German/Nazi Propaganda Posters

Posters were an important propaganda tool.

The imagery helped “plant” suggestions in
people’s minds.


Effective propaganda almost always works
below the level of consciousness, leaving its
target feeling a powerful belief that he/she
“knows” the position is true; a position that he/
she is certain was arrived completely on his/her
own.


It also does not exist in a vacuum. Much of its
effectiveness comes through constant
repetition.
 You are about to see TEN (10) classic
posters from the Nazi era. You are to work
in small groups to see if you can spot the
things that they were trying to suggest.

HINT: Nothing was ever put in the posters by

accident. Everything carried a message.
They were carefully crafted distortions and
misrepresentations in an orchestrated campaign of
misinformation.
 Slide #1

[The Eternal Jew: grand political

exhibition at the German
Museum in Munich beginning
November 8, 1937]
Slide #2

'Your Own KdF-

Car' poster, 1939 ©
Slide #3

“The seed of peace,

not dragon's teeth”
cartoon of Hitler, from the
magazine Kladderadatsch,
22 March 1936 ©
Slide #4

German Students Fight

for Hitler and Nation
Slide #5

This poster probably

dates to the mid-1930's.

Support relief for

mother and child
Slide #6
“The Nazi Party
safeguards the
People of the
Nation”

"[If] You need advice

or help, turn to your
'local group.”
 #9

Slide #7
“Country, Work, Service”

Poster from mid to late 1930's

"We build body and soul"

Slide #8

Poster after 1936

"Long live Germany!"

Slide #9
Ger
m
(April 15, 1943, issue of Der Sturmer)

…from Julius Streicher's Der Stürmer.

Streicher, one of Hitler's earliest followers,
published the paper from 1923 to 1945.
During the Third Reich, Stürmer display cases
were found all over Germany.

The Jew carries the poison of the weak. A

syndrome (sickness) emerges and is
causing this downward spiral. However
our blood is pure. We (true Germans) are
healthy! (loose translation)
Slide #10

The caption: "The Jew:

The inciter of war, the
prolonger of war.“
This poster was released in late 1943 or early 1944.
Courtesy of Dr. Robert D. Brooks.
OK – go to work!

In groups, try to “find”

what messages are
being conveyed.
 The connection of Arm around
The Crusader w/ cross – Nazi soldier
the Nazi soldier
based in the belief that Christ
and the Crusader
would return to earth for a
1000 year period. (the white
saint?)

Multi-headed red snakes – stars of

David, Protocols of Zion, The Multi-headed dragon is
KDP=Christian Democratic Party, a well-known image from
SDP=Social Democratic Party, Christianity – St. George
RF=Republican Front? and the Dragon (good v.
evil/Satanic forces).
Nazi propaganda often portrayed
WWII as a war for Christianity.

The white countryside with a

cross on its side – Nazism
found its roots in the peasantry/
agriculture

The soldier (uniform - authority,

Crusader = St. Michael slaying the 3-headed Swastika on belt) “draped” in the robe
dragon (direct/saintly connection to God ???)
w/ the Swastika (powerful symbol)
Your turn…

Look for all the blatant and subtle messages.
 #1

Eternal Jew The Jew is infecting the

country w/ Communism
There is a hammer and
sickle on a map of the
He is hunched over/ western part of the
physically different/ USSR – suggests a
misshapen – link between Jews and
suggests Jews are Communism *
not normal
(demonic in He is holding a whip. He
appearance – is a ‘slave-driver’ (cruelty,
“spawn of the devil; suspicion that the gold
killers of Christ) coins were ill-got).

The hand is begging for

money – Jews were The print type is somewhat
accused of greed hieroglyphic, occult, and
(money lenders w/ satanic-looking (Hebraic
extortionist interest form of German – implying
rates)(gold coins – Jewish control of Germany)
selling out Germany?)
* There is some debate what is in his hand...some have said land, others have said a heart (look at the shape)...in
other words taking the heart out of good loyal Germans. Jews – inherently disloyal, perpetrators of foreign plots . . . .

The poster for the 'Eternal Jew' exhibition, 1937 ©

 #2

Your Own Car The VW beetle was

designed by Otto
Porsche & Hitler
The woman is blond
haired and dressed
conservatively. This The mountains
is a typical Nazi suggest a link
view of women (no between Germans
make up/natural and the rural ideal
look – white teeth) (also symbolize
the pure Nordic
roots of Nazism)

Nazi policies are

associated with They are
wealth and a obviously
good lifestyle happy with
this lifestyle
'Your Own KdF-Car' poster, 1939 ©
 #3

The seed of peace not dragon’s teeth

There is an The imagery is
angel. This quite deliberate. It
suggests that is based on a
German parable in the Bible
greatness is a in which a man
positive thing sows seeds.
and not a Suggests a link
threat between Hitler and
God

Hitler is walking on
a map of Europe,
eastward Hitler = Jesus

“The seed of peace, not dragon's teeth” cartoon of Hitler, from the magazine Kladderadatsch, 22 March 1936 ©

The archangel Gabriel – announcing a new order?

