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South African Historical Journal Volume 27, 1992 - Issue 1
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GERMAN-SOUTH AFRICAN RELATIONS IN THE NAZI ERA

‘Dear Listeners in South Africa’: German Propaganda Broadcasts to South Africa, 1940–1941

CHRISTOPH MARX Freiburg, Germany
Pages 148-172 | Published online: 14 Jan 2009

  • Goebel , G. and Buschbeck , W. , eds. 1970 . Morgen die ganze Welt-Deutscher Kurzwellensender im Dienste der NS-Propaganda. Geschichte des Kurzwellenrundfunks in Deutschland 1933–1939 67 – 114 . Berlin For the technical facilities at Zeesen, see, ‘Die grö[btilde]te Anlage der Welt für Kurzwellenrundfunk’, in Deutsche Welle, ed., G. Goebel, ‘Fernkampfwaffen im Rundfunk-krieg’, in Deutsche Welle, ed., Wortschlacht im Äther. Der deutsche Auslandsrundfunk im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Geschichte des Kurzwellenrundfunks in Deutschland 1939–1945 (Berlin, 1970) 99–145, esp. 105ff
  • Bundesarchiv, Koblenz, Germany (hereafter BA), Reichspropaganda-Ministerium (hereafter R 55), 563. Compare also A. Diller, Rundfunkpolitik im Dritten Reich, Rundfunk in Deutschland, vol. 2 (ed. H. Bausch) (München, 1980), 327ff
  • Broszat , M. 1969 . Der Staat Hitlers 438 München See also P. Hüttenberger, ‘Nationalsozialistische Polykratie’, Geschichte und Gesellschaft, 2 (1976), 417–42, esp. 421 and 427
  • Rundfunkpolitik , 317 Diller, andP. Lungerich, Propagandisten im Krieg. Die Presseabteilung des Auswärtigen Amtes unter Ribbentrop. Studien zur Zeitgeschichte, vol. 33 (München, 1987), 110–45. See also H. Heiber, Joseph Goebbels (München, 1965), 133 and 141
  • BA, Reichsrundfunkgesellschaft (hereafter R 78) 28, ‘Büro des Rundfunk-Kommissars des Reichsministeriums des Innern’, 15 Dec 1932, about the organization of the ‘Drahtloser Dienst’. See also H. Lubbers and W. Schwipps, ‘Morgen die ganze Welt’, in Deutsche Welle, ed., Morgen die ganze Welt, 20
  • Boelcke , W. A. 1967 . ‘Wollt ihr den totalen Krieg’: Die geheimen Goebbels-Konferenzen 44 Stuttgart
  • Personal communication with Erich Holm, 17 Feb. 1991. For the start of the Afrikaans-language programme, see Lubbers and Schwipps, ‘Morgen die ganze Welt’, 61. For Holm's biography, see also the favourable article in O. Pirow's journal Nuwe Orde, I, 50 (26 Sep. 1946), 3: ‘Erich Holm op Aanklag van Hoogverraad’. Holm was identified by South African government officials quite easily: University of Cape Town Archives (hereafter UCT) BC 640, HG Lawrence Collection (hereafter BC 640) E3.99, S.5ff. In this document, it is stated, that Holm was of Jewish extraction and in fact the grandson of a rabbi. See also E3.100, Statement to the person Holm. In the course of a counter-statement by Holm's father it was corrected insofar as it was his great-grandfather from his mother's side who had been a rabbi. See also E 3.266, List of dangerous Nazis, 80
  • Schwipps, ‘Wortschlacht’, 64. Also BA R55/1270, 216
  • Schwipps, ‘Wortschlacht’, 46
  • 1938 . Rand Daily Mail (8 Oct., 7: ‘Highlights of the Week’
