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Cole Slocum
Professor Wertz-Orbaugh
UWRT 1103-005
November, 21st, 2014
Nazi Propaganda in World War II
My name is Cole Slocum and I want to personally invite you to my inquiry research
project. As of right now I am on track of getting a Bachelors degree in Marketing, so for my
topic of inquiry I chose to research Nazi Propaganda during the Second World War. Media and
advertising is something that I have always been interested in and I am glad that I got the chance
to research all about the Nazi parties tactics and strategies of informing. Throughout the course
of this class I have acquired a lot of knowledge about the holocaust and it increased my
appreciation of literally everything in my life. What the prisoners of the camps went through is
something unimaginable and it still sends chills down my back just thinking of it, and it seems
that every time it comes to mind I always think about the Nazi party. I think about not only the
soldiers but I also think about the people who supported the cause. Hitler and the entire Nazi
party used propaganda through mass media to persuade their people to join their cause.
Propaganda can be defined as an attempt to influence behaviorby affecting through the use of
mass media of communications, the manner in which a mass audience perceives and ascribes
meaning to the material world (Joglekar). There is not a real set definition of propaganda, but
this is something that many but not all scholars agree on. The cool thing about this project is that
I am not arguing a side or debating, I am simply presenting the information I found and adding

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my voice. This is definitely my first time doing something

like this and I think that it adds a new level of perspective.
Propaganda in Germany was very unique
compared to other countries because the Nazis tied in the
promotion of German nationalism while attacking their
enemies. In the media they destroyed any one opposing
them or anyone Hitler saw as a threat, for the Nazis
depicted them, especially the Jews, as the worst human beings known to man. Here is an
example of their attacks against the Jews in the picture aboce (JCPA). When I was picking my
pictures early on to use for my project this was the first one that caught my eye. It is funny
because as you know the presenter you brought in actually used the same one. I used this specific
picture because it shows the octopus (Jews) poisoning the word and draining it of its pureness. I
know if I continuously saw these kinds of messages my opinion might be changed, especially
back then because there was not a counterforce to tell anyone different.
Now Hitler was very involved with propaganda but the man he appointed Head of
Propaganda or Minister or Propaganda was Joseph Goebbels. His job description was simple,
persuade the common man and never let a German see anything negative about the Nazi Party,
but to execute it took a lot of work. Nowadays with technology and social media it is literally
impossible to hide things, but in the midst of the 20th century people with power could control
the media. It was Goebbels who said, "The essence of propaganda consists in winning people
over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never
escape from it" (history). Whether for the Nazi party or not, they thrived through promotion and
advertising and that was made them such a devastating force. Most people give credit to Hitler

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for developing Germanys propaganda techniques but it was Goebbels, the man behind the cape,
who made it all happen.
To the left is a picture of Goebbels and I chose this
picture specifically for the quote on it (unique). No matter
how you interpret it, the Nazis manipulated their people to
believe everything and anything that they said, and they did
this by constant repetition. The main reason as to why the
people believed what was coming out of the newspapers,
film, and radios to be true is because everything the Nazis released were focused on the same
core issues. They constantly bashed life without the Nazi reign, they praised Hitler out to be a
god, and they attacked races and religions while making the Jews especially out to be the enemy.
These are common themes that can be seen throughout all types of Nazi advertising.
Adolf Hitler once said, Propaganda, propaganda, propaganda. All that matters is
Propaganda,, and honestly he could not have said it better. The media influenced millions of
bystanders for a lot of them had no idea what was going on and the others were too afraid to
stand up because they may have been silenced. The reason why I added this quote is because
even though it is really short and to the point, it shows how important propaganda actually is.
This is one of the many times Hitler has commented publicly on propaganda and as you can tell
from the quote, propaganda is something that he hold very dearly to him. While Hitler was
serving his sentence for treason he used his time to plan his rise to power. He studied human
behavior and developed his oratorical skills. It was through propaganda and his ability to speak
that put him into power and it was also the reason he gained the trust of the German nation. I
know I keep implementing the importance of promotion but the reasoning behind it is because it

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is said that, It was commonly held that Germany had lost World War I, not on the battlefield,
but because Allied propaganda had sapped the fighting spirit of German troops and weakened
morale at home by encouraging demands for peace (USHMM). Essentially people argue that
Germanys fall in World War I was due to the absence of proper promotion internally which is
why it was it was such a focal point in the stages leading up to the Second World War. Some of
the reasons as to why they lost morale throughout the nation in World War I is because the
people in charge of promotion at the time did not give enough clarity about why they should
wage for war. There was no spark that made the nation want to fight, and it appeared that there
was no righteousness cause.
What was the Nazi Party trying to accomplish through Propaganda? I am glad you
asked. Hitler once said, Propaganda "is a truly terrible weapon in the hands of an expert
(USHMM). This quote is absolutely true because the number one thing that changed with
Germanys efforts during the World Wars is their techniques to ignite their nation. Hitler utilized
all of his resources for promotion for he did not just use the same forms of advertising. He
manipulated the people by using music, film, newspapers, radio, leaflets and all different types of
media to reach out to a broader community. He wanted to make sure anyone and everyone heard
what he had to say and this is one of the first times where we see subliminal messages. Overall I
am not here to convince people whether or not Hitler was a manipulator or if he was quite
possibly the best promoter ever, but I am here to inform you in a neutral matter of all the
different tactics and strategies the Nazis used to persuade their nation.

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Works Cited
Joglekar, Sheila. "Propaganda in World War II Britain and Germany." Print.
"Propaganda in Nazi Germany." Propaganda in Nazi Germany. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/propaganda_in_nazi_germany.htm>.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council. Web.
25 Nov. 2014. <http://www.ushmm.org/propaganda/resources/>.
Web. 24 Nov. 2014. <http://jcpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/7786951866.jpg>.
Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://www.unique-design.net/library/image/product/public_enlightenment.jpg>.