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Abstract
The Nazis justified their attempt to exterminate the Jews by claiming that they were only defending themselves against Jewish plans to destroy Germany and its population. I show how the Nazis used the same the same words to discuss both claims, and how they argued that just as the Jews were serious about exterminating Germany, they were equally serious about exterminating the Jews. Since the argument for annihilating the Jews was hard to make in the mass media, the Nazis put it most strongly in word-of-mouth propaganda using speakers and public meetings.
Notes
1. For an excellent study of the development of Nazi genocidal policy, see Christopher R. Browning, The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939–March 1942 (Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 2004).
2. For a good summary of Hitler's thinking, see Ian Kershaw, Hitler 1936–1945: Nemesis (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000), 461–495. For Goebbels’ role, see Christian T. Barth, Goebbels und die Juden (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2003) and Wolfram Meyer zu Uptrup, Kampf gegen die “Jüdische Weltverschwörung”: Propaganda und Antisemitismus der Nationalsozialisten 1919–1945 (Berlin: Metropol, 2003).
3. Max Domarus, Hitler: Speeches and Proclamations 1932–1945, trans. Mary Fran Gilbert, 4 vols. (Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci, 1990–2004), vol. III, 1439. Still, newspapers captioned that section of Hitler's speech in alarming ways. One heading was: “War means the destruction of the Jewish race.” See “Schaffende der Welt, erkennt euren gemeinsamen Feind,” Westfälische Neueste Nachrichten (Bielefeld), January 31, 1939.
4. These are all strong words in German although, as in any language, meaning is dependent on context. Vernichten is the most general since it, like the English “destroy,” has no necessary biological implication. Auslöschen can mean extinguish, wipe out, or obliterate. Ausrotten has clear biological implications. It is the word one uses when speaking of the elimination of pests, and implies their death. Ausmerzen typically carries a biological significance as well. The last three all suggest finality.
5. Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, trans. Ralph Manheim (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1971), 65.
6. Willi A. Boelcke, The Secret Conferences of Dr. Goebbels: The Nazi Propaganda War 1939–43, trans. Ewald Osers (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1970), 8.
7. Domarus, III/1910.
8. For background information on the Parole der Woche, see Franz-Josef Heyen, Parole der Woche: Eine Wandzeitung im Dritten Reich 1936–1943 (Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1983). The circulation figure is based on “Die Arbeit der Partei-Propaganda im Kriege,” Unser Wille und Weg 11 (1941), which claimed that eight million copies had been printed since the beginning of the war. A full translation of the article is available at the German Propaganda Archive: http://www.calvin.edu/cas/gpa/warprop.htm. Future references to the GPA will take this form: GPA/title.htm.
9. Parole der Woche (PdW), #49/1939.
10. PdW #33/1940. It is reprinted in Heyen, 76.
11. PdW #10/1940, #12/1940, and #10/1941.
12. Domarus, IV/2446.
13. Domarus, IV/2451.
14. Mitteilungsblatt des Gaupropagandaamts Oberdonau, July 1941, 2.
15. The article is dated July 6, 1941. Joseph Goebbels, Die Zeit ohne Beispiel: Reden und Aufsätze aus den Jahren 1939/40/41 (Munich: Franz Eher, 1941), 524. See GPA/goeb15.htm.
16. Joseph Goebbels, Das Zeit ohne Beispiel, 528. See GPA/goeb18.htm.
17. Warum Krieg mit Stalin? Das Rotbuch der Anti-Komintern (Berlin: Niebelungen-Verlag, 1941). The book was hurriedly prepared and based on old material. The party propaganda system did not promote it heavily. See “Vertrieb der Broschüre ‘Warum Krieg mit Stalin?’” Akten der Partei-Kanzlei der NSDAP (Munich: K. G. Sauer, 1983–1992), part II, vol. 2, microfiche 140, frame 58674.
18. See Wolfgang Diewerge, Deutsche Soldaten sehen die Sowjet-Union: Feldpostbriefe aus dem Osten (Berlin: Wilhelm Limpert, 1941) and Das Sowjet-Paradies: Ausstellung der Reichspropagandaleitung der NSDAP (Berlin: Franz Eher, 1942). See GPA/feldpost.htm and GPA/paradise.htm.
19. Theodore N. Kaufman, Germany Must Perish! (Newark, NJ: Argyle Press, 1941), 3. Kaufman also shipped copies to England, where they were rubber-stamped with the imprint of The Mitre Press.
20. For background on Kaufman's pamphlet, see Wolfgang Benz, “Judenvernichtung aus Notwehr? Die Legenden um Theodore N. Kaufman,” Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte 29 (1981), 615–630.
21. See, for example, his creative citation of Time's review of his book, “A Modest Proposal,” March 24, 1941, 95–96, which he used in a second printing, this time in paperback, in fall 1941.
