Propaganda – History of Sorts

Nazi Students

This blog is not meant to accuse current students but is aimed at them as a history lesson. The history they could easily repeat if they are not careful. Much of the text below is repetitive because I researched several sources. However, in this case, repeating the text is important,

During the Nazi era in Germany, universities played a significant role in the dissemination of Nazi ideology and the shaping of society according to Nazi principles. Several student groups emerged during this time, each with its own objectives and roles within the broader Nazi agenda. Here are some of the key student groups:

National Socialist German Students’ League (NSDStB): This was the official student organization of the Nazi Party. It aimed to integrate university students into the Nazi movement and ensure their adherence to Nazi ideology. The NSDStB organized various activities such as lectures, rallies, and cultural events to promote Nazi ideals among students.

German Student Union (DSt): Formed after the Nazi Party came to power in 1933, the German Student Union was a nationwide organization that aimed to coordinate and control all aspects of student life following Nazi principles. It played a central role in the implementation of Nazi policies within universities, including the purging of “undesirable” faculty members and students.

National Socialist German Lecturers League (NSDDB): Similar to the NSDStB but focused on university professors and lecturers, this organization sought to ensure that academia conformed to Nazi ideology. It promoted Nazi doctrines within academic circles and enforced ideological conformity among university faculty.

German Faith Movement (Deutsche Glaubensbewegung): Although not exclusively a student group, The German Faith Movement attracted many young people, including university students, who were drawn to its emphasis on pagan Germanic spirituality and rejection of Christianity. While not directly controlled by the Nazi Party, it aligned with Nazi ideals and sought to reshape religious and spiritual life in Nazi Germany.

The National Socialist German Students’ League (Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund, NSDStB) was one of the most prominent student organizations in Nazi Germany. Founded in 1926, the NSDStB aimed to indoctrinate university students with Nazi ideology and ensure their loyalty to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.

Key objectives and activities of the NSDStB included:

Indoctrination: The NSDStB sought to mold students’ minds according to Nazi principles, emphasizing racial superiority, anti-Semitism, nationalism, and obedience to Hitler. It organized lectures, seminars, and study groups to propagate Nazi ideology among students.

Political Activism: NSDStB members actively participated in Nazi Party activities and campaigns, including rallies, parades, and propaganda efforts. They played a crucial role in mobilizing student support for the Nazi regime and its policies.

Control of Student Life: The NSDStB aimed to control all aspects of university student life, including academic activities, extracurricular pursuits, and social interactions. It promoted conformity to Nazi ideals and monitored students’ behavior to ensure compliance.

Censorship and Suppression of Dissent: The NSDStB was involved in censoring and suppressing dissenting voices within the student body, including those critical of the Nazi regime. It targeted professors and students who opposed Nazi ideology and worked to eliminate opposition within universities.

Expansion and Influence: Under the leadership of Baldur von Schirach, who also led the Hitler Youth, the NSDStB expanded its reach and influence across universities in Germany. It aimed to create a generation of devoted Nazi followers who would play a role in shaping the future of the Third Reich.

The German Student Union (Deutscher Studentenbund, DSt) was a pivotal organization in Nazi Germany’s control over higher education institutions. Established shortly after the Nazi Party’s rise to power in 1933, the DSt aimed to centralize and coordinate all student activities per Nazi ideology.

Key aspects and functions of the German Student Union included:

Nazification of Universities: The DSt played a crucial role in implementing Nazi policies within universities, ensuring that academic institutions adhered to Nazi principles and promoted the regime’s ideology. It oversaw the purging of Jewish professors and other “undesirable” faculty members, replacing them with individuals sympathetic to the Nazi cause.

Control of Student Life: The DSt sought to control all aspects of student life, including academic affairs, extracurricular activities, and social interactions. It enforced conformity to Nazi ideology among students and suppressed dissenting voices.

Propaganda and Indoctrination: The DSt organized lectures, rallies, and propaganda campaigns to indoctrinate students with Nazi ideology. It promoted racial purity, anti-Semitism, nationalism, and loyalty to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.

Coordination of Student Activities: The DSt centralized student organizations and activities under its authority, ensuring that all student groups aligned with Nazi principles and objectives. It coordinated sports events, cultural activities, and social gatherings to foster a sense of camaraderie among students and reinforce Nazi ideals.

Recruitment and Mobilization: The DSt served as a recruitment tool for the Nazi Party, attracting young people to its ranks and mobilizing them for political activism. It encouraged students to join Nazi-affiliated organizations such as the Hitler Youth and the National Socialist German Students’ League (NSDStB).

Suppression of Opposition: The DSt actively suppressed opposition and dissent within the student body, targeting individuals and groups critical of the Nazi regime. It enforced strict censorship and punished those who expressed dissenting views, contributing to a fearful atmosphere and conformity on university campuses.

The National Socialist German Lecturers League (Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Dozentenbund, NSDDB) was a prominent organization within Nazi Germany tasked with ensuring ideological conformity among university professors and lecturers. Established in 1933, the NSDDB played a significant role in implementing Nazi policies within academia and promoting the dissemination of Nazi ideology among educators.

