Part 1: Anti-semitism
DEFINITION: hostility to or prejudice against Jews; unfriendly, anti-Jewish feelings.
In this section, we examine the ways Nazis persuaded people to believe in and spread anti-Jewish feelings.
In this section, we examine the ways Nazis persuaded people to believe in and spread anti-Jewish feelings.
ROLE OF THE MEDIA:
"If you tell a lie big enough..."
(PICTURED BELOW): The Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, headed by Joseph Goebbels, ensured that the Nazi message was successfully communicated through art, music, theater, films, books, radio, educational materials, and the press. Antisemitic messages were frequently broadcast over the radio and print in newspapers in Nazi Germany. In 1923, Julius Streicher established his antisemitic newspaper, Der Stürmer (The Stormtrooper)."
SOURCE: https://www.ushmm.org/confront-antisemitism/teaching-about-antisemitism/educational-modules-based-on-audio-podcasts/propaganda-and-media
ROLE OF PROPAGANDA:
spreading the nazi message
"Propaganda served as an important tool to win over the majority of the German public...and to push forward the Nazis’ radical program, which required the support or participation of broad sectors of the population.
"THE POISONOUS MUSHROOM"
(A Children's Book)
IMAGE BELOW IS THE COVER OF THE NAZI CHILDREN'S BOOK, "THE POISONOUS MUSHROOM"
Image source: http://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/images/giftpilz/scan1.jpg
Background to the story on the right: This story comes from Der Giftpilz, an anti-Semitic children’s book published by Julius Streicher, the publisher of Der Stürmer (The Stormtrooper). He was executed as a war criminal in 1946. This summary and partial translation is taken from a 1938 publication issued by the “Friends of Europe” in London, an organization to which I have not been able to find a successor to request permission to reprint.
SOURCE: http://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/thumb.htm |
The STORY: "A mother and her young boy are gathering mushrooms in the German forest. The boy finds some poisonous ones. The mother explains that there are good mushrooms and poisonous ones, and, as they go home, says:
“Look, Franz, human beings in this world are like the mushrooms in the forest. There are good mushrooms and there are good people. There are poisonous, bad mushrooms and there are bad people. And we have to be on our guard against bad people just as we have to be on guard against poisonous mushrooms. Do you understand that?” “Yes, mother,” Franz replies. “I understand that in dealing with bad people trouble may arise, just as when one eats a poisonous mushroom. One may even die!” “And do you know, too, who these bad men are, these poisonous mushrooms of mankind?” the mother continued. Franz slaps his chest in pride: “Of course I know, mother! They are the Jews! Our teacher has often told us about them.” The mother praises her boy for his intelligence, and goes on to explain the different kinds of “poisonous” Jews: the Jewish pedlar, the Jewish cattle-dealer, the Kosher butcher, the Jewish doctor, the baptised Jew, and so on. “However they disguise themselves, or however friendly they try to be, affirming a thousand times their good intentions to us, one must not believe them. Jews they are and Jews they remain. “Like the poisonous mushroom!” says Franz. “Yes, my child! Just as a single poisonous mushrooms can kill a whole family, so a solitary Jew can destroy a whole village, a whole city, even an entire Volk.” "...Our young people, too, must be warned. Our boys and girls must learn to know the Jew. They must learn that the Jew is the most dangerous poison-mushroom in existence. Just as poisonous mushrooms spring up everywhere, so the Jew is found in every country in the world. Just as poisonous mushrooms often lead to the most dreadful calamity, so the Jew is the cause of misery and distress, illness and death.” |
FOR FURTHER RESEARCH:
(1) http://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/ww2era.htm#Antisem
(2) https://www.ushmm.org/confront-antisemitism/teaching-about-antisemitism/educational-modules-based-on-audio-podcasts/propaganda-and-media/image-analysis-activity
(3) http://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/thumb.htm
(1) http://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/ww2era.htm#Antisem
(2) https://www.ushmm.org/confront-antisemitism/teaching-about-antisemitism/educational-modules-based-on-audio-podcasts/propaganda-and-media/image-analysis-activity
(3) http://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/thumb.htm