22. Kaufman's full name was Theodore Newman Kaufman. He published his book under the name Theodore N. Kaufman. The Nazis managed numerous variants of the spelling. The most interesting error was giving him the middle name “Nathan.” Sometimes, he became “Nathan Kaufmann.” The incorrect middle name was probably added to make the name sound more Jewish.
23. “Roosevelt fordert die Sterilisierung des deutschen Volkes,” Völkischer Beobachter, July 24, 1941, 1. The article fit into a general anti-American campaign then in progress. The previous day, newspapers reported the “sensational” discovery that pictures of Franklin Roosevelt in a Masonic lodge had been discovered in Norway. The Nazis considered the Freemasons to be part of the international Jewish conspiracy. The rest of the world did not find the photographs surprising, since Roosevelt's Masonic membership was listed in his Who's Who entry.
24. For other examples, see the Völkischer Beobachter, August 16, 1941, August 17, 1941, September 15, 1941, and February 11, 1943.
25. Theodore N. Kaufman, “‘Deutschland muß untergehen’: Ein Vorschlag zum ewigen Frieden,” Das Reich, August 3, 1941, 3.
26. See Browning, 318–322, 370–373.
27. Elke Fröhlich, ed., Die Tagebücher von Joseph Goebbels (Munich: K. G. Sauer, 1997–2001), Part II, vol. 1, 168–169.
28. In his diary entry for October 26, 1941, Goebbels notes that the British press was claiming that Kaufman's book was of no significance: “But that does not interest us in the least. We pay no attention. The important thing is that his opinion is brought to the attention of the German people and that the German people receive new strength from it.” Fröhlich, II/2, 155, 180. Goebbels also realized that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was a forgery, but that did not affect his view of its usefulness as propaganda.
29. Wolfgang Diewerge, Das Kriegsziel der Weltplutokratie (Berlin: Franz Eher, 1941). See GPA/kriegsziel.htm.
30. Fröhlich, II/1, 334.
31. Fröhlich, II/1, 328.
32. Howard K. Smith, Last Train from Berlin (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1943), 183.
33. See GPA/zeichnen.htm.
34. Diewerge, Kriegsziel, 24–25.
35. Diewerge, Kriegsziel, 30. The emphasis is in the original.
36. Zeitschriften-Dienst, October 3, 1941, 19.
37. “Aufgaben der Frauen- und Familienzeitschriften im dritten Kriegswinter,” Zeitschriften-Dienst, October 10, 1941, 17.
38. Heinz Schwaibold, “So wollen sie uns vernichten,” NS Frauen-Warte, #10/1941, 144.
39. See “Die Vernichtungspläne Unserer Gegner,” Politischer Dienst, Nr. 47 (August 26, 1943), 2, and “Die jüdische Vernichtungspläne und der Luftterror,” Nr. 63 (September 17, 1943), 1.
40. Politischer Zitaten-Dienst, packets for April 24, 1943 and September 10, 1943. The cards themselves are undated, but the Hoover Institution at Stanford University has them in their original dated wrappings.
41. For background on the Nazi speaker system, see Ross Scanlan, “The Nazi Party Speaker System,” Speech Monographs 16 (1949), 82–97 and “The Nazi Party Speaker System, II,” Speech Monographs 17 (1950), 134–148. See also Randall L. Bytwerk, Bending Spines: The Propagandas of Nazi Germany and the German Democratic Republic (East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 2004), 71–88.
42. Aufklärungs- und Redner-Informationsmaterial der Reichspropagandaleitung der NSDAP und das Propagandaamtes der Deutschen Arbeitsfront, Lieferung 12 (December 1941). There were later reminders to speakers to emphasize the theme.
43. Redner-Schnellinformation, Lieferung 46, November 6, 1942. The Redner-Aufklärungsmaterial and the Redner-Schellinformation were issued by different departments of the Reichspropagandaleiteung. The first was intended to provide long-term reference material for speakers, the second guidance for immediate campaigns.
44. Bundesarchiv Berlin, NSD 12/17, “Redner-Information für Frauenversammlungen.”
45. For details on the Reich Ring, see Walter Tießler, “Der Reichsring für Nat.-Soz. Propaganda und Volksaufklärung,” Unser Wille und Weg 5 (1935), 412–416.
46. Mitteilungsblatt des Gaurings für nationalsozialistische Propaganda und Volksaufklärung im Gaupropagandaamt Ostpreussen, February 1944, 38.
47. Mitteilungen des Gauringes für nationalsozialistische Propaganda u. Volksaufklärung NSDAP. Gau Moselland, October 1941, 34. Similar injunctions are found in other Gau ring newsletters. The entire party propaganda apparatus was mobilized to promote the pamphlet.