Key aspects and functions of the National Socialist German Lecturers League included:

Enforcement of Nazi Ideology: The NSDDB aimed to ensure that university professors and lecturers adhered to Nazi principles and promoted Nazi ideology in their teaching and research. It sought to purge academia of individuals deemed “politically unreliable” or opposed to Nazi ideals, replacing them with educators sympathetic to the Nazi cause.

Control and Censorship: The NSDDB exercised control over academic institutions, overseeing appointments, promotions, and curriculum development to ensure alignment with Nazi ideology. It enforced censorship, monitoring lectures, publications, and research activities to suppress dissent and promote Nazi propaganda.

Indoctrination of Students: Working in coordination with the National Socialist German Students’ League (NSDStB), the NSDDB played a role in indoctrinating students with Nazi ideology. It influenced course content and teaching methods to promote racial superiority, anti-Semitism, nationalism, and loyalty to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.

Coordination with Other Nazi Organizations: The NSDDB collaborated closely with other Nazi-affiliated organizations, such as the German Student Union (DSt) and the Hitler Youth, to ensure a unified approach to ideological indoctrination and political mobilization within academic institutions.

Promotion of Racial Ideology: The NSDDB advocated for the integration of racial ideology into academic disciplines, promoting pseudo-scientific theories of racial superiority and inferiority. It sought to reshape academic fields such as biology, anthropology, and history to align with Nazi racial theories.

Punishment of Dissent: The NSDDB targeted professors and lecturers who expressed dissenting views or criticized the Nazi regime, subjecting them to harassment, dismissal, or imprisonment. It contributed to the atmosphere of fear and conformity within academia, stifling intellectual freedom and independent thought.

Sources

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/university-student-groups-in-nazi-germany

https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/visual-essay-impact-propaganda

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/indoctrinating-youth

https://www.jstor.org/stable/44158487

https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Nazi-Party/330014

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_book_burnings

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goebbels-burnings

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/sep/10/book-burning-quran-history-nazis

https://www.dhm.de/fileadmin/lemo/suche/search/index.php?q=Nationalsozialistischer+Deutscher+Studentenbund

When the Red Cross was Fooled

A mistake many people would make is that a charity as large as the Red Cross would not fall victim to manipulation. Although they have the best intentions, any charity can only go by the information given to them. They may believe they are eyewitnesses to something, but to suit “certain” narratives—façades can cover the truth.

On June 23, 1944, the Nazis invited the International Red Cross to inspect Theresienstadt Concentration Camp. The camp was described as a Utopian experiment by the Germans to produce a self-sustaining community of like-minded citizens who would live and work together for the common good. Craftsmen of all types exercised their talents in specially constructed workshops; fruit and vegetables were grown in abundance in large garden areas close to the moat; there was a post office, bank, library, hospital, and countless opportunities for the residents of the camp to participate in sporting and cultural activities. In short, the Nazis portrayed Theresienstadt as being a veritable paradise camp.

To ensure the Red Cross reported positively on Theresienstadt, the Nazis attempted to mask the true conditions, thereby presenting it as a model ghetto. The Nazis removed 7,503 Jews from Theresienstadt between 16 and 18 May 1944 to reduce the overcrowding of the ghetto, holding them in a special camp at Auschwitz in case the Red Cross requested to visit them there. Buildings along the inspection route were spruced up, a football match was staged, and cultural activities were promoted to add to the deception.

As the Red Cross arrived and toured the ghetto, they followed a specific route, which had been pre-planned to portray the camp in the best light possible. They met the prisoners who had been warned about how to act and what to say. The Red Cross was duped, and their report did not reveal the ghetto’s true purpose or conditions.

The commission that visited on June 23, 1944, included Maurice Rossel, a representative of the ICRC; E. Juel-Henningsen, the head physician at the Danish Ministry of Health; and Franz Hvass, the top civil servant at the Danish Foreign Ministry. Swiss historians Sébastien Farré and Yan Schubert view the choice of the young and inexperienced Rossel as indicative of the ICRC’s indifference to Jewish suffering.

The Nazis intensified deportations from the ghetto shortly before the visit, and the ghetto itself was beautified—by adding a garden, painting houses and renovating barracks. The Nazis had staged social and cultural events for the visiting dignitaries. Once the visit was over, the Germans resumed deportations from Theresienstadt, which ended in October 1944.

Rossel was completely duped. A sad fact is the subsequent report he produced was so favourable that the local SS decided to make a film about the camp. The intention was a resultant propaganda film that would be distributed worldwide, particularly to international humanitarian institutions and neutral countries. This was to assure them that the negative reports from the Western powers about their camps—were all exaggerated and untrue.

Jewish spectators watching a football match at Theresienstadt

Not only was it enough to have a false depiction of Theresienstadt, but the Nazis also coerced German-Jewish Actor/Director Kurt Gerron into directing. Gerron escaped Germany after the Nazis took power and ended up in the Netherlands. When the filming finished, Gerron and members of the jazz pianist Martin Roman Ghetto Swingers—were deported on the final train transport to Auschwitz. Gerron and his wife were gassed immediately upon arrival, as well as the film’s performing entourage, with the exception of Martin Roman and guitarist Coco Schumann.

