Introduction
Nazi Germany period is the period between the 1933 and 1945 when Germany was transformed to the totalitarian state by Dictator, Adolf Hitler through the Nazi Party (NSDAP). During this time the country was transformed even the official name of the state was changed two times, i.e. Germany Reich (1933-1943) and Great-Germany Reich (1943-1945) and during the time the Germany state was also known as Third Reich (Baird 450). The Third Reich nation ended after the Allied Powers defeated Nazi regime in may 1945, which led to the end of world 2 in Europe.
Hitler came to power 1933 after he was appointed by the president of the Weimar Republic Paul Von Hindenburg. After his appointed, the Nazi party began to remove and eliminate all opposition political faction in the country. All opposition leaders were arrested or either killed; this enabled Hitler to consolidate power. After President Hindenburg died, Hitler assumed powers to the Presidency and Chancellery (Baird 452). After he assumed power the referendum was held in August 1934 made the Hitler only the leader of Germany. Therefore, all power was centralized around him; thus, he became law and constitution, and all his words were above the laws. During the time the government was not organized but a faction of people struggling power with the aim to get Hitler’s approval. To gain public popularity in Germany in the wake of the great depression, the Nazis ensured economic stability through military employment and spending. Also, public works were undertaken, and they restored economic stability.
Racism, in particular anti-Semitism was the Nazis main agenda. Therefore, the Nazis viewed Germanic peoples as the purest race in Germany and were considered master race among other races. Other races include Jews were deemed unworthy, and they were killed in Holocaust. Any opposition leader in Germany was suppressed and was either arrested or killed. Also, the liberal, socialist and communist group’s individuals were murdered, exiled or arrested (Baird 558). Also, the church leaders were oppressed, and most clergies were arrested and imprisoned. Nazis education system focused on military skills, racial biology and population policy. Women were not allowed to work.
All the recreation and tourism was organized under a program known as Joy, and 1936 summer Olympics showed Third Reich nation to the world. The Nazis used propaganda to promote their agendas. The Nazis minister of Propaganda used films, public rallies and Hitler’s salute to sway the public support to them. The government controlled everything including all the artistic work, expression while promoting specific forms of artistic work and banning the others. The Nazis used. The Nazis used film as there propaganda instrument. Hitler and His minister of propaganda were much interested in using film to promote Hitler’s agendas of racism and hatred. Therefore, the paper discusses the role of films in promoting Nazis Propaganda.
Nazism and Cinema
Therefore Nazism created well-organized propaganda system, which used the 20th-century technology of Cinema. Thus, the main propaganda tool was cinema, and they courted numerous public slogan which involved people emotions. The Nazis used film as there propaganda instrument. Hitler and His minister of propaganda were much interested in using film to promote Hitler’s agendas of racism and hatred. The film was used in the early 1930s during the National Socialist German Workers Party; hence, this leads to Hitler utilizing them as a tool of propaganda. The films that were used to spread propaganda include Jew Süss (1940), Münchhausen (1943), and Kolberg (1945).
Jew Süss (1940)
Jew Suss is film used by Nazi to propagate its agenda. The film was produced by Terra Film and is considered as an anti-Semitic film of all the time. The movie lead actor was known as Ferdinand Marian, while Kristina Soderbauma and Werner Krause played supporting roles in the movie. Jew Suss was directed by Viet Harlan, and he was also the writer of the screenplay (Noakes 11). The film was characterized by anti-Semitic themes, and it was a great success in Germany. The minister of propaganda at the time Reichsmarks encouraged people to watch it especially the police and members of SS. The film remains one of the used movies when studying the history of anti-Semitic agenda of the Nazis. After were ended the film cast was arrested and tried for “crime against humanity.”
Münchhausen (1943)
The film was ordered in 1943 by Germany Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. The movie was ordered to celebrate the 25th anniversary of UFA film studio. The movie was used to propagate Nazis agenda, and it also served as a distraction of the war to the people. The film was characterized by anti-Semitic themes, and it was a great success in Germany. Also, the film portrayed other Nazis agenda such as the Holocaust, German militarism, female promiscuity, and the total war (Noakes 12).
