Nazi Anti-Semitic Propaganda

Robert Anderson
HIS 327- German History since 1914
Professor Honhart
February 25, 2013
Nazi Anti-Semitic Propaganda Hitler did not display propaganda in his first speeches as Chancellor. I think his goal at first was to win over the peoples trust. Once he had done this and became President he started to manipulate the German people with Nazi propaganda. The Nazi parties plan for propaganda included the criticism of any people, religion, or organization that was against the Nazi party. They demonized the enemies of the Nazi party and promoted Nazi ideology. One area I thought was most important was the anti-Semitic propaganda that Hitler and the Nazi party displayed. He had a strong hatred for the Jews and wanted the people of Germany to as well. This allowed him to build his concentration camps while keeping the people at a distance. Through this propaganda the Jews where blamed for the economic and moral problems of Germany. They were referred to as money grubbing Jews.
Hitler established a Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda which was headed by Joseph Goebbels. The plan for this ministry was to ensure the Nazi message was communicated correctly through art, music, theater, films, books, radio, educational materials, and the press. Hitler and Goebbels believed that film was an excellent way to change public opinion. The anti-Semitic German Nazi propaganda film “The Eternal Jew” did a great job of this. Goebbels played a major roll in the production of this film. This was significant because he had only done this for a few other Nazi propaganda films. At the beginning of the film the viewers are told that the documentary portrays Jews in their natural state. Even though the film was advertised as authentic in its portrayal of Jews, this was not the case at all. This was another case of manipulation for the purposes of propaganda. The Nazi’s were able to use this film to claim that the Jews were dangerous aggressors that would need to be exterminated. Most scenes portrayed Jews as parasites, and uncivilized people. Most of the images from the film were shot in Polish ghetto’s, showing Jews that were poorly dressed and dirty. Overall this film blames the Jews for inflation and unemployment in Germany. The producers and Nazi party also used the press to let people know that the filming techniques captured Jews in an unprejudiced manner. The party put out many publications describing the Jews as criminals, and that killing them would not be a crime, but a necessity. This film was thought to not have as big an impact as other anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda films of that time. Overtime more people had heard about it through word of mouth, and from Nazi party promotions. I thought this film was significant because it was well known within the Nazi party. This film was viewed by the SS, and the Hitler youth. Hitler seemed to make a big enfaces on the youth, because they were vital for the growth of his future. These were the future citizens of Germany, and young minds were easy for him to manipulate. It was not only the Hitler youth that was exposed to this anti-Semitic propaganda. This anti-Semitic content began to make its way into textbooks across Germany. This was incredibly effective, and made a big impact on children’s lives. Many children became scared of Jews, and would run and hide at the site of them. Another anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda film is Jud Suss. This was produced in 1940 and is considered one of the most anti-Semitic films of all time. This film promotes Nazi stereotypes of Jews worshiping money, being untrustworthy, and seeking control of the world. There were many propaganda messages throughout this film. One was that Jews have riches that Christians do not. The film portrayed Jews as hostile towards normal citizens, and that they want to violate Christian woman. It also seemed as though they showed Jews having no desire of implementing themselves into German culture. Unlike The Eternal Jew, this film had a star-studded cast, and was viewed by many. This film opened in 80 Berlin cinemas, and was viewed by 20 million people in the Third Reich alone. This film was also shown to SS and concentration camp guards to boost their moral, and to confirm to them that what they were doing was a good thing. On September 30, 1940 Heinrich Himmler, ordered all SS and police members to see the film. The film was also shown to people of areas where Jews were about to be deported. In just 3 years it was reported that over 20.3 million people had seen this film. Joseph Goebbels took control of the entire German film industry in order to maximize the effect for propaganda potential. A school for film-makers called "The Deutsche Filmakademie Babelsberg" was established. Membership to a professional organization called "The Reichsfilmkammer" was made mandatory for all actors, film-makers, and distributors. With Goebbels controlling the actors, film-makers, and distributors he had the ability to implement Nazi beliefs through film. After watching these two films and researching them it seems that the Nazi party had a well thought out plan on how to implement anti-Semitic propaganda. These two films were good examples of how they were able to accomplish this.