As a result of preparations for the Red Cross visit, the summer of 1944 was, as one survivor later wrote, “The best time we had in Terezín. Nobody thought of new transports.”

The gimmick was so successful that SS commander Hans Günther tried and decided to expand on it by having Kurt Gerron make a short documentary about the camp to assure audiences that the inmates kept there were not abused. In return, the Nazis promised that he would live. Shooting the film started on September 1, 1944, and took 11 days. Kurt Gerron was murdered upon arrival at Auschwitz on October 28, 1944.

This should be a lesson for today and the future that seeing should not always be believing.

Sources

https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/theresienstadt-paradise-camp/

Red Cross visit

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/theresienstadt-red-cross-visit

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Sinterklaas during World War II

The Feast of Sinterklaas celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas on 6 December. The feast is celebrated annually with the giving of gifts on St. Nicholas’ Eve, 5 December in the Netherlands and on the morning of 6 December, Saint Nicholas Day in Belgium, Luxembourg, Western Germany, Northern France (French Flanders, Lorraine, Alsace and Artois), and Hungary. The tradition is also celebrated in some territories of the former Dutch Empire, including Aruba and Surinam.

Sinterklaas is one of the sources of the popular Christmas icon of Santa Claus.

Needless to say that the celebrations during World War 2 had a different form then in normal times. The feast was also used by the Nazis as a powerful propaganda tool.

Reichs Commissioner Dr. Seyss-Inquart, during Sinterklaas in Leerdam, organized a Sinterklaas party for poor children. He also visited the Leerdam glass factories and with Ir. Pijnakker visited a department of the Leerdam glass factories.

On 1 November 1941 Sinterklaas arrived in Eindhoven by boat; he shook hands, got into an open carriage, and made an entrance. A wagon loaded with parcels drove alongside Sinterklaas while many children were in the large crowd that cheers Sinterklaas on a balcony. During World War II, the newsreels of the Polygoon and Profilti film factories were under the supervision of the German occupier. Polygoon and Profilti had to collaborate with the German film rental agency Tobis. As of 1 January 1941, the newsreel was renamed Tobis Nieuws. In the Autumn of 1944, Polygoon and Profilti took turns producing newsreels under this name.

Sources

https://beeldbankwo2.nl/nl/beelden/?mode=gallery&view=horizontal&q=sinterklaas&rows=25&page=1

https://www.oorlogsbronnen.nl/bron/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.openbeelden.nl%2Fmedia%2F657533

Propaganda & Art

I believe that the most powerful weapon the Nazis had during World War II was its propaganda machine. Other countries used propaganda, but not as effectively as the Nazis. Perhaps critical thinking had not been eradicated or banned elsewhere.

The Nazis often used art to spread their message. Some of their posters remind me of today’s memes. The connection between art and propaganda was probably the strongest in the Netherlands, known for its art and artists.

The art piece at the start of this article is from the Exhibition Art of the Front collection—displayed at the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum from 21 January–21 February 1943.

The Nazis also set up several charities, not for the betterment of the population, but really as a means of propaganda. Winning hearts and minds was essential for the Nazis. Again, art and fancy posters played an important part in this, to relay the message.

Relief work Visual arts. Nederlandsche Volksdienst (Dutch People Service) in collaboration with the Nederlandsche Kultuurkamer (Dutch Chamber of Culture). Exhibition.

A wall with posters, most likely in Amsterdam from the autumn of 1941. It includes the V-Action poster and calls for enlistment in the SS or the Volunteer Legion. One of the posters was for the exhibition in the Rijksmuseum concerning Westphalian Art of the Present.

German propaganda. Posters from the Netherlands Winter Aid Foundation said, “Your fellow citizens expect you to do your duty,” doesn’t mention the Nazis or the occupiers—but fellow citizens.

Propaganda against Bolshevism “Bolshevism is murder!” It didn’t just instil fear of loss of life, but also destruction of religion.

The NSB (Dutch Nazi Party) was intensively involved in propaganda. Posters and placards flooded the Netherlands, both before and during the war.

Propaganda poster from the NSB Photo Service “Do you want the rule of egoism? That is the freedom to use people and the community for your own personal interests or do you want everyone to have the obligation to serve people and the community? Then support National Socialism.”

Aimed at Railway Workers “Strike only brings misery to your own people!”

Aside from the art used in propaganda, the Nazis also decided an ample number of Dutch artists to be murdered.

Portrait, possible of hidden or captured Jews. (Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum)

Max van Dam
Max van Dam was the son of Aron van Dam and Johanna van Dam née Leviticus. Both his parents were Jewish. He grew up in a socialist environment. His father was a certified meat inspector who became the director of the cooperative store De Dageraad, a literal translation of The Dawn, in Winterswijk, where he was on the town council for the Dutch Social Democratic Workers’ Party (SDAP). Max received art training in Amsterdam and Antwerp and attended Isidoor Opsomer’s Academy of Fine Arts.

