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.