Nazi Propaganda
“The task of propaganda is not to make an objective study
of the truth…but to convince the masses.
-Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf
Nazi Propaganda
What is propaganda?

Propaganda is biased information designed to
shape public opinion and behavior.
Hitler’s propaganda experience?
Opera’s of Richard Wagner
Georg Ritter von Schoenerer, leader of the
Austrian Pan-German party
Karl Lueger, Vienna’s Christian Social
mayor
World War I- Hitler’s praised the skill of
enemy propagandists
World War I Propaganda
The Role of Propaganda in Nazi
Strategy
Hitler joins German Workers Party
Encourages leaders to take out ads and promote
meetings
 Organizes mass meetings

Hitler becomes propaganda director
Creates the party’s flag
 Has ancient roots with Hindu’s in Italy

The Role of Propaganda in Nazi
Strategy
The Role of Propaganda in Nazi
Strategy
Hitler’s ideas were not particularly new,
what was new was the attention he paid to
presentation, how he said something rather
than what he said.
Hitler’s salute came from Mussolini’s
Fascists which they borrowed from the
ancient Romans
He also modeled his brown shirts on
Mussolini’s black shirts
The Success of Nazi Propaganda
Nazi party leaders provoked Communist
and Social Democrat violence by marching
the SA storm troopers into working class
neighborhoods where they had strongholds.
Hitler Appointed Chancellor
Otto Dietrich
Nazi Party Press Chief
Joseph Goebbels
Minister of Public
Enlightenment and
Propaganda
Nazi Propaganda
The Nazi’s quickly recognized the value
of the media. From the early days of
the party they used aggressive
advertising to promote the nazi
ideology
Goebbels was in charge of ‘enlightening’
the German public
Book Burnings
Nazi students unload
confiscated
materials for the
public book burning
that is to take place
on the Opernplatz in
Berlin. The banner
on the back of the
truck reads:
"German students
march against the
un-German spirit."
Book Burnings
Link to Book
Burnings
Nazi Propaganda: Methods
Word of the Week
Posters
Radio
Film
Newspapers
Nazi Control of Press
Newspapers
Censoring newspapers ensures that
only the news you want people to read
is available to the public
Nazi party members wrote many
articles for the press, ensuring that the
message was always positive
Many publications were banned
Der Sturmer
Der Sturmer
Joke of the Times
“I told my wife that if I die, don’t let them
put it in the newspaper, because no one will
believe it”
Nazi Control of Radio
Hitler’s Speeches
Hitler is considered to
have been one of the
greatest public speakers
of all time.
Nazi Control of Film
Film was used to show Hitler in a positive light as
often as possible
The Nazi’s commissioned several films, each
carefully portraying a certain image
Triumph of the Will
 Directed by Leni Riefenstahl
 taken at Nazi Party Rally in Nuremburg1934
 considered a documentary masterpiece
Film: The Eternal Jew
Film: The Eternal Jew
Winning the Masses
“One people, one
government, one
leader.”
Posters Creating One
People
Posters are cheap
and easy to
distribute
Placed in prominent
positions they act as
a constant reminder
of ideology
Can be used for
many purposes
Examples of Nazi Posters
Posters
Glorifying
“Aryans”
Nazi Youth
“All Girls Join Us”
Youth Serves the Fuhrer. All
ten-year-olds join the Hitler
Youth.”
Nazi Men
Nazi Women
Nazi Women
"Healthy
Parents have
Healthy
Children."
Anti-Jewish Propaganda
Campaigns
Nazi’s had to determine who was and who
wasn’t a full-fledged member of the
national community.
Then and Now
“You are Sharing
the Load! A
Genetically Ill
Individual Costs
Approximately
50,000
Reichsmarks by
the Age of Sixty”
Propaganda
Propaganda
'The Costs of the
Congenitally
Diseased'.
Propaganda
'60.000 reichsmarks
is what this
hereditarily ill person
will cost the national
community over the
course of his life.
Citizen, this is also
your money!
Race Propaganda
Race Propaganda
"The result! A
loss of racial
pride."
Race Defiler
1936
Language of Propaganda
Employment office- “labor mobilization”
Worker- “Soldier of Labor”
Work- “Service to Fuehrer and folk”
Factory Meeting- “Factory Roll Call”
Production- “The Production Battle”
Education
Don't Trust the Fox in the Green Meadow or The Jew On His Oath.
Der Fiftpilz:
The Poisonous Mushroom
Link to The Poison
Mushroom
Education
Education
Education
State of Deception
Themes of the Exhibit
Online Exhibit: Making a Leader
Guiding Question
Some have said that Hitler would not
have come to power without the work
of Goebbels. Look at the posters in
this section and determine what traits
for Hitler are being promoted?
Online Exhibit: Rallying the
Nation
Guiding Question
What does the Nazi
Party offer the
German people that
propels it to dominate
the multitude of other
political parties?
Online Exhibit: Indoctrinating
the Youth
Guiding Question
What are the
messages used to
educate (Nazify)
the youth?
Online Exhibit: Defining the
Enemy
Guiding Question
What strategies
were used by the
Nazi government to
move the masses to
the Nazi Utopian
society?
Online Exhibit: Writing the News
Guiding Questions
How was the Nazi
use of media a
systematic strategy to
control the masses?
What was their goal?
The tools used?
The outcome?
Online Exhibit: Deceiving the
Public
Guiding
Questions
What were the
deceptions?
What did the
deceptions offer the
German nation?
Online Exhibit: Assessing Guilt
Guiding Question
1945 = Denazification
of Germany
What was the
International outcome of
the prosecution of Julius
Streicher, Hans
Fritzsche, and Leni
Riefenstahl?
Propaganda for War
1936 Olympics
Kristallnacht
Invasion of Poland
Propaganda for Mass Murder
Theresienstadt
Between July 1943 and May 1944, German
battlefield deaths averaged 70,000 per
month
Did not report these figures
 Instead propaganda focused on what would
happen if Germans lost

Propaganda on Trial