“Give me 4 year time”- The Power of the Nazi propaganda machine

The buzzwords nowadays are ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’ this is rubbish of course because news is news and facts are facts, however the interpretation and manipulation of the news and facts can be fake,

Basically another word for that is propaganda,defined as “information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view.”

The Nazis were masters in propaganda. The above picture is basically an election poster it is promoting a convention of the 1st ‘comprehensive’ performance overview of the National Socialism, in 1937. The heading of the poster says “Give me 4 years time”

As if the Germans had a choice.During the 1936 election and referendum the Germans had already voted for the single rule of the Nazi party and Hitler as supreme leader.

When you look at the data of the election 99% of the population voted and 98.8% voted for the Nazis.clearly these figures were manipulated.

Ever since Hitler came to power the population was blinded by him. This wasn’t difficult to do for him because he delivered on his promises of employment and building a great Germany again. In 1933 unemployment was 6 million by January 1937 it had decreased to 1.8 million, we know now that was accomplished for all the wrong reasons.The 1933 election poster says “Hitler builds”

 

This new found prosperity instilled a sense of loyalty towards the Führer, so very few questions were asked in relation what happened inside newly built concentration camps like Dachau or what happened in Euthanasia centers like Hartheim, things were going well and people didn’t want to rock the boat.

Combine all this with an extremely powerful and extremely well oiled propaganda machine it is no wonder the Nazis got away with what they did.

The propaganda was aimed at all age groups. In this Nazi fundraising poster, a member of the Hitler youth asks for money to build youth hostels and homes.

 

A German family salutes the German Imperial Railroad.

 

Even when the war broke out very few questions were asked,because people believed all the lies spun to them. The fake attack by Polish soldiers like in The Gleiwitz incident.

On the night of 31 August 1939, a small group of German operatives dressed in Polish uniforms and led by Alfred Naujocks seized the Gleiwitz station and broadcast a short anti-German message in Polish. The whole operation was named “Grossmutter gestorben” (“Grandmother died”).The Germans’ goal was to make the attack and the broadcast look like the work of anti-German Polish saboteurs.

The Gleiwitz incident was a part of a larger operation carried out by Abwehr and SS forces.There were other incidents orchestrated by Germany along the Polish-German border at the same time as the Gleiwitz attack, such as a house torching in the Polish Corridor and spurious propaganda output. The entire project was dubbed Operation Himmler and comprised a number of incidents intended to give the appearance of Polish aggression against Germany.

German newspapers and politicians, including Adolf Hitler, accused Polish authorities for months before the 1939 invasion of organizing or tolerating violent ethnic cleansing of ethnic Germans living in Poland.

The Nazis always blamed the Jews for the misfortune of the German people and they directed their propaganda in such a way to ensure the majority of the population would take the bait.

Nazi Party anti-Semitic poster for the German parliament, the Reichstag, 1928, saying “Make the punch count”

1943 poster claiming that the Jews were to blame for the war

Jews were seen as very prosperous and wealthy and that they had profited from the economic woes, and yes there were some who had but so had many other Germans. If any one would have just stood back an analyse the situation they would have seen that the Jews were just as badly affected as any one else.

The German propaganda aided in the extermination of millions without too many questions being asked.

Next time some tells you “this is fake news” stand back and analyse it before you make up your mind.