During the war, Max van Dam went into hiding. He tried to flee to Switzerland but was captured in France and deported to Sobibor by way of the Drancy Interment Camp. During his time in the two camps, Max van Dam continued to produce engravings and paint portraits.

In Sobibor, Max was one of the ‘lucky’ ones who were not immediately murdered. He had to do paintings for the SS. The SS man Karl Frenzel testified in 1983, “He did not have to stand for roll call, and his food was brought to him by fellow prisoners. I asked him to do paintings for the SS canteen, which would not remind us of the camp or the war, they were exclusively landscapes. There was also a painting made by Van Dam of FiFi, Bauer’s dog.” Frenzel further stated, ”Van Dam had been killed in the revolt and that the paintings in the staff quarters of Sobibor were destroyed at the same time.”

The details and exact date of Van Dam’s death remain unclear. Survivors have indicated that he was killed shortly after completing his last commissioned painting in September 1943. Jules Schelvis noted that Frenzel’s assertion that Van Dam was killed in the revolt may have been self-serving. Schelvis concluded this based on statements by Alexander Pechersky, who was emphatic in his declarations never to have met Van Dam because the painter had already been killed prior to his own arrival in Sobibor on 23 September 1943.

Theodoor van Gogh
Although Theodoor van Gogh was not an artist himself, he was the great-nephew of one of the most famous artists of all time—Vincent van Gogh.

Theodoor (Theo) van Gogh was born in Amsterdam. He was the uncle of the director, columnist, and opinion maker Theo van Gogh, who was murdered in 2004. Theodoor began studying economics at Amsterdam University in 1941, where joined a student resistance organisation.

He was active in the resistance on many fronts, as were many other members of his Corps fraternity. In 1943, they protested, among other things, against having to sign the so-called declaration of loyalty, which meant that you would not do anything against the Germans. If you refused to sign, you could not continue your studies. On 6 May 1943, those who had not signed had to report for the Arbeitseinsatz in Germany. Theo did not do this. He immediately helped Jews, arranged hiding places and provided identity cards, ration cards, food, etc., for people in hiding in collaboration with, among others, the Student Resistance. He supported the Domestic Armed Forces and was the central figure for a courier service. He also offered help to prisoners and succeeded in getting a number released. At the end of 1944, he housed the resistance newspaper, Het Parool, from his father’s office, and was involved in the resistance newspaper, Ons Volk. He also committed more acts of resistance, about which less has become known. Theo was arrested twice, once during a raid in 1943 and again at a train check-in in 1944. In both cases, his father’s influence was able to have him released after a few months from Camp Vught and Camp Amersfoort, respectively. An extensive group of students and others worked with him and for him. During a raid on his home on 1 March 1945, he, with many others, was arrested for the attack on SS commander Hanns Rauter.

As a reprisal for the attack, on 8 March, the Nazis executed 263 political prisoners, including Theodoor at age 24, by a firing squad in southeast Amsterdam. The spot became known as Fusilladeplaats (execution place).

Calendar design for November, drawing, 1930–31: “On wings of storm winter approaches.”

Willem Arondéus
Willem Arondéus was a Dutch artist and author who joined the Dutch anti-Nazi resistance movement during World War II. He participated in the bombing of the Amsterdam public records office to hinder the Nazi German effort to identify Dutch Jews and others wanted by the Gestapo. Arondéus was caught and executed soon after his arrest. Yad Vashem recognized Arondéus as Righteous Among the Nations.

When Nazi Germany occupied the Netherlands during World War II, Arondéus became a member of the Dutch resistance movement. He used his artistic skills to forge false identity papers and other documents to help people escape persecution.

With a small group of confidants from the art world, including Gerrit van der Veen and cellist Frieda Belinfante, Arondéus started in 1942 by counterfeiting identity cards for Jewish people in hiding so that they could perhaps survive the war without the “J” on their identity cards. A plan was devised to blow up this register to prevent the occupier from checking the numbers of the forged identity cards in the administration of the Amsterdam population register.

Under the leadership of Willem Arondéus and Gerrit van der Veen, the resistance group committed an attack on this population register on the night of 27 March 1943. A few days later, Arondéus and almost everyone else involved were arrested. On 1 July 1943, 12 resistance fighters, including Arondéus, were shot dead in the dunes near Overveen.

Sources

https://www.oorlogsbronnen.nl/tijdlijn/Theodoor-van-Gogh/02/201255

https://oorlogsgravenstichting.nl/personen/201255/theodoor-van-gogh

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2020/05/22/executed-by-the-nazis-the-story-of-vincent-van-goghs-brave-great-nephew

https://www.sobiborinterviews.nl/en/sobibor-sketches/maxvandam

https://beeldbankwo2.nl/nl/beelden/?mode=gallery&view=horizontal&q=propaganda&rows=25&page=1

https://beeldbankwo2.nl/nl/beelden/?mode=gallery&view=horizontal&q=kunst&rows=25&page=1

https://www.noord-holland.nl/Bestuur/Provinciale_Staten/Willem_Arondeuslezing

Willem Arondeus: The Gay Men That Led The Dutch Resistance

https://www.europeana.eu/en/blog/willem-arondeus

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Mad Tuesday—Dolle Dinsdag

On 5 September 1944, exiled representatives of the three countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg signed the London Customs Convention, the treaty that established the Benelux. A politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of the three neighbouring nations. However, that is not why 5 September 1944 would become known as Dolle Dinsdag or Mad Tuesday.