  • van der Merwe , W. 1982 . Die Geskiedenis van die Afrikaans- en Suid-Afrikaans-Duitse-Kultuur-vereniging 1932–1982 22 German and Afrikaans) (Pretoria In 1970, Oetting wrote down his notes on the Afrikaans-language radio programmes. I am very much indebted to Prof. Werner Schellack (van der Merwe) of Unisa, who provided me with a copy of these notes: Unisa Archives (hereafter Unisa), ADK-Collection (hereafter ADK), varied papers, W. Oetting, Aufzeichnung über die afrikaans-sprachigen Rundfunksendungen, 1939–1945 (hereafter Oetting, Notes). For Oetting's influence, see also A. Hagemann, Südafrika unddas ‘Dritte Reich’: Rassenpolitische Affinität und machtpolitische Rivalität (Frankfurt, 1989), 82
  • UCT, BC 640, E 3.266, List of dangerous Nazis, p. 88
  • Baumann , G. 1941 . Grundlagen und Praxis der internationalen Propaganda 29 – 30 . Essen
  • For instance: BA R 78/1930 [5./AA/B.] 21 May 1940
  • BA R78/1952 [4.], 22 Mar. 41. BA R78/1943, 21 Dec. 1940
  • BA R78/1952, 21 Mar. 41 [a]
  • BA R78/1952 [c], 27 Mar. 41
  • BA R78/1953 [b/nst/P.], 4 Apr. 41
  • BA R78/1925 [2.], 26 Feb. 1940; BA R78/1937 [10./nst/Dr.H.], 17 Sep. 1940
  • The relationship of German and British air forces is given as to be 15:1: BA R78/1952 [5./nst/B.], 20 Mar. 41
  • BA R78/1955 [c.], 22 Apr. 41
  • This is affirmed in an official press statement by the South African government: UCT, BC 640, E 3.99, 1
  • BA R78/1933 [1/12 noon/Dr.H.], 26 July 1940
  • BA R78/1939 [7/VB/B.], 13 Oct. 1940
  • BA R78/1939 [7/VB/B.], 13 Oct. 1940
  • BA R78/1939 [g/dnb/p.], 12 Oct. 1940
  • R78/1924 [d.], 30 Jan. 1940
  • BA R78/1928 [12], 15 Apr. 1940
  • Meaning the government acting with ‘might and main’, exerting itself in ‘scraping up’ support
  • BA R78/1928 [6./AA/P.], 13 Apr. 1940. Also, BA R78/1927 [5.], 2 Apr. 1940, BA R78/1928 [6./AA/P.]
  • Boelcke, ‘Wollt ihr den totalen Krieg?’, 40
  • Ibid., 44
  • Unisa, ADK, Oetting, Notes, 2. Lubbers and Schwipps, ‘Morgen die ganze Welt’, 57, mention that from the end of the 1930s, the programmes increasingly differed according to the respective ‘Zones’
  • Unisa, ADK, Oetting, Notes, 4
  • BA R78/1928 [12./AA/P.], 15 Apr. 1940, cf. also ibid. [2./AA/B.], 23 Apr. 1940, BA R78/1926 [12.], 25 Mar. 1940; BA R78/1929 [AA/P.], 1 May 1940;ibid. [5./AA/ho], 4 May 1940;ibid. [aa/P.], 6 May 1940
  • BA R78/1924 [b], 17 Feb. 1940; BA R78/1933 [1./AA/Dr.H.], 23 July 1940. UCT, BC 640, E 3.103, Zeesen 2 Nov. 1939
  • Hereniging is very much emphasised;the split into the Hertzogite and Malanite factions that was to follow is not mentioned at all: BA R78/1927 [6.], 5 Apr. 1940
  • BA R78/1932 [3./AA/Dr.H.], 2 July 1940
  • BA R78/1927 [11./AA/P.] and [12.], 6 Apr. 1940
  • BA R78/1924 [2.], 29 Jan. 1940
  • BA R78/1926 [2.], 15 Mar. 1940; BA R78/1927 [12/AA/P.], 6 Apr. 1940; BA R78/1941 [10./AA/Dr.H.], 30 Oct. 1940
  • BA R78/1925 [1.], 26 Feb. 1940; BA R78/1927 [5.], 2 Apr. 1940, BA R78/1941 [9./AA/B.], 1 Nov. 1940; BA R78/1946 [10./nst/Dr.H.], 11 Jan. 41
  • BA R78/1934 [6./dnb/P.], 27 July 1940
  • BA R78/1927 [7.] and [8.], 29 Mar. 1940
  • BA R78/1933 [4./AA/Dr.H.], 23 July 1940
  • BA R78/1932 [3./AA/P.], 28 June 1940; BA R78/1933 [3./AA/Dr.H.], 23 July 1940
  • BA R78/1933 [7./AA/B.], 13 July 1940
  • BA R78/1924 [1.], 5 Feb. 1940; ibid. [2.], 17 Feb. 1940; BA R78/1925 [a.], 24 Feb. 1940
  • BA R78/1933 [5./AA/Dr.H.], 15 July 1940. BA R78/1924 [2.], 12 Feb. 1940; BA R78/1931 [AA/P.], 18 June 1940
  • BA R78/1927 [1.], 5 Apr. 1940; BA R78/1929 [11./AA/Dr.H.], 7 May 1940; BA R78/1938 [8./dnbh/B.], 5 Oct. 1940