Kolberg (1945)
This was the last movie of the Third Reich Nation. The movie intention was to promote Nazis agenda, and it wanted to encourage Germany people to resist the influence of Allies. The moves tell a story of the besieged town of Kolberg. This move was ordered by the propaganda minister of Nazis.
Themes of Jew Süss (1940), Münchhausen (1943), and Kolberg (1945) and How the Films Demonstrated the Germany History Circa 1939-1945
Hitler used propaganda to enrol people in his agenda. The main propaganda tool was cinema and films which courted public by uses of lies and slogans that captured people attention and emotions. The Nazis used film as there propaganda instrument. Hitler and His minister of propaganda were much interested in using film to promote Hitler’s agendas of racism and hatred. The film was used in the early 1930s during the National Socialist German Workers Party; hence, this leads to Hitler utilizing them as a tool of propaganda. Therefore, the above movies help in spreading Nazis agendas and can help is showing how the Nazis era of 1939-1945 was like. Themes in the Movies include:
Anti-Semitism Agenda
Racism, in particular, anti-Semitism was the Nazis main agenda. Adolf Hitler governance was centred on anti-Semitism agenda. In the movies which were ordered by the Nazi propagandists, they played a wide role in spreading German anti-Semitism. Thus, the Hitler and his propagandist blamed Jews for their problems. They claimed that Germanic people are pure while considering other smaller races as unworthy. Thus, the movies depicted a situation where Jews were blamed for the misfortunate of Germany population. The propagandists accused Jews of ripping off of their handwork while they didn’t undertake physical jobs. Thus, Hitler mission was to eliminate Jewish community. He named three vices of Jewish Marxism which included democracy, internationalism and pacifism. Also, he claimed that Jews were responsible for Marxism, communism and Bolshevism. Joseph Goebbels declarations of the Anti-Bolshevist Exhibition which declared that Jews and exhibition was the same thing were depicted in the movies. Therefore, the Nazis viewed Germanic peoples as the purest race in Germany and were considered master race among other races. Other races include Jews were deemed unworthy, and they were killed in Holocaust. Any opposition leader in Germany was suppressed and was either arrested or killed. Also, the liberal, socialist and communist group’s individuals were murdered, exiled or arrested. Also, the church leaders were oppressed, and most clergies were arrested and imprisoned. Nazis education system focused on military skills, racial biology and population policy.
The movies depict the Germany society of 1939-1945 which was centred on anti-Semitism. To achieve an anti-Semitism agenda used the movies to attack Jewish community. The Jewish we portrayed as child kidnappers who used blood for their religious sacrifices. Use of the films to spread anti-Semitism led to increase of the anti-Semitic acts. The Anti-Semitism during 1939-1945 (During World War 2) propaganda was used to serve different objectives and purposes. First, it hoped that people in Allied countries would be convinced that Jews were to blame for the war. Thus, the propaganda in movies aimed to persuade the Allied countries that Jews were to blame for the war and not Nazis. Also, Nazis wanted to ensure Germany population that there doing everything in their power by taking extreme measures to punish Jewish population on their behalf. By doing shows, the Nazi wanted to incriminate Jews and used it as an opportunity to increase their people loyalty to them. The announcement that Jews were being killed made the Nazis unite to continue with the war. The anti-Semitic propaganda led to the suffering of Jews were murdered and killed in mass.
Therefore, based on the movies and history during the World War 2, Germany society can be depicted as an ant-Semitic society, which didn’t value the lives of people who were not Germans.
The Holocaust and War (1939-45)
The Anti-Semitic propaganda led to World War 2 and which caused the holocaust. In 1939 Germany troops occupied western Poland. The German police started operations to force out thousand of Polish Jews out of their home. Their properties were given ethnic Germans from either Reich or Polish. The Jewish were forced out their home to live in a barbed wire surrounded ghettos where they weren’t fed nor did they had work to do. Thus, Jewish was left to suffer from poverty, hunger, and overpopulation. Also, they suffered from diseases such as typhus. Also, Hitler instituted facilities which were used to gas disabled to death and program known as Euthanasia. Over 270,000 people were killed under the program; thus, Euthanasia formed the background of the Holocaust (Rentschler 61). By in 1940, Germany troops have conquered five European countries namely France, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Luxembourg. All the Jews from all over the continent were transported to polish ghettoes. Germany invasion of Soviet Union killed more than 500,000 Jews. All the Jews from the Germany territory were marked with the yellow start making them an open target. Most of the Jews were transported to ghettoes and German-occupied cities. The holocaust started when an experiment for the mass killing method was invented in Auschwitz was successful. The Hitler troops used pesticide Zyklon-B to conduct the killing. The SS ordered huge volume of the gas an indication of the unavailing of the holocaust.