Many German soldiers were in a hurry to leave on Tuesday, 5 September 1944. They had heard that the Allies had crossed the Dutch border in the South and were advancing rapidly to the North of the Netherlands. Within a few days, the troops that had stayed back had destroyed the ports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam with explosives. For fear of retaliation, many collaborators were afraid to stay in the Netherlands as well. They left on the same day, heading for the East of the Netherlands or Germany.

On 4 September 1944, the Allies conquered Antwerp, and it was thought that they already advanced into the Netherlands. Radio Oranje broadcasts, one by the Prime Minister-in-exile Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy, increased the confusion; twice, in just over twelve hours (at 23.45 on 4 September and again in the morning of the 5th), they announced that Breda, 8 kilometres from the border with Belgium, had been liberated. The BBC had picked up the announcement too.

The news spread rapidly, with underground newspapers preparing headlines announcing “The Fall of Breda.”

Further fueling speculation, German occupation officials Arthur Seyss-Inquart (appointed Reichskommissar for the Occupied Netherlands in May 1940) and Hanns Albin Rauter, SS and police leader announced a “State of Siege” for the Netherlands to the 300,000 cable radio listeners and in the newspapers of the following day:

Despite the threats, many Dutch celebrated on the streets while preparing to receive and cheer on the Allied liberators. Dutch and Orange flags and pennants were prepared, and many workers left their workplaces to wait for the Allies to arrive.

The Nazis decided to evacuate the Vught concentration camp and deported 2,800 men to Sachsenhausen and 650 women to Ravensbrück, in Germany. About half of them were eventually murdered there.

Luckily there were no fatal casualties as a result of this, among the general Dutch population, although a few celebrants were shot and others were arrested.

The day after however, on September 6 a train carrying wives and children of members of the NSB headed for Germany. The train was attacked by allied planes and about 30 passengers were killed. I do feel sorry for the wives and especially the children for they were innocent bystanders but I do also believe this was karma, and the irony is not lost on me for the NSB had helped to put so many Jews and others on trains to their final destinations.

The name Dolle Dinsdag was coined by Willem van den Hout, alias Willem W. Waterman, who first used it in the Dutch Nazi propaganda newspaper Yel) which was funded by the German propaganda department.

It would take another nine days before Maastricht would be liberated, which was the first major Dutch city to be liberated by Allied troops. The north of the Netherlands still had to wait for its liberation, and the western part of the Netherlands, where the big cities are, had to endure a Hunger Winter before it was liberated on 5 May 1945. Approximately 20,000 died during the famine caused by the Hunger Winter.

Gerard Martens was an eyewitness to the events of Dolle Dinsdag below is the account of his experiences of that day.

“One morning, it was Tuesday, September 5, and the phone rang early. Check? No, my brother Aad, who lived in Willebrordusstraat, stood at the door and shouted: Come on Gerard. It’s time! The Canadians will be here in a few hours. I reacted as if I had to feel his head, but he was absolutely sure. I heard it myself about the B.B.C. They are already near Breda.

Well, I improved the dressing record in passing and off we went onto the street. It was busier than usual and yet people walked around a bit dazed. Would it be true after all? Via Willebrordusplein we arrived at the Bergwegziekenhuis, where we immediately had to join a group of nurses who were hustling in front of the door. There were even flags hanging out. I started to believe more and more that it wasn’t all a dream.

At one point, carts even passed by with household goods and fleeing N.S.B members. They passed amid loud boos. Very small and very timid. Some German soldiers were also seen heading towards Hillegersberg. With grim faces and still armed. An older man next to me commented. This is not possible. The Germans may be what they are, but withdraw without a fight? I do not believe it. And to be honest, that’s when the first doubts crept into my mind. Breda was only 50 km from Rotterdam, so the liberators should have at least passed Dordrecht.

My brother just responded with Oh, there’s Gé again. Come on. We walked through Benthuizerstraat and saw a big commotion at Peletier’s bakery. The owner of the bakery had also fled and many customers suddenly had to get bread somewhere else and many people discussing. We were not there when this photo was taken.

Now that I look at him more closely, I suddenly see that The tallest man with glasses was the later chairman of the Archery club the Romans. William of Hattum. And now I am 99.99% sure that I can just see my future wife’s hairstyle. She sometimes told me that she had gone to the bakery that morning for nothing. At her home, they were customers of Peletier, also because they sometimes bought a loaf of bread or something, which only had to be paid for at the end of the week. Just look at the front right there.

We continued through the Zwart Janstraat to the Willebrordusstraat, to find out at Aad’s house whether there was any news via the B.B.C. To our disappointment, there was no news at all and therefore no message at all that the Allies were approaching South Rotterdam.