48. Reprinted in Heyen, 92.
49. The party also published a playing card-sized edition with part of the contents of each issue of the Parole der Woche. It was often pasted to the back of official correspondence. See GPA/parole.htm for an illustration of this one.
50. Reprinted in Heyen, 110.
51. The poster is available at GPA/posters/sterben.jpg.
52. Heinrich Goitsch, Niemals! (Berlin: Franz Eher, 1944). See GPA/niemals.htm.
53. Goitsch, 32–33. His pamphlet is probably the best catalog of such quotations. The Whipp quotation also appeared in the Politischer Zitaten-Dienst in 1943.
54. For more examples, see Ernst K. Bramsted, Goebbels and National Socialist Propaganda 1925–1945 (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1965), 396–402; Jay W. Baird, The Mythical World of Nazi War Propaganda, 1939–1945 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1974), 245–247; Robert Edwin Herzstein, The War That Hitler Won: The Most Infamous Propaganda Campaign in History (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1978), 361–365; and Meyer zu Uptrup, 386–395, 442–446.
55. Joseph Goebbels, Das eherne Herz: Reden und Aufsätze aus den Jahren 1941/42 (Munich: Franz Eher, 1943), 81. See GPA/goeb3.htm.
56. Bundesarchiv Berlin, NSD 12/74, “Anweisung für antibolshewistische Propaganda-Aktion,” February 20, 1943. See GPA/bolshevist.htm.
57. Goebbels, Der steile Aufstieg, 265–266. See GPA/goeb37.htm.
58. Goitsch, 9.
59. “Das Kriegsziel unserer Gegner,” Propagandaring Weser-Ems, March 1942, 6. Like much of the material in these newsletters, the collection of quotations was prepared by the Reichspropagandaleitung office in Berlin and sent to the lower offices to pass on.
60. Wochenspruch der NSDAP, #37/1941, September 7–13. This was a small weekly poster, each of which carried an inspiring quotation, often from Hitler or another Nazi leader. For examples, see GPA/ws.htm.
61. Domarus, IV/2367, 2564, 2574, 2679, 2700, 2763.
62. PdW, #44/1942, October 28.
63. Goebbels, Das eherne Herz, 85. See GPA/goeb1.htm.
64. Goebbels, Der steile Aufstieg, 265–266. See GPA/goeb37.htm.
65. For a comprehensive study of Goebbels’ public and private remarks on the Jews, including the regular use of words such as “extermination” and “destruction,” see Barth, Goebbels und die Juden.
66. “Juden sind Verbrecher,” Zeitschriften-Dienst, April 2, 1943, 2.
67. For examples, see Randall L. Bytwerk, Julius Streicher: Nazi Editor of the Notorious Anti-Semitic Newspaper Der Stürmer, 2nd ed. (New York: Cooper Square, 2001), 161–170.
68. Ernst Hiemer, Der Pudelmopsdackelpinscher (Nuremberg: Der Stürmer Buchverlag, 1940), 73–74. See GPA/pudel.htm.
69. Goebbels even tried to eliminate Der Stürmer in 1941 and use its paper allocation to increase the circulation of his Das Reich, but Hitler rejected the proposal and allowed Streicher to continue publishing until the end of the war.
70. “Auf dem Tag, an dem es keine Juden mehr in die Welt gibt!” Völkischer Beobachter, May 13, 1943, 3. I checked a dozen other German daily newspapers. All carried a version of the story.
71. “Das Ostjudentum—Reservoir des Weltjudentums,” Zeitschriften-Dienst, December 10, 1943, 2.
72. Wolfgang Hultzsch, “Der Jude bleibt der erste Feind!” Der Gauring: Mitteilungsblatt der Gaupropagandaleitung Pommern, May/June 1943, 3
73. Mitteilungen des Gauringes Franken, July 1, 1943, 6.
74. Redner-Schnellinformation, Lieferung 60, May 18, 1943. Emphasis in the original.
75. I checked a range of German magazines, and found the figure in only one magazine, and a peculiar one at that: the Nazi magazine for girls. See E. Lehning, “So hassen sie uns! Juden Stimmen aus aller Welt,” Das Deutsche Mädel, July/August 1943, 5. Since the figure was not carried in the Zeitschriften-Dienst, I suspect the author was a recipient of the party speaker material.
76. Redner-Schnellinformation, Lieferung 57, May 5, 1943.
77. Redner-Schnellinformation, Lieferung 60, May 18, 1943.
78. Redner-Schnellinformation, Lieferung 63, June 28, 1943.
79. “Der Gauleiter: Entweder wir oder die Juden!” Mülhauser Tageblatt (Mülhausen), May 17, 1943. Emphasis in the original. The Gauleiter's words were also reported by newspapers in Heidelberg and Mannheim. All three cities were in his Gau.
80. In 1939, there were 808 counties and 28,375 local groups, so the publication had a sizeable readership. The number increased when the war began, as new territories were incorporated into the German Reich.
