Der Sturmer Poster

 

In the book Nazi Propaganda by Z.A.B. Zeman there is a photo that was taken in Nurnberg Germany, 1935. Nurnberg is located within the southern half of Germany. Looking at this photo (Zeman, 98) I see three German party rally officers walking on the street. Up ahead of them is a trolley and to the left of these three German men are Der Sturmer posters. Der Sturmer was a Nazi propaganda newspaper that ridiculed, mocked, and was anti-Semitic towards Jews. The founder of the Der Sturmer was Julius Streicher who was a member of the Nazi party and did not like the Jews. The Der Sturmer newspaper was up in Germany until the end of the war but at one point the Der Strumer had to be taken down during the 1936 olympics, “All such notices as ‘Jews not admitted’ were taken away from the entrances to hotels and restaurants; Streicher’s newspaper Sturmer could not be bought in the streets” (Zeman, 109). The Der Sturmer was taken down early in the war as they did not want other countries to see the Nazi’s beliefs about other foreign countries.

Moving back to the photo, what makes this picture unique is that these three German officers were just walking by these anti-semitic/offensive posters and for these three men it just seemed like nothing out of the ordinary. This newspaper dehumanized Jews and made Germans perceive them as being inferior to their culture. When viewing this image it is evidently clear to see that anti-semitism and having a hatred towards the Jews was just the cultural norm of Germany during World War 2 (Zeman, 99). The poster itself has two faces on it, one face looks like a skull and in front of the skull face is a man with a serious expression. He also has the same mustache that Hitler had and underneath them is a photo of the newspaper that is written all in German. Additionally, on this newspaper there was a symbol of the Swastika on the poster. The swastika before World War 2 was known as being a symbol of peace but during this war the Nazi’s used the swastika as a symbol of violence and hatred towards other inferior races which specifically targeted the Jews. The swastika became a symbol of Nazi territory so wherever the swastika was located or was in sight, it gave Jews a sense of fear and an unacceptance throughout all of Europe other than Great Britain. While the swastika may have been Hitler and the Nazi’s parties symbol of pride, throughout Europe wherever Jews went to go hide the symbol of the swastika meant Jews should be fearful for their lives.

Not only did this newspaper not like the Jews to begin with, but they also tried to get the German people and the Nazi’s to have more of a hatred towards the Jewish race.  Whenever there was a bunch of interesting or disturbing news that was related to the Jews in the Der Sturmer, this pro-Nazi newspaper would publish it and then send it out to their readers. The Der Sturmer had some, “scandoulous gossip about the Jews also rated high on the priority list-this form of journalism had been introduced by Julius Streicher in Der Sturmer. ‘Ritual murder’, for instance, was hardly perennial; it combined anti-semitism, violence, and sex in equal proportions” (Zeman, 25). Through the Der Sturmer the Nazi’s wanted to brain-wash the German people into believing that all Jews were bad and that murdering other people was just a common and daily habit for the Jewish race.

 

Zeman, Z.A.B. Nazi Propaganda. London; New York : Published in association with the Wiener Library [by] Oxford University Press, 1964., 1964.

 

Lisciotto, Carmelo. “Der Stürmer.” Holocaust Research Project.Org, Holocaust Education and Archive Research Team, 2009.

 

“History of the Swastika.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

 

Nazi Propaganda by Z.A.B. Zeman

The text that I choose to help further my research on Nazi propganda and its influence on World War two was, Nazi Propaganda, by Z.A.B. Zeman. What draws me specifically to this text was the usage of photos. In one of the photos, on page 98 it says, “Juden sind hier nicht erwunscht” which means that ‘Jews are not wanted here.’ Right across from the sign there is a statue of Jesus on the Cross. This photo shows that the Nazi’s built a hatred towards Jewish people and the Nazi’s forbid them from doing certain activities. This sign was just one of the many signs throughout Europe that forbid Jews from participating in normal daily activities. Additionally, since this photo was