Propaganda In Germany

Hitler and the Nazis committed heinous crimes against humanity that are among the most horrendous to occur throughout history in their attempt to eliminate the Jews and others they deemed undesirable and inferior. The Nazi Party utilized many factors to manipulate the Germany people to their ideology, including discontent following World War I and widespread propaganda against the Jewish people.
After losing World War I, the Treaty of Versailles stripped Germany financially and militarily. After representative from Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles, Germany lost vast land quantities that were awarded to various European countries and was required by the Allies to pay reparations. The Allies claimed that Germany had caused the war and,
therefore, were financially responsible. Additionally, Germany agreed to decrease their military power when they signed the treaty. Germans were disappointed in the war’s outcome and strongly opposed the harsh terms Germany received from the victorious Allies. Discontentment regarding the first world war’s outcome, along with social, political, and economic issues that arose in the years following World War I, fostered an environment conducive to Hitler and the Nazis rise to power. According to Yehuda Bauer, “Nazi propaganda of 1929-33 stressed unemployment, social security, tariffs on agricultural products, war reparations to foreign nations, Germany’s status among nations, and the territories lost in World War I.
Antisemitism itself was not the main focus, though it was never absent from Nazi pamphlets or speeches.”1 The Nazis depicted Jews as non-human, referencing them using terms such as vermin, rats, and cockroaches; these attacks were intended to dehumanize the Jews. At the same time, the Nazi Party emphasized Aryan superiority. Through relentless propaganda, the German people were indoctrinated with the ideology that Jews were inferior and were at fault for anything negative that occurred; over time, the Germans gradually became desensitized to the Jews suffering and persecution. These assaults, combined with millennia of antisemitic ideology, paved the way for the mass deportations and genocide of European Jews. Additionally, the Nazis used propaganda to blame Jews for the outcome Germany experienced following World War I and Germany’s economic troubles during the late 1920s and early 1930s, despite the fact that Allied countries from the first world war were experiencing similar hardships. Germany’s economic issues provided an opportunity for the Nazis to gain control of the German government. Ironically, it was Germany’s attempt at democracy that helped usher the Nazis into a position where they obtained the power to rule the
country. Following World War I, Germany’s Parliament attempted to transform Germany’s government into a democracy, known as the Weimar Republic. Internal support for a democracy within Germany was minimal at best; many were privately or openly opposed. The failure of the Weimar Republic paved the way for the Nazi Party to gain control of Germany. The Nazis used centuries of antisemitism, economic and social concerns, and propaganda to fulfill their ultimate goal: the Final Solution. The writer states that “rank and file Germans who voted for the Nazi party in 1932 were voting for a regeneration of the German people, for new and decisive leadership, and for an economic revival to be initiated by a new national sense of purpose. They did not necessarily vote for the extremist positions of the party…it was expected that the power and responsibility of governing would…dampen Nazi extremism and produce rational compromises with reality.” However, this was not the case; Hitler and the Nazis’ fervor to eliminate the Jews intensified once they acquired control of Germany. The author reports that Hitler and the Nazis gained power in Germany on March 23, 1933; with the support from right wing political parties, “…Hitler pushed through the ‘Law for Removing the Distress of People and Reich,’ the so-called Enabling Act…which removed the power from legislation from the Reichstag [German Parliament] and gave it to the Nazi-controlled government.
By the time the Law expired in 1937, the Nazi dictatorship was complete. Authorized by the Enabling Act, the dictatorship ruled Germany until its defeat in 1945.” Hitler began his quest for world domination by invading Poland on September 1, 1939; this event led to the European Jews genocide. One factor that led to the mass exterminations that occurred in the years surrounding and during World War II was unwarranted fear and hatred. However, the primary factor contributing to the brutal torture and extermination of the Jews and millions of other Europeans was the world’s apathy. It became apparent that the world’s countries were not going to allow the Jews to immigrate and that they would ignore the warning signs regarding the Nazi Party’s intentions. This likely led Hitler and other Nazi leaders to believe that the nations would not intercede on their victims’ behalf. And sadly, at least initially, they were
right.