  • BA R78/1926 [1.], 15 Mar. 1940; BA R78/1930 [4./dnb/B.], 6 June 1940; BA R78/1935 [2./AA/Str.], 19 Aug. 1940
  • BA R78/1924 [b.], 23 Jan. 1940; ibid. [c], 22 Feb. 1940; BA R78/1927 [6.], 3 Apr. 1940; BA R78/1928 [6./AA/P.], 13 Apr. 1940; BA R78/1934 [AA/Dr.H.], 2 Aug. 1940; BA R78/1937 [3/aa/h.], 12 Sep. 1940
  • BA R78/1935 [1./AA/Str.], 19 Aug. 1940
  • BA R78/1928 [aa/p.] and [c/AA/P.], 19 Apr. 1940; BA R78/1932 [3./AA/Dr.H.], 2 July 1940
  • BA R78/1933 [7./AA/P.], 25 July 1940
  • Round Table, 31 (1941), 158–9
  • BA R78/1937 [2./AA/Dr.H.], 12 Sep. 1940
  • BA R78/1926 [1.]) 19 Mar. 1940
  • Vgl. Illsley, S.49
  • Schröder , S. 1940 . England und die Buren Berlin which is praised on 12 Mar. 1940: BA R78/1926 [3.]).BA R78/1924 [1.], 3 Feb. 1940. As a contrast to the British leuenaars, German publications are shown in a favourable light, as, for example, the propagandistic booklet by
  • BA R78/1924 [10], 29 Jan. 1940
  • BA R78/1924 [2.], 29 Jan. 1940; For constant repetition of the vroue en kinders theme, see, for example, BA R78/1925 [5.], 1 Mar. 1940; BA R78/1926 [1.], 27 Mar. 1940, BA R78/1927 [5.], 2 Apr. 1940, BA R78/1930 [7./AA/Dr.H.], 17 May 1940; ibid. [9./AA/P.], 20 May 1940; BA R78/1934 [1./AA/B.], 6 Aug. 1940; BA R78/1939 [a/12Uhr/p.], 11 Oct. 1940
  • BA R78/1925 [9.], 29 Feb. 1940, BA R78/1933 [3/epu/p.], 20 July 1940, BA R78/1924 [6.], 23 Jan. 1940
  • BA R78/1936 [a/vb/p.], 4 Sep. 1940
  • BA R78/1924 [1.], 19 Feb. 1940
  • BA R78/1924, 23 Jan. 1940
  • BA R78/1933 [7./AA/B.], 13 July 1940
  • BA R78/1934 [9./Eigen/B.], 29 July 1940; BA R78/1929 [5./AA/P.], 26 Apr. 1940, where the ‘fifth column’ notion is presented as a product of ‘Jewish journalists’ (Joodse joernaliste)
  • BA R78/1940 [8./AA/B.], 26 Oct. 1940
  • BA R78/1939 [a/12noon/p.], 11 Oct. 1940
  • BA R78/1952 [12/nst/B.], 21 Mar. 41
  • In 125 of 214 broadcasts, Smuts is mentioned;in most cases, he figures as a personification of the government, representing, at the same time, the forces of evil in South Africa. On 25 June 1940, Goebbels gave orders to the press not to attack the Empire too clumsily. ‘More elegantly’ executed attacks should preferably be directed against individual persons. Boelcke, ‘Wollt ihr den totalen Krieg?’, 74
  • BA R78/1929 [a), 9 May 1940, BA R78/1935 [1./AA/S.], 15 Aug. 1940
  • BA R78/1935 [4./AA/Str.], 19 Aug. 1940
  • BA R78/1933 [1./Dr.H.], 22 July 1940, BA R78/1937 [1./AA/B.], 16 Sep. 1940
  • BA R78/1941 [9./AA/B.], 1 Nov. 1940
  • BA R78/1926 [3.], 12 Mar. 1940
  • BA R78/1924 [c.], 22 Feb. 1940
  • BA R78/1926 [3.], 12 Mar. 1940
  • BA R78/1926 [12.], 25 Mar. 1940
  • BA R78/1927 [7.], 10 Apr. 1940
  • BA R78/1947 [8./AA/B.], 21 Jan. 41. In a similar fashion, the radio refers to the private lives of members of the Union Unity Truth Legion: UCT, BC 640, E 3.109, 25 Nov.1939
  • BA R78/1940 [8./AA/B.], 26 Oct. 1940
  • Gray , J. L. 1943 . “ ‘Zeesen Calling’, in ” . In Common Sense June In 52 out of a total of 214 broadcasts, open anti-Semitic propaganda can be found. For Zeesen's anti-Semitism as seen from a contemporary Jewish point of view, see 15 and 2
  • Shimoni , G. 1980 . Jews and Zionism: The South African Experience 97 – 168 . Cape Town On anti-Semitism in South Africa, see
  • Hillgruber , A. 1982 . Hitlers Strategie-Politik und Kriegführung 1940–1941 146 – 7 . München
