How did the Nazi Propaganda make germans forget about basic moral

principles during the holocaust?

The Reichsministerium für Volksaufklarung und Propaganda proved to be one of the most
influential tools to Hitler during the Nazi regime. Simple propaganda messages were conveyed
by newspapers, radio, rallies, posters and many more forms that all of the masses could easily
understand and respond to, demonizing Germany’s enemies and fostering loyalty to Hitler as
well as endorsing his notion that Jews were to blame for Germany’s defeat in World War.1 It
accustomed the German people to the intense discrimination of the Jews that lead directly to the
Holocaust. The propaganda also reinforced the Nazi ideology of a “master race,” to which
ideally all Germans belonged to. The goal of Nazi propaganda was to demonize Jews and
encourage Germans to see Jews as dangerous outsiders in their midst.2 The nazi party exploited
the already existing anti-semitic ideas and feelings in the mind of ethnic Germans for the jews.
The aim of Nazi propaganda was not to brainwash ordinary Germans, and it was not intended to
deceive the masses even though it did enable the movement to gain recruits.3 The Nazis’
distribution of anti-semitic films, newspaper cartoons, and even children’s books aroused
centuries-old prejudices against Jews and also presented new ideas about the racial impurity of
Jews. 4The principal objective, according to historian Neil Gregor, was “to absorb the individual
into a mass of like-minded people, and the purpose of the ‘suggestion’ was not to deceive but to
articulate that which the crowd already believed5 so in the right context, the mass killings of the
Holocaust were not merely a consequence of the ideology of the Nazi Party, as many German
ethnics were already outraged about some of the practices – and sometimes about the mere
existence – of the Jews from their communities. the propaganda exploited pre-existing notions
This is further supported by daniel Goldhagen’s belief that ordinary Germans willingly
participated in the cruel and sadistic torture of jews because “a virulent form of anti Semitism
that had been generations in the making permeated German society, leading Germans to believe
that the extermination was justified and necessary”6 All Hitler did was unleash the anti-Semitic
ideas that had been dwelled upon by german people since Martin Luther's time, if not earlier.
Thus by the time Hitler became chancellor, there were plenty of people willing to implement his
‘final solution’ as germans had fully accepted the norm of hatred of Jews.7

1 Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999), pp. 177-186.
2 From-citizens-to-outcasts-1933-1938, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
3 Selling Hitler: Propaganda and the Nazi Brand by Nicholas O’Shaughnessy.
4 Johannes Steizinger (2018): The Significance of Dehumanization: Nazi Ideology and Its Psychological Consequences, Politics, Religion &
Ideology
5 Neil Gregor, How to Read Hitler, London: Granta, 2005.

6 Daniel Goldhagen, Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust (New York: Knopf, 1996), 9.
7 Ron Rosenbaum. Explaining Hitler (New York: HarperCollins, 1998), 339.
Another core part of Nazi grand theory was the dethronement of reason and the celebration of
emotion. Nazism felt rather than thought, and therefore the nature of its propaganda appeal was
also to feeling rather than thinking. The mobilization of emotion lay at the heart of everything
the Nazis did; propaganda’s operational formula8. This was one of the reasons why nationalism
was essential during the nazi era to inaugurate the episode of history that was the Third Reich. A
society that was still suffering from a deep sense of national humiliation, and weakened by
inflation, economic depression and mass unemployment, was perhaps not surprisingly attracted
to a National Socialist revival which proclaimed that it could integrate disparate elements under
the banner of national rebirth for Germany9. As the concept of nationalism grew among societies.
Socialists pointed out if Germany wanted to survive it would have to become more aggressive
against its neighbours and infiltrators at homes such as jews and the gypsies.10 It was an extreme
form of nationalism which promoted strongly racist and anti-semitic beliefs as well as the
superiority of germanic-Aryan communities over all other people and cultures. After 1935,
everyday antisemitism was a regular part of carnival parades and floats. Public displays of
antisemitism reinforced a climate of hostility toward Jews in Germany, or at the least,
indifference to their treatment. 11.Newspapers such as Der Stürmer (The Attacker), published by
Nazi Party member Julius Streicher, used positive images to glorify the government's leaders and
projecting a glowing vision of the “national community.”12 It would be unfair not to give Hitler
credit for the economic policies he implemented. The economy had reached rock bottom when
the Nazis came into power. They Boosted its recovery with huge public works projects for the
unemployed. The unemployment rate in Germany kept declining rapidly, faster than in any
country during the great depression.13 Hitler was fulfilling the promises he had made and
restored the nation. They had food to eat and jobs which was a great ordeal to them. In March
1938, Hitler took control of Austria, defying the terms of the treaty without encountering armed
resistance. Germany shredded another provision of the Versailles Treaty, as Hitler’s homeland
was incorporated into Germany. It was a disaster for Austrian Jews. Within a year, the Nazis
achieved in Austria what had taken five years to carry out in Germany. This further strengthened
people's belief in Hitler. The Government’s achievements encouraged many people to overlook
the radical nazi policies and even support them.14
In Nazi propaganda, the term “Race” described and meant the “Aryan” or Germanic
“Übermenschen” which was said to represent an ideal and pure master race that was biologically