After eating something we went to have a look again and we soon noticed that the jubilant mood was over. There were even people who said that the Germans were back on the streets and shooting every now and then. And we heard later that they were shooting. In the afternoon there was a shooting in Agniesestraat of people who were on the street and during that shooting, the Germans shot dead an old woman for no reason who was standing in front of the door talking. A cowardly murder of a dear wife and mother. It was the mother of my friend Kees de Jong, who was in Berlin. I was devastated by that for a moment. A daughter of hers worked at Stadler and Sauerbier, and I can tell you that it was the end of a very strange day for me.

Mad Tuesday! No one knows yet why that day was called that because he was not that mad. According to some, the Germans came up with that name and it is not surprising if you think of Ein toller Dienstag, for example.

It remains a sad day for me. A day of unfounded optimism, and a lot of miscommunication, ending with cowardly action by the Germans. I had to return to the life of being forced to be ill and trying to get a permanent exemption to work in Germany. I almost succeeded, but the raid threw a spanner in the works.”

Sources

https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/the-timeline/entire-timeline/#36

Dolle Dinsdag

http://www.engelfriet.net/Alie/Gastenboek/dolledinsdag.htm

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Another Type of Train Journey

The Dutch railways were essential to the Nazis, not only as the transport of Jews and others eastwards to the camps but also as a propaganda tool.

During the pre-war crisis years, the Netherlands welcomed many malnourished Austrian children. Reichskommissar Seyss-Inquart, himself an Austrian, thought he should show gratitude for this. The Nazis, therefore, organized so-called children send-off to Ostmark (Austria) in the summer of 1940. This was done under the guise of charity, but, in fact, it was a transparent propaganda stunt. During the occupation, various children send-offs were also organized by the NVV, Dutch Federation of Trade Unions (which was controlled by the Nazis at that point) and the Nederlandsche Volksdienst (NVD, Dutch People’s Service, was regulated by the Nazis).

“Rotterdam. This morning the second special children’s train, this time filled with small Rotterdam children, of the D.P. (Delftsche Poort) station to Ostmark, where the children will have a wonderful holiday. The Reichskommissar for the occupied territory in the Netherlands, Dr Seyss Inquart, was personally present to see his hundreds of little guests off.
The climax, however, was when the Reichskommissar personally appeared on the platform, followed by numerous German authorities, to say goodbye. The Reichskommissar reads the names of his youthful guests from the cards that all the children have around their necks. [In the above photograph], behind the State Commissioner is the mayor of Rotterdam.”

That is how the journeys were sold to the Dutch population.

On those same tracks, dozens of trains would have travelled East via Westerbork—not with children in comfortable coaches but in cattle cars—sent to their deaths. Two different realities.

Sources

https://beeldbankwo2.nl/nl/beelden/?mode=gallery&view=horizontal&rows=1&page=1&fq%5B%5D=search_s_keywords_poolparty:%22Kinderuitzending%22&sort=random%7B1692194373481%7D%20asc

https://today.ucsd.edu/story/2015_16_holocaust_living_history_workshop_series_highlights_holocaust_journ

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1936 Berlin Olympics

“The sportive, knightly battle awakens the best human characteristics. It doesn’t separate but unites the combatants in understanding and respect. It also helps to connect the countries in the spirit of peace. That’s why the Olympic Flame should never die.”

One could be forgiven for thinking that the words above were uttered by someone with noble intentions. However, that would assumption would be wrong. Those were words by Adolf Hitler, commenting on the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Those exact words are also a clear indication that the primary aim of the 1936 Olympic Games was propaganda.

One of the elements was the Olympics Torch Relay, which is still a part of the Olympics.

The 1936 Summer Olympics torch relay was the first of its kind, following the reintroduction of the Olympic Flame at the 1928 Games. It pioneered the modern convention of moving the flame via a relay system from Greece to the Olympic venue. Adolf Hitler saw the link with the ancient Games as the perfect way to illustrate his belief that classical Greece was an Aryan forerunner of the modern German Reich.

For a fortnight in August 1936, between the 1st and 16th, the Adolf Hitler Nazi dictatorship camouflaged its racist, militaristic character while hosting the Summer Olympics. It played down its anti-Semitic agenda and plans for territorial expansion. The regime exploited the Games to impress foreign spectators and journalists with an image of a peaceful, tolerant Germany.

The construction of the Olympic Village was to be overseen by Hauptmann Wolfgang Fürstner.

However, less than two months before the start of the Olympic Games, Fürstner was abruptly demoted to a vice commander position and was replaced by Oberstleutnant Werner von Gilsa, Commander of the Berlin Guard Regiment. The official reason for the replacement was, Fürstner had not acted with the necessary energy to prevent damage to the site, as 370,000 visitors passed through between 1 May and 15 June. However, this was a cover story to explain the sudden demotion of the half-Jewish officer. When the 1935 Nuremberg Laws passed, Fürstner oversaw the Olympic Village. They had classified him as a Jew.

