February and March of 1943

I thought one of the most interesting portions of the chronology in Rentschler's appendix occurs in 1943. The points of interest for me begin with “Surrender of the Sixth Army under General von Paulus at Stalingrad.” This occurs at the beginning of February. Clearly, when this information reaches the public, they will feel disheartened and probably panic. This is why the speech by Goebbels on February 18th is not surprising. He “calls for total war.” Obviously he is trying to bolster the hope of the people and call them to action. These events are jarring shocks of the realities of war. They exude defeat and sacrifice. That is why the film released two weeks later, Münchhausen, is so interesting to me. This film does not focus on defeat or sacrifice at all; in fact, it does the opposite. Its themes centralize around self-indulgence and personal gratification. The film is contrary to the adamant demands made by Goebbels and, in fact, by the situation around them. Furthermore, a report just one day after the release of the film confirms that “newsreels have been unable to regain their former popularity” This seems to show that people are not interested in the war. They are not interested in being called to total war. They want to engage in escapism and be relieved from the constant reminders of the war that encompasses their lives. This is why Münchhausen gained popularity while newsreels declined.

March 1, 1942

March 1, 1942, Goebbels wrote in his diary, “Even entertainment can be politically of special value, because the moment a person is conscious of propaganda, propaganda becomes ineffective.” [Rentschler, 259]

 

I found the timing of this entry interesting, as it is clear at this point that Goebbels knew the power of propaganda but also how necessary it was going to be in the near future.  In December of 1941, the German troops got frozen in outside of Moscow, a terrible blow for the army of the Third Reich.  Furthermore, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in the same month, Germany was also facing the prospect of fighting a fresh army from the most powerful industrial nation in the World.  These external blows aside, Goebbels was also going to have to control information from within the Reich.  On January 20, 1942, at the Wannsee Conference, the “final solution” of the Jewish people was decided, followed shortly thereafter by the beginning of deportation of the Jews to the death camps.  While many Germans were anti-Semitic, the extreme nature of the “final solution” was going to have to be artfully concealed.  Luckily for Goebbels, German audiences attended the movies 14 times a year on average, and all film distribution was under a central authority.  His entertainment was most certainly going to have to be goods and of special value, because of all times it is at this moment when Goebbels needed effective propaganda.

die Weiße Rose

'22 February [1943] Hans and Sophie Scholl, prominent members of the 'White Rose' resistance group are executed.' [Rentschler 263]

I didn't know what the White rose even was, so it naturally caught my attention. The White Rose was composed mostly of students, and a few professors at the University of Munich who wrote and printed leaflets that were decidedly anti nazi.

The leaflets dealt with deportation and murder of Jews and were opposed to the blind nationalism and militarism in Germany. The students called for justice, and the leaflets were widely distributed in many major German cities.

Hans and Sophie Scholl were arrested by the Gestapo on the 18th after distributing leaflets at the university. They were extensively interrogated, but reportedly remained firm. On the 22nd they were tried by the Volksgerichtshof, and beheaded later that day, on account of treason.

 I am impressed with the courage [or perhaps idealistic naivete] of these students. Although it may appear that their efforts may have been rather futile, the fast and harsh action against them by the Gestapo suggest that they were being effective, insofar as they were noticed and considered threatening.

Investments in Propaganda

The initial creation of the Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda in March of 1933 was declared by Hitler as responsible “for all tasks related to the spiritual guidance of the nation, to the promotion of the state, culture, and the economy, to the promulgation of information to domestic and foreign sources about the nation as well as the administration of all the agencies responsible for these endeavors” (228). The investments that the Third Reich made in radio, press, film, and theater throughout the duration of the war reveal the importance of the role that all types propaganda played in the promotion of Nazi ideology. In the film industry alone the Third Reich released over 1,000 feature films from 1933 to 1945 (225). Although many of these films were successful in propagating Nazi ideology to the masses, I find it particularly interesting that as the Third Reich began to fall to the Allies in 1945, Goebbels stoically declared: “The great hour has arrived for German propaganda” (269). Ironically, Goebbels was most likely well aware of the Reich’s fast approaching collapse, and we now know that German propaganda alone, 'emotionally engineered' intellectually based, would not be enough to sustain the future of Nazi Germany.

Holding out till the bitter end

On February 8, 1940, Goebbles said, "I keep impressing my people with one basic truth: repeat everything until the last, most stupid person has understood." While somewhat harsh, Goebbles statement truly emphasizes the mentally of the Reich with regards to their media propaganda. Throughout this class we have witnessed a variety of continuous themes in the movies including the idea of the Heimat, the parasitic nature of the Jews, the importance of hygiene and strength for the Nazi party, and the necessary recruitment of the German youth, among other things. He and members of the propaganda crew reached the masses through melodramas, comedies, and "documentaries", finding a way to reiterate the Nazi party ideology across the movie theater screens. At first I was unsure how to react to this quote since it seemed confrontational and even insulting, but as unfortunate this may be, it does ring true to what we have witnessed from their films.

I also found it interesting when Goebbles said, "Gentleman, in a hundred years' time, they will be showing another fine color film describing the terrible days we are undergoing now. Don't you want to play a part in this film, to be brought back to life in a hundred years' time?" He finishes by saying, "Hold out now, so that a hundred years from now the audience does not hoot and whistle when you appear on the screen." I found this quote somewhat eerie in nature and am still unsure as to how to react to it. Throughout this class, no matter how much I do not like Goebbles, I cannot deny the fact that his evil and disgusting creativity worked to grab hold of the German masses and led them to blindly accept and follow the Party's ideology. Since he made this comment on April 17, 1945, it was as if we was willing, and sort of pleading, with his people to hang on for just a bit longer, even thought it was evident they were going to lose the war. I wonder if in this moment Goebbles thought that after the war he would be able to continue heading up propaganda and making movies. It is as if for this one split second he believed that if everyone could stay together and fight for what they believed in, then they could keep things going, even if the war ended. Goebbles is the propaganda industry's hero and in his last "battle speech" he continues to will his people to fight until the end.

"... because the moment a person is conscious of propaganda, propaganda becomes ineffective. However, when propaganda as a tendency, as a characteristic, as an attitude remains in the background and becomes apparent through human beings, then propaganda becomes effective in every respect" page 259. This quote taken from Greobbels was imperative to the mindset of the Nazi party. In order to successfully saturate the mindset of the Germans, the Nazis had to keep their true intentions in the background. The most powerful effect of the propaganda was the inability to notice its existence at all. I think it was imperative that Greobbels was able to identify the fact that once a person becomes conscious that they are watching propaganda...it no longer works to engrain ideas in peoples minds because they are not as open. As 'devil's advocate as it may be to give credit to the Nazi's- the fact of the matter is that they did an excellent job at disguising their attitudes behind bigger ideas and bigger pictures. You saw a monster as dirty and dark and in your mind dirty and dark was associated with fear and hatred. This idea transferred to the prejudices faced by Jews because the Germans were so infiltrated with anti-Semitism in film that they were unable to disengage these feelings in their real lives.