81. “Parole 21: Den Juden kennen heißt den Sinn des Krieges verstehen!” Sprechabenddienst, September/October 1944, 6. The emphasis is in the original. See GPA/sprech44a.htm.
82. “Tod den Juden,” Rüstzeug für die Propaganda in der Ortsgruppe, January 1945, 13–14. The emphasis is in the original.
83. Mitteilungen des Gauringes für nationalsozialistische Propaganda u. Volksaufklärung NSDAP. Gau Moselland, #11 (November 1941), 6.
84. Jay Baird interviewed a number of leading Nazi propagandists, who claimed they had actually believed the claims themselves, though one imagines they were stretching the truth a bit in self-justification. See Baird, 306 (note 54).
85. For an excellent summary of the tangled state of the German mind with regards to the “Jewish Question,” see David Bankier, The Germans and the Final Solution: Public Opinion under Nazism (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992), 116–138.
86. Otto Dov Kulka, “The German Population and the Jews: State of Research and New Perspectives,” in Probing the Depths of German Antisemitism: German Society and the Persecution of the Jews, 1933–1941, ed. David Bankier (New York: Berghahn Books, 2000), 277. For another summary of scholarly differences on this matter, see Browning, 388–392.
87. Ian Kershaw, “German Popular Opinion and the ‘Jewish Question’, 1939–1943: Some Further Reflections,” in Hostages of Modernization: Studies on Modern Antisemitism 1870–1933/39. Germany—Great Britain—France, ed. Herbert A. Strauss (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1993), 277.
88. Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996).
89. For one of many laments about insufficient anti-Semitism on the part of the masses, see “Warum auch heute noch Kampf mit den Juden?” Mitteilungen des Gauringes Franken, July 1, 1943, 2–4.
90. For more on the SD reports, see Marlis G. Steinert, Hitler's War and the Germans: Public Mood and Attitude during the Second World War, trans. Thomas E. J. de Witt (Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 1977).
91. Heinz Boberach, ed., Meldungen aus dem Reich: Die geheimen Lageberichte des Sicherheitsdienstes der SS 1938–1945, 17 vols. (Herrsching: Pawlak, 1984), vol. VII, 2581.
92. “Die große Stunde hat geschlagen: Der Feldzug im Osten entschieden!” Völkischer Beobachter, October 10, 1941, 1.
93. Goebbels, Die Zeit ohne Beispiel, 530.
94. Boberach, VII/2965.
95. Bankier, The Germans and the Final Solution, 148–149.
96. See a report from Bielefeld dated March 15, 1942 in Otto Dov Kulka and Eberhard Jäckel, eds., Die Juden in den geheimen NS-Stimmungsberichten 1933–1945 (Düsseldorf: Droste, 2004), 489.
97. Kulka, 275. See also a report from a rural area in December 1942 that stated that in the event Germany lost the war, people feared “terrible revenge” from the Jews, in Kulka and Jäckel, 510.
98. Boberach, XVI/6243.
99. Boberach, XV/6052.
100. See the late-war morale reports in the National Archives’ microfilm series of captured German documents, series T-77, roll 1037, frames 6509356 and 6509574.
101. Boberach, IX/3235.
102. J. P. Stern, Hitler: The Führer and the People (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975), 215
103. Bankier, The Germans and the Final Solution, 152. A report from the party chancellery at the end of May 1943 noted that the recent upsurge in anti-Semitic propaganda had “apparently lost its effect” on the German population, since it was too obvious: “As is well known, propaganda is best when one does not notice that it is propaganda.” See Kulka and Jäckel, 524.
104. Kulka takes a contrary position, arguing that public opinion surveys taken after the war found significant anti-Semitism. An August 1947 poll, for example, reported that 55% thought that National Socialism was a good idea, badly carried out. Since by then the fundamentals of Nazi mass murder were known, Kulka concludes that Germans in general supported Nazi genocidal policies. I find his argument unconvincing, since there is not a necessary connection between disliking an ethnic group and wanting to kill them, and it is quite possible that mass murder was the part of Nazism Germans thought was badly carried out. See Kulka, 279–280.
105. For two directives from Martin Bormann in 1942 and 1943 prohibiting discussion of what was happening to the Jews, see Browning, 391.
106. Meyer zu Uptrup, 439.
107. David Irving, Goebbels: Mastermind of the Third Reich (London: Focal Point, 1996), illustration caption between pages 332 and 333.
108. See http://www.fpp.co.uk/cinc/2003/report_mueller.html, accessed on February 3, 2005. An Internet search using the Nazi variants in spelling Kaufman's name will find numerous other examples, often with remarkably inaccurate information. Kaufman's middle name is frequently given as “Nathan,” demonstrating that the material was taken directly from Nazi publications.