  • BA R78/1928 [a./B.], 13 Apr. 1940. The Afrikaans pun referring to the (Jewish) nose as the organ of instinct is not readily translatable into English
  • BA R78/1925 [1.], 1 Mar. 1940
  • Ingham , K. 1986 . Jan Christian Smuts: The Conscience of a South African 197 – 8 . London
  • BA R78/1939 [1./AA/Dr.H.], 8 Oct. 1940
  • This can be attributed also to the contempt Holm personally had for the Jews. It probably also had a bearing on the broadcasts, independent of the ideological directives that came from his employers. Personal communication with Holm, 17 Feb. 1991
  • BA R78/1924 [1.], 17 Feb. 1940; BA R78/1927 [4./AA/P.], 8 Apr. 1940; BA R78/1941 [s/AA/p.], 13 Nov. 1940
  • BA R78/1932 [3./AA/Dr.H.], 2 July 1940
  • BA R78/1928 [12./AA/P.], 15 Apr. 1940
  • BA R78/1930 [9./AA/P.], 20 May 1940
  • BA R78/1926 [1./Dr.H.], 7 July 1940
  • BA R78/1926 [3.], 12 Mar. 1940; BA R78/1933 [7.AA/B.], 13 July 1940
  • BA R78/1936, 1 Sep. 1940
  • Luhmann , N. 1984 . Soziale Systeme-Grundri[btilde] einer allgemeinen Theorie 223 Frankfurt This phenomenon is discussed theoretically in
  • BA R78/1924 [1.], 9 Feb. 1940
  • BA R78/1930 [1./AA/B.], 25 May 1940, and the Special Reports of 26 May 1940 and 2 June 1940 (ibid.). Compare also, BA R78/1930 [7./AA/Dr.H.], 17 May 1940
  • BA R78/1930 [1/Dr.H.], 18 May 1940
  • BA R78/1941 [g/nst/p.], 13 Nov. 1940; BA R78/1943 [d/nst/p.], 3 Dec. 1940; BA R78/1950 [c/nst/dnbf/P.], 28 Feb. 41; BA R78/1950 [14./nst/B.], 28 Feb. 41; BA R78/1938 [7./Ztg./B.], 5 Oct. 1940. Possibly, this is a hint at Mussert's plans aimed at establishing a ‘Dietsche Reich’;see H.B. Giliomee, ‘So Wou Nederland die Boere Bevry’, Die Huisgenoot (29 Mar. 1968), 14–7
  • Van der Merwe Geskiedenis, 32. Oetting describes this deviation from official policy (which was not to favour any of the opposition groups) as a mistake, to be accounted for by a misjudgment on the popularity and influence of the Ossewa Brandwag: Unisa, ADK, Oetting, Notes, 5–6
  • BA R 43 II/640, 126
  • Akten zur Deutschen Auswärtigen Politik, Series D , Vol. XI 232 Note of First Secretary Bielfeld of 8 Oct. 1940 in.P.J. Furlong, ‘Pro-Nazi Subversion in South Africa, 1939–1941’, Ufahamu, 16, 1 (1987/88), 35
  • UCT, BC 640, E3.24, David le Roux, Sanlam, Pretoria to E. Holm, 25 Nov. 1939
  • Ibid., E 3.90, memorandum from A.N. Wilson, 8 Nov. 1939. In this document, the measures for counter-propaganda are discussed. See also the analysis by J.W. Illsley, ‘The Weak Link that Held: A Study of Wartime Official and Semi-Official Propaganda in South Africa, 1939–1942’ (BA Hons thesis, University of the Witwatersrand, 1985) (in University of the Witwatersrand Archives, Cullen Library: A 2102), esp. 37ff. and 45ff. Examples of counter-propaganda, see UCT, BC 640, E 3.104, 5 Nov. 1939 and ff
  • Tillmann , H. “ Tätigkeit und Ziele der Fünften Kolonne in Südafrika während des zweiten Weltkrieges ” . Cf.Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft, Sonderheft 9 (1961), 193
  • UCT, BC 640, E3.2, Notes from a meeting with Smuts, 18 Sept. 1939, as well as the following documents
  • Ibid., E 3.7, 9 Feb. 1940
  • Illsley, ‘The Weak Link that Held’, 46
  • Die Burger, 15 Jan. 1940
  • The Forum, 50 (9 Mar. 1940), 2

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