Fürstner committed suicide by pistol on 19 August 1936, three days after the end of the games. He had been awarded the Olympic Medal First Class and attended the banquet for his successor, Gilsa. Fürstner, a career officer, had learned that according to the Nuremberg Laws, he was classified as a Jew and was to be dismissed from the Wehrmacht. His grandfather Dr Karl Fürstner had been a Jew who converted to Christianity. The government covered up the suicide to protect the international reputation of Germany. The official Nazi report read that Fürstner had died in a car accident.

In 1931, two years before the Nazis acquired power, the International Olympic Committee awarded the 1936 Summer Olympics to Berlin. The choice signalled Germany’s return to the world community after its isolation in the aftermath of defeat in World War I.

As a token gesture to placate international opinion, German authorities allowed the star fencer Helene Mayer to represent Germany at the Olympic Games in Berlin. Mayer was viewed as a non-Aryan because her father was Jewish. She won a silver medal in the women‘s individual fencing and, like all other medalists for Germany, gave the Nazi salute on the podium. No other Jewish athlete competed for Germany in the Summer Games.

Despite the pomp & ceremony and the glorification of Hitler, all did not go according to plan. There was a rather humorous aspect in the opening ceremony—the U.S. distance runner Louis Zamperini, one of the athletes present, recalled this incident:

“They released 25,000 pigeons, the sky was clouded with pigeons, the pigeons circled overhead, and then they shot a cannon, and they scared the poop out of the pigeons, and we had straw hats, flat straw hats, and you could heard the pitter-patter on our straw hats, but we felt sorry for the women, for they got it in their hair, but I mean there were a mass of droppings, and I say it was so funny.”

Zamperini himself had several miraculous escapes during World War II, which were chronicled in the book, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption and in the 2014 movie Unbroken, directed by Angelina Jolie.

Hitler saw the Games as an opportunity to promote his government and ideals of racial supremacy. The official Nazi party paper, the Völkischer Beobachter, wrote in the strongest terms—that Jewish and black people should not be allowed to participate in the games. However, when threatened with a boycott of the Games by other nations, he relented and allowed black and Jews to participate. In their attempt to clean up the host city, the German Ministry of the Interior authorized the chief of police to arrest all Romani and keep them in a special camp, the Berlin-Marzahn Concentration Camp.

Nine athletes who were Jewish or of Jewish parentage won medals in the Berlin Olympics, including Mayer and five Hungarians. Seven Jewish male athletes from the United States went to Berlin. Like some of the European Jewish competitors at the Olympics, many of these young men were pressured by Jewish organizations to boycott the Games. These athletes chose to compete for a variety of reasons. Most did not fully grasp at the time the extent and purpose of Nazi persecution of Jews and other groups.

sources

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-nazi-olympics-berlin-1936

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/photo/camp-for-roma-gypsies-at-marzahn

Click to access The-opening-ceremony-of-the-Games-of-the-Olympiad.pdf

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Hate is Mankind’s Worst Disease!

Ever since I was 13 or 14, I have played the guitar. Over the years, I have bought hundreds of songbooks. In one of those books, they put words to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony or more precisely, the bit commonly known as Ode to Joy. In the book, they renamed it, Hate is Mankind’s Worst Disease.

The first few lines are as follows:
What’s the use of killing and fighting?
What’s the use of any war?
Oh, did history still did not show us,
nothing is worth dying for.

As the title suggests, the song deals with war and the hate it creates, or rather war created by hate. I could give examples of so many wars, but I am focusing on the war, which had an unprecedented level of hate, and the period before it, World War II.

Below are some examples of the hate that triggered the Holocaust, and pictures of the Holocaust itself.

Nazi Propaganda Used in Education

A Jewish woman concealing her face sits on a park bench marked “For Jews Only,” 1938, Austria

In the early 1930s, Jewish hatred had spread to countries outside of Germany

Newspaper clipping with a pre-war caricature from the Dutch Press, but taken from the French satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné. The caption translates as, “The Berlin Chief Rabbi speaks with full independence and freedom on the radio” The article issued in 1933 or 1934 indicates that the world knew the fate of the German Jews several years before the war.

The Holocaust

12 April 1945—Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, and George Patton were given a tour of the Ohrdruf Concentration Camp. Here they were visiting a burial pit containing the charred remains of prisoners.

April 12, 1945—Dwight D. Eisenhower views the charred bodies of prisoners at Ohrdruf.

23 April 1945—Tattoo that was part of a man’s body. It was removed by Nazi SS men and then used as a decoration on the wall of their quarters at Buchenwald Concentration Camp.

The bodies of former prisoners were piled outside the crematorium at the newly liberated Dachau concentration camp. Dachau, Germany, April-May 1945. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Marcy Haupsman

A survivor stokes smouldering human remains in a still-lit crematorium oven. Dachau, Germany, 29 April—1 May 1945.
—US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Merle Spiegel

Corpses lie in one of the open railcars of the Dachau death train. The Dachau death train consisted of nearly forty cars containing the bodies of between two and three thousand prisoners transported to Dachau in the last days of the war.