 #4

The Nazi flag

Blonde hair,
is prominently
athletic, fit,
displayed.
strong, good
looking A sense of
power is
conveyed.
This young man
is blonde haired
and well-
dressed. The word,
“Kampft”-
This is a typical struggle or fight.
Nazi view of
young men

The word
All students were forced
to join the Hitler Youth –
“VOLK” (folk)
Boy Scouts declared a (people) is
Jewish plot. used.

German Students Fight for Hitler and Nation

 #5
Nazi party Hitler pointed out
Symbol (NJ = that unemployment
National Socialist in 1933 was
Jugend – youth equivalent to the
movement) number of women
who came into the
Role of the woman workforce since 1914.
Average family size
is to be a mother
was supposed to have
(blonde, strong, 4 children. Peasants
bear children) were the backbone of
society.

Farming in
background – Sun = halo
church in
background

It promotes the Nazi charitable organization

(the NSV). The text: "Support the assistance
program for mothers and children."
 #6
The caption loosely translates as, "The National
Socialist Party will save the people's
community. The people's community will then
turn to you and the party." Posters of this type
illustrate the disconnect between the party rhetoric and
the reality of party policy.
The family is engulfed by the Nazi party
(their guardian) – the eagle towers over
them, and stares intently off in the distance. The “strong” eagle (power) – almost
a “wing of an angel?” (protecting this
wholesome/ideal German family)

The Aryan Family (white, blonde, attractive,

blue-eyed, happy) (farm family) – without the German
inscriptions, this image might be mistaken from a Norman Rockwell painting.

The idea of a "Volksgemeinschaft," a community of the

people, had a very powerful, very idealistic appeal,
comparable to the idealistic appeal that some
communist groups were attempting to make at the
same time.

The analogy is suggested by the use of the word

"Volksgenossen," literally "comrades," a term widely
used by the Soviet Communist Party at the time.

Only the little girl isn’t looking at the baby but rather looking at us – in a way INVITING us into the circle.

The slogan on the poster reads "[If] You need advice or help, turn to your 'local group.” In other words, the suggestion is "We are here to help."
 #7
Strong/fit youth
(blonde, blue-eyed)
“Country, Work, Service” – the future of
Germany

Conveys the message of

Germany being united

The goal of the Reich Labor

Force was to train and teach
through regimented exercise,
work and sports (train young
men for the military).

It promotes the Nazi labor service,

for which men were expected to
volunteer. The caption: "We build
body and soul."
 #8
This poster makes a direct
Christological comparison.
Just as a dove descended on Sun = halo
Christ when he was
baptized by John the Baptist,
so what looks to be an eagle
hovers against the light of
heaven over an idealized
Hitler. The text: "Long live
Germany!."

A strong, numerous,
and united Germany –
power granted from
God.

Oak leaf border = symbol of strength

and longevity in Nazi iconography
 #9

Jews (Stars of Jew = a germ (or)

David), Capitalists a sickness!
(dollar signs), and
Communists
(hammer & sickle) Jews = root of all
are ALL part of the evil
disease under
inspection!
Microscope =
indication that
Jews = bad blood Jews were “hiding
something.” But if
you examine them
closely, you will
find that they are
Scapegoat for the really poisoning the
decline of Germany? good German!

Der Stürmer was probably the most infamous newspaper in history. For twenty-two years every issue denounced Jews in crude,
vicious, and vivid ways. Although Streicher employed a large staff by the end of the 1930s, he always had the final say, "Streicher and
the Stürmer, they are one and the same," he would say proudly.
 #10

Large nose,
protruding chin,
The individual is sinister eyes….
portrayed as ugly, The Jew is a
grotesque, and traitor/serious
threat to the
somewhat
homeland.
demonic.
The Jew is
behind the
The fire in the curtain
background – (hiding)
they are (scheming
destroying our against the
way of life – or – state).
this is what
should happen to
them?????? Clenched
fists…power
in numbers
“We have made the Reich
by propaganda.”
~ Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945)
German politician, minister of propaganda, member of Hitler’s cabinet council
 The End
"If you tell a lie big enough and
keep repeating it people will
eventually come to believe it."
-- Joseph Goebbels Nazi Propaganda Minister
Comments/Questions???

Mark L. Lagergren
Central High School
531 Morse Street
Norwood Young America, MN 55368
mlagergren@central.k12.mn.us
952.467.7100