Holocaust death camps were instituted in 1941 and continued to exist until 1945. In late 1941 Jews were transported from the ghettoes to concentration camps starting with those that were viewed as least useful. The first mass killing started in Belzec camp where Jews were gassed to death in numbers. Other five killing camps were instituted where all the atrocities were committed. The biggest camp was Auschwitz-Birkenau. From 1942-1942 Jews from all over Europe were transported to those camps.
The Nazis operations were kept in secret, but the scale of the killing made it known to people. People who saw the Nazis atrocities presented their evidence of the holocaust to Allied countries. The Allied nations were criticized for not taking action against manslaughter. The news of Holocaust was met with denial since people couldn’t believe such atrocities were possible. Over million people were killed by the Nazis. Only Jews have gassed other people died for starvation and diseases. Between 1942 and 1945 it is estimated that 12,000 were killed every day (Rentschler 30) .
Nazis used propaganda to hinder their atrocities. German propaganda emphasized the prowess of their troops. The Nazis used propaganda to shows to Germany people that they were protecting them and won the war. Before 1943 Germany propaganda was based on anti-Semitic and their powerful army. But after Stalingrad, their propaganda theme changed to portray Germany as the sole defender of the Western European Culture. Nazis introduced V-1, and V-2 weapons were a threat to Britons that they cannot win a war against them. Due to the accusation of atrocities Nazis allowed Red Cross to investigate concentration camp in Theresienstadt to dispel accusation about Final Solution. In reality, the Theresienstadt was transit camp. Nazis produced a film to show how Jews were treated but after the completion of shooting the cast members were transported to concentration camps.
German militarism
Prior to Stalingrad, the propaganda the Nazis Propaganda was based on their power of the military. The Nazis propaganda movies spread lies about their Military power. They launched V-1 and V-2 to scare allied nations that they cannot win a war against them. The Nazis regime addressed great depression by recruiting people to the military. Thus, most youths joined the military to seek employment. The movies helped in spread propaganda about Nazis Army. The German military portrayed aggressive and ruthless tactics to so the so-called the enemy of the state or Jews. In 1939 the when Nazis decided to invade Poland Germany had about 98 divisions ready to take action. Germany army comprised of about 1.5million. Also, their military had nine panzers with each panzer having 328 tanks. By 1940 German military grew and it had 2.5 million men and over 2500 tanks. By 1941 it had about 3 million officers plus two hundred thousand from its allies (Rentschler 15). The German focused on the production of fighting equipment and machinery. The lost their fight against the Soviet Union. Adolf Hitler created people’s militia which guarded the German cities against the attack of Rd Army. The movies propagated the power of the German military and its influences. During the holocaust, military used weapons and gasses of masses to conduct their atrocities.
Political Opponents
After Hitler came into power opposition leaders in Germany was suppressed and was either arrested or killed. Also, the liberal, socialist and communist group’s individuals were murdered, exiled or arrested. Also, the church leaders were oppressed, and most clergies were arrested and imprisoned. Thus, the power belonged to Hitler and Hitler alone. They eliminated their political opponent and killed all parties. Nazis did not value democracy. Hitler was a dictator who spread fears and lies to instil fear to people.
Female promiscuity
Women movies were subjected to Nazism doctrines; this was the same case for women in Nazi German. Thus, women were eliminated form in apolitical activities in Third Reich nation. They were also banned from working in executive bodies and committees. Therefore, Nazis party admitted that women would not be accepted in administrative committees, but this did not prevent women from participating in the party activities. The Nazi doctrine emphases on men combat skills. Women were eliminated from the responsibilities of offering services and work particularly academic duties and political jobs. Thus, women were supposed to be mothers and spouses. Nazis society women were not supposed to have careers, but they’re supposed to take of their children and undertake chores. Therefore, women were responsible of their children career. Women were supposed to refrain from working.
