Anti Semitism and the use of propaganda in the Nazi regime
When one thinks of the term "propaganda", what comes to mind? ... When one thinks of "propaganda" in association with the Holocaust, what comes to mind? ... Why is "propaganda" any different from what any political party or regime does, namely to disseminate its views? Is "propaganda" simply the name we give to views which we do not like or which we think to be untrue? And finally, was the role of "propaganda" in the Nazis assumption of power overstated? (Daniel Goldhagen, 1996) As many people who are learned in the field of the Holocaust will agree, propaganda played an extremely vital part in the Nazis rise to power, as well as their brain-washing of the German population into detesting all, of what they considered, "heretics" to the degree of accepting their murders. ... Although to achieve this goal the Nazi party deemed it necessary to monopolize the communications, media, and entertainment industries, Germany already had a strong anti-Semitic background. European anti-Semitism is an outgrowth of Christianity. ... Along those lines, the notion that all Jews of forever were responsible for Jesus death, for they approved of the crime, would have certainly done it again (according to the anti-Semitics), and had always rejected his teachings. ... Entering the nineteenth century, German anti-Semitism went through an acute transformation. ... It was then that German anti-Semitism reached a high point: false, cruel, yet indisputable accusations. ... By the time the Nazi party instituted totalitarian control, all that remained was to build on the framework provided by the nineteenth century. A framework which incuded anti-Semitism being common knowledge, Germans obsessive hatred toward Jews, the common belief of Jews being the reason for their collapsing economy, the belief of Jews being evil and a source of great harm. This new type of anti-Semitism was of a savage nature and a logic that it was necessary to rid Germany, along with the rest of the world, of Jews by whatever means necessary. ... The Nazi party sponsored mass meetings and pageants, distributed all sorts of visual aids and propaganda, and assumed control of the radio and film Industry. ... By means of blatant false claims and accusations, the Nazis made untrue justifications for political and military aggression, as well as enthusiasm toward Nazi goals. Hitler knew how he had to manipulate propaganda to get "positive" results from the population. In his book, Mein Kampf, he wrote: To whom should propaganda be addressed? ... need is not propaganda but scientific instruction. The content of propaganda is as far from being science as the object depicted in a poster is from being art. ... The function of propaganda does not lie in the scientific training of the individual, but rather in directing the attention of the masses toward certain facts. ... Therefore, all propaganda has to limit itself to a very few points and repeat them like slogans until even the very last man is able to understand what you want him to understand. ... Widespread economic misery, fear, and perception of worse times to come, as well as anger and impatience with the apparent failure of the government to manage the crisis, offered fertile ground for the rise of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party. ... He wanted to aim his propaganda crusade exclusively toward the masses. ... Propaganda had to be popular and be geared in order for even the most simple-minded individuals to understand. ... The Nazis utilized propaganda to saturate Nazi ideology, philosophy, and mentality into the German population, as well as to change the traditional German moral standards (as far as behavior).