What is of great concern and worry to me is that this hate has not gone away. It was dormant for a short time, but that monster called hate is waking up again. We can still stop it, as it’s not too late yet.

sources

https://www.ushmm.org/collections/the-museums-collections/about/photo-archives/world-war-ii-liberation-photography

https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/photographs/world-war-ii-holocaust-images

https://beeldbankwo2.nl/nl/beelden/?mode=gallery&view=horizontal&q=jodenvervolging&rows=25&page=2

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Snow White and the Third Reich

Currently, I am reading a book titled, Animation under the Swastika—A History of Trickfilm in Nazi Germany, 1933-1945. It is the history of how Hitler and Göbbels attempted to compete with Hollywood, especially Disney.

A whole chapter in the book is devoted to the Disney movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Evidently, it was Hitler’s favourite movie despite the Nazis never achieving to get the film released in Germany. Only a few people, including Hitler and Göbbels, saw the movie and had copies.

In the 1930s, the Nazi regime dubbed foreign media to control anything negative from abroad, as would be the case for Snow White. In the late 1930s, the animated film was voice-over by German-speaking actors. The movie had not been released during World War II. The nationwide release of the dubbed version was in February 1950.

One sad thing about this is that most of the voice actors were Jewish and did not survive the Holocaust.

The 1938 News Report only mention some names of the cast. The only voice credited for her role is Hortense Raky as Snow White. Two other female actors mentioned were Dora Gerson and a New Lady Star. Seeing her age, Dora Gerson must have been the voice-over for the Evil Queen (and maybe the Witch), while the new female star was certainly the singing voice of Snow White.

Most of the original 1938 cast were Jews, and were murdered by the Nazis: Dora Gerson died on 14 February 1943, murdered with her family at Auschwitz. Otto Wallburg also died in Auschwitz on 30 October 1944.
Kurt Lilien died on 28 May 1943, at Sobibor Extermination Camp. Finally, Kurt Gerron, the Dubbing Director, died on 28 October 1944 at Auschwitz. Kurt was coerced into directing a Nazi propaganda documentary intended to be viewed in “neutral” nations about Theresienstadt. However, once the movie was finished, he, his wife and the crew members of the documentary were deported on the camp’s final train transport to Auschwitz.

sources

https://www.jstor.org/stable/42943087

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029583/releaseinfo

https://disneyinternationaldubbings.weebly.com/snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs–german-cast.html

https://books.google.ie/books/about/Animation_Under_the_Swastika.html?id=vow4hqhXCzQC&redir_esc=y

Ignorance is Never the Answer

••••••••••WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES••••••••••

I have often argued that it would be unfair to brush all Germans with the same brush because some Germans did resist the Nazi regime. However, there is no denying that many were ignorant about what was happening to their neighbours who were either Jewish, Gay, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Disabled or Roma/Sinti, or anyone with a different political view.

education, or awareness. I recently read an interesting definition of ignorance in an article on a website called Farnham Street—it has all sorts of pieces for food for thought. They defined it as Empty Suits and Fragilistas [The Empty Suit/Fragilista] defaults to thinking that what he doesn’t see is not there, or that what he does not understand does not exist. At the core, he tends to mistake the unknown for the nonexistent. I think this was partially the problem in Nazi Germany and that is how the Nazis got away with mass murder and genocide because this ignorance turned into collaboration and complicity.

Before we judge the German citizens, we need to look at the oppressive nature of the Nazi state. That meant it was difficult not to be complicit in Nazi activities at some level—although some people played a much more active role in helping the Nazis to achieve their aims than others. Different examples of collaboration in Nazi Germany included: informing Jewish neighbours, adhering to anti-semitic laws, or taking part in boycotting Jewish shops and businesses.

A public notice was issued by the Central Committee for the Defense against Jewish Atrocities and the Boycott, instructing Germans to protect themselves against the Jews by boycotting Jewish businesses and Jewish professionals on April 1, 1933. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Hans Levi

While the Nazi leadership led the way in creating their racist ideology, propaganda and anti-Jewish laws were implemented and bound into law by those working for the Civil Service. Those who continued to work in the Civil Service following the Nazi rise to power directly contributed to the Nazis’ persecution of Jews.

Following the Nazi rise to power, new textbooks were introduced to make sure that all content taught by teachers was in line with the Nazis’ beliefs. This page is taken from a Nazi racial science textbook published in 1934. In the bottom right corner, someone has added another side profile with stereotypically Jewish features and written Jüden, meaning Jews, next to it.

The Germans weren’t the only ones being complicit. There were many citizens in the occupied countries who were eager to help the Nazi regime. The collaboration took many forms. In some countries, the government actively cooperated with the Nazis. In others, individuals or groups acting on their own initiative to offer their help to the Nazis. Smaller forms of collaboration also took place on an individual basis, such as informing on Jewish neighbours (sometimes out of antisemitism, sometimes out of a desire to take over their property, jobs or valuables once they had been arrested or deported).

That doesn’t take away from the fact though that this all started in Germany. If the German citizenry would have paid more attention to what was happening, and if they would have asked collectively what was happening to their neighbours, then perhaps the Holocaust would not have taken place, and they would not have been forced to bury those who their political leaders had massacred, in their names.