Comparison between Jew Süss (1940), Münchhausen (1943), and Kolberg (1945) and Triumph of the Will (1934), Hitler Youth Quex (1933), and La Habanera (1937)
Triumph of Will (1934)
Triumph of the will movie was released in 1935. The movie is propaganda movies about Nazis, and it contained the footage of the Nazis leaders’ speech to Congress. The Movie propagated that the Hitler is the Leader who will return Germany to true military power. Hitler was an unofficial producer of the film. The movie is regarded as one of the propagandist movie in the history of the film.
Hitler Youth Quex (1933)
The movie was released in 1933, and it focused on spread propaganda about Nazi ideas to the society. The movie was the first film the Nazis used to spread their lies and propaganda. The movie is based on the novel about the Nazi Propaganda. The film was based on true story and Nazis used it to spread propaganda.
Jew Süss (1940)
Jew Suss is film used by Nazi to propagate its agenda. The film was produced by Terra Film and is considered as an anti-Semitic film of all the time. The movie lead actor was known as Ferdinand Marian, while Kristina Soderbauma and Werner Krause played supporting roles in the movie. Jew Suss was directed by Viet Harlan, and he was also the writer of the screenplay..”
Münchhausen (1943)
The film was ordered in 1943 by Germany Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. The movie was ordered to celebrate the 25th anniversary of UFA film studio. The movie was used to propagate Nazis agenda, and it also served as a distraction of the war to the people. The film was characterized by anti-Semitic themes, and it was a great success in Germany. Also, the film portrayed other Nazis agenda such as the Holocaust, German militarism, female promiscuity, and the total war.
Kolberg (1945)
This was the last movie of the Third Reich Nation. The movie intention was to promote Nazis agenda, and it wanted to encourage Germany people to resist the influence of Allies. The moves tell a story of the besieged town of Kolberg. This move was ordered by the propaganda minister of Nazis
Compare and Contrast
Triumph of the Will (1934), Hitler Youth Quex (1933), and La Habanera (1937) were used to promote Nazis ideas while Jew Süss (1940), Münchhausen (1943), and Kolberg (1945) were used to promote anti-Semitic agenda. But all movies were used to promote Nazis propaganda. Jew Süss (1940), Münchhausen (1943), and Kolberg films were used to promote anti-Semitic agenda. The movies depict that Germany of 1939-1945 was centred on anti-Semitism. To achieve an anti-Semitism agenda used the movies to attack Jewish community. The Jewish we portrayed as child kidnappers who used blood for their religious sacrifices. Use of the films to spread anti-Semitism led to increasing of the anti-Semitic acts. The Anti-Semitism during 1939-1945 (During World War 2) propaganda was used to serve different objectives and purposes. First, it hoped that people in Allied countries would be convinced that Jews were to blame for the war. Thus, the propaganda in movies aimed to persuade the Allied countries that Jews were to blame for the war and not Nazis (Lane et al, 24). Also, Nazis wanted to ensure Germany population that there doing everything in their power by taking extreme measures to punish Jewish population on their behalf. By doing shows, the Nazi wanted to incriminate Jews and used it as an opportunity to increase their people loyalty to them. The announcement that Jews were being killed made the Nazis unite to continue with the war. The anti-Semitic propaganda led to the suffering of Jews were murdered and killed in mass.
Triumph of the Will (1934), Hitler Youth Quex (1933), and La Habanera (1937 films were used to spread propaganda about Nazis doctrine and ideas. The Movie propagated that the Hitler is the Leader who will return Germany to true military power. Hitler was the unofficial producer of the film. The movies helped the leaders to gain publicity (Lane et.al 23). To gain public popularity in Germany in the wake of the great depression, the Nazis ensured economic stability through military employment and spending. Also, public works were undertaken, and they restored economic stability. Thus, the films were used to persuade people that there was a problem in a German setting.
Works Cited
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