Goal: To brainwash the younger generation
into believing that all Jews are evil.
In these books, the
children were portrayed as
the hero in each story
where most of the time
the parents are the ones
learning from the kids.
These concepts were very
appealing to young
children because it puts
them in the position of
power over their parents.
In one episode of
The Poisonous
Mushroom, a school
teacher is showing
the children how to
identify a Jew. He
shows the class that
Jews have elongated
noses that represent
the number ‘6’.
At the End of the Book…
The image of the Jewish
monster perpetrating
misfortune is presented at the
end of each episode in the
form of a short poem. This
connected all Jews to the
Devil and served to warn the
reader of the ‘Jewish threat’.
One episode about two
children named Hans and Else
concluded with the following
saying, which Hans' mother
required him to memorize:
A devil goes through the land,
It's the Jew, well-known to us
as a murderer of peoples,
a race defiler, a child's horror
in all lands!
Corrupting our youth
stands him in good stead.
He wants all peoples dead.
Stay away from every Jew,
and happiness will come to
you!
Quotes From the Book
• “Just as it is often hard to tell a toadstool from an
edible mushroom, so too it is often very hard to
recognize the Jew as a swindler and criminal...”
• “The Jewish nose is bent. It looks like the number
six...”
• “Just look at these guys! The louse-infested
beards! The filthy, protruding ears...”
• “Daddy, someday when I have my own farm, no
Jew will enter my house...”
Propaganda Posters
This poster is telling the
Germans that Hitler is
going to rebuild their
country and he needs
everyone’s help. The way
he says that the Germans
can ‘help’ him is by
buying German goods,
therefore taking business
away from the Jews.
The caption reads: “Hitler is building.
Help him. Buy German goods.”
This poster is from
the March 1933
Reichstag election,
the last one in
which Germans
actually had a
choice. The poster
shows President
Hindenburg and
Chancellor Hitler.
The caption: “The Reich will never be
destroyed if you are united and loyal.”
A simple
propaganda
poster
glorifying
the S.A.
The Reichsbahn was a
national railway originally
created after World War l as a
transportation system used for
the purpose of earning profit
to contribute to Germany’s
war reparations. During
World War ll, the Reichsbahn
was transformed and was
solely used for one way trips
to various concentration
camps. This poster was used
to promote the Reichsbahn
and the deportation of Jews
and other victims of the
Holocaust.
“Our German Reichsbahn”
This poster was used to
beat the idea of Hitler
into all of the German’s
heads. This posted was
created right before the
Final Solution to remind
people that why need to
stay true to Hitler. This
scared most people
because they were all
witnesses of what he
was doing to the Jews.
“Be true to the Führer.”
Sources
• www.johndclare.net/Nazi_Germany2_PoisonousMushroom.htm
• http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/thumb.htm
• Big Lie. (2012, December 2). Retrieved January 22, 2013, from
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Lie
• Hitler On The Big Lie. (n.d.). Retrieved January 22, 2013, from
Jewish Virtual Library:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/hitlerlie.html
• http://www.bytwerk.com/gpa/posters2.htm
• http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/goebbels.html
• http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/goebbels.html
• http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/goebbels.html