Propaganda

  • 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…

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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…

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  • 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…

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  • Theresienstadt, also known as Terezín, was a town in northern Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic), it was used from 1941 to 1945 by the Nazis as a walled ghetto and concentration camp and was also used as a transit camp for western Jews en route to Auschwitz and other extermination camps. In 1943, the…

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  • Being taught to hate.

    Education is the key to a better world and to end ignorance and racism. However if education does not include an element of critical thinking, it is open to abuse and it can be used to indoctrinate young impressionable minds, or any impressionable mind really. This blog will refer to the education in the Third…

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  • Although many German film makers left Germany in the 1930s, because of the rise of the Nazism, propaganda minister Göbbels still had quite a pool of film makers to help him produce a great number of propaganda movies. The most famous and probably prolific was Leni Riefenstahl. But a close second was Veit Harlan. After…

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  • The Other Side of WWII

    World War II wasn’t only death and destruction, there were a few occasions where there was some reprieve. Sports remained very important during the war, to keep up the morale. The above picture is of Private Leonardo Rodriguez of Cartaro, Arizona, roping a calf during the American Red Cross rodeo and “Wild West” show staged…

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  • Like all delusional leaders, Hitler would not have been able to carry out his plans without having people around him that encouraged his delusional ideas. Göbbels was without a shadow of a doubt Hitler’s most devoted henchman and enabler. On February 18,1943 he gave his most famous speech in the Sport Palast in Berlin. The…

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  • You have to give it to the Brits, they don’t give up. Regardless how dire the outlook they will come up with daring stuff to overcome their struggle. As it was the case in June 1941. They appear to be fighting the Germans on their own, Heavily outnumbered they had to come up with innovative…

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  • Music Matters

    Music is very important, it evokes emotions and stirs the soul. It can unite and divide in equal ways. It can be a very powerful tool to bring joy, but it also can become a weapons if it is used for propaganda purposes. I will be looking at 2 songs which both had some part…

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