8 Robert O. Paxton, The Anatomy of Fascism, London: Allen Lane, 2004.

9 The Third Reich: Politics and Propaganda By David Welch,pg 60
10 the Nazi Genocide: Eugenics, Ideology, and Implementation 1933-1945 by Michael A. Letsinger
11 From-citizens-to-outcasts-1933-1938,United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
12 facing history and ourselves. Retrieved from https://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter-6/visual-essay-impact-
propaganda
13
DeLong, J. Bradford (February 1997). "Slouching Towards Utopia?: The Economic History of the Twentieth Century. XV. Nazis and Soviets"
14 From-citizens-to-outcasts-1933-1938,United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
superior to all other races.15 At the bottom of the racial scale of non-Aryans were Jews, Slavs,
Romani, and blacks.16 Those humans were targeted who were identified as “life unworthy of
life” including but not limited to the criminal, degenerate, dissident, feebleminded, homosexual,
idle, insane, and the weak. They were deemed impure and mixing with their races caused
disorders, at least that's what german media led people to believe17. In Berlin, Eugenicists created
the German League for National Regeneration and Heredity to spread the idea of eugenics to as
many people as possible. The league’s slogan, “Protect German Heredity and thus the German
Type” had nationalistic appeal especially since racial classification now appeared scientifically
proven18. Historian Eric Ehreich, however, argues the reason behind this acceptance was that a
great amount of Germans wanted to believe those racist ideas had been scientifically proven.
Ehrenreich also argues that while the Germans claimed to have resisted, they wanted the laws
that morally and legally justified the feelings of many. This caused general approval of the racial
laws and the ancestral proof laws that led to both the euthanasia program and the eradication of
Jews from Europe.19 Furthermore, the propaganda points out to physical differences between
German ethnics and the Jewish intruders These features are best portrayed in children’s books,
where stories present idealized situations that point out the supremacy of the German people, the
inferiority of the Jews, and certain ideal scenarios. Moreover, it wasn’t just in literature books
but even in mathematical problems, the propaganda was being introduced. Media influence
played an important role in the propaganda. Film and cinema were seen as key to consolidating,
and then maintaining, people’s faith in the Nazi vision. The content of the films varied, from the
anti-semitic ‘The Eternal Jew’ to idealistic films intended to raise the morale of citizens during
the war.20
In 1919, a young Adolf Hitler has written a letter to Herr Gemlich, in which he argued for the
menace that the Jews pose to the German people: Jews “knew only the majesty of money”,
“destroyed national pride, the strength of the people, through ridicule and the shameless teaching
of vice”, as they also controlled the public opinion through the press and charged exorbitant
interest rates. Further on, the future Fuhrer stated in the same letter that Anti-Semitism was a
logical effect of the threat, as the Jews are “Radical tuberculosis of the people” that must be
fought against. This vision was shared by many nazi visionaries and German citizens21. Alfred
Rosenburg, a member of the nazi party described jews as parasites, that Jewish life is necessarily

15 Peter Longerich. Holocaust: The Nazi Persecution and Murder of the Jews (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2010)
16 Simone Gigliotti, and Berel Lang. The Holocaust: A Reader. Malden, Massachusetts, USA; Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2005)
17
Ian Kershaw. "VI, Section One." In Hitler (Profiles in Power Series), (London: Longman, 1991).
18
Sheila Faith Weiss, “German Eugenics 1890-1933” in Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race, ed. Sara J. Bloomfield (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2004)
19
Eric Ehrenreich, The Nazi Ancestral Proof: Genealogy, Racial Science, and the Final Solution, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
2007), xii.

20
Theholocaustexplained.org, 2020
21
Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. (n.d.). Adolf Hitler's First Anti-Semitic Writing. [online] Available at: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/adolf-
hitler-s-first-anti-semitic-writing.
a ‘parasitical devaluation’ that promotes a ‘bestial materialization’ of the human world. He
viewed jews as anti-race’ (‘Gegenrasse’) whose members lack what it means to be fully human:
collective identity. All subhuman groups of people and especially the Jews lack this ability and
hence have to spread for survival: they are ‘eternal wanderers’ without a homeland and
dependent on their host societies whom they ‘suck dry Thus the anti jew doctrine was seen
implemented as self-defence, to preserve the pure blue-eyed,blond-haired Aryan race.22
In historian Aristotle Kallis’ view, the Propaganda is a form of truth “reshaped through the lens
of regime intentions.'' What the Nazis were saying was that their truth lay deeper than their lies
and that their lies were merely a permissible methodology since the end always justified the
means23. From the perspective of the Reich, the Nazis were selling German truth rather than
British falsehood.24 In an interview with a former guard in Auschwitz, he revealed how he had
adopted the values of his parents and believed that the Nazis were the people who wanted best
for Germany. He claims he was influenced by the propaganda of the times but working at
Auschwitz was his personal choice. He carried on working there not only because he was
ordered to but because he felt the extermination program was right. Throughout his life he
believes he did what he thought was “right”; it’s just that what was “right” then turns out not to
be “right” today. He had sworn an oath of loyalty, he believed the Jews were Germany’s enemy
and he knew that he could be his life at the camp to avoid encountering the worst of the horror-
be thrown into the camp himself. When asked about how he felt about the genocide of innocent
women and children he replied “The children were not the enemy at that moment. The enemy
was the blood in them.”The enemy would grow up to become a Jew who could be
dangerous.25German citizens constantly deliberated questions of race, authority and loyalty. Only
a minority became full-fledged Nazis, but most accepted the basic premises of the regime,
including the isolation of German Jews.26 While most Germans had at least a vague idea of the
Holocaust, they almost certainly did not endorse mass murder.this is proved when the German
public protested the murders during the implementation of the T4 program. The Roman Catholic
bishop of Münster, Clemens August, Graf von Galen, preached against them, and the T4
program was formally halted. Nonetheless, the murder and sterilization of these German
“Aryans” continued secretly throughout the war. 27
One can see further evidence that the German people still believed in Hitler as the Allies
uncovered the concentration and death camps across Germany and Poland. The German people,
asked if they knew about the camps, said no. They proclaimed that Hitler could not have created

22
Stout, Michael J., "The effectiveness of Nazi propaganda during World War II" (2011). Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations. 314
23
Aristotle A. Kallis, Propaganda and the Second World War, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2000..
24
G. Stark, Modern Political Propaganda, Munich: Verlag Frz Eher Nachf, 1930, Calvin College German Propaganda Archive.
25
Glorioso, A. (n.d.). The Life of an Auschwitz Guard. [online] POLITICO Magazine. Available at:
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/oskar-groening-auschwitz-guard-120036
26
Chamberlain, C. (n.d.). News Bureau | ILLINOIS. [online] News.illinois.edu. Available at: https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/198435
27
Encyclopedia Britannica.. Holocaust - From Kristallnacht to the “final solution”. [online] Available at:
https://www.britannica.com/event/Holocaust/From-Kristallnacht-to-the-final-solution.
such places. They blamed everyone else but him, including Goebbels, Göring, Himmler, and
Hitler’s other primary lieutenants, but not the man himself. The propaganda’s early
accomplishments and adaptability during the war carried through to the very end.28
In conclusion, The Nazi leadership had introduced a hostile environment and initiated practical
measures, whether through legislation or violence, to establish an ethnically defined “people’s
community.” By being largely compliant, for whatever reasons, those who were not excluded
had helped to create an even more hostile environment – one in which it was possible to carry
out terror in broad daylight without significant unrest or intervention on behalf of the
persecuted29. Some historians believe that the SS men were so brutalized by their training that
they would have killed anyone they were asked to.30 Events like Kristallnacht showed people
believed in Hitler's anti-semitic policies as german citizens saw it unfold and did nothing about
it, worse some participated in the violence. The nazi propaganda achieved exactly Hitler had
aimed for, controlling the populace. they achieved this by evoking pre-existing feelings,
exploiting the hate that had been building up for many many years and justifying their actions by
carefully crafted lies. As Josef Goebbels once said, make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying
it and eventually they’ll believe it.31

Word Count: 1999

28 Stout, Michael J., "The effectiveness of Nazi propaganda during World War II" (2011). Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations. 314
29
Time.. Jewish Germans Had Their Lives Destroyed by Nazis During Kristallnacht. Their Neighbors Let It Happen. [online] Available at:
https://time.com/5449578/kristallnacht-lessons-bystanders/ [Accessed 19 Feb. 2020].
30
ibid,22
31
Quotations, T. (2020). Joseph Goebbels quotes. [online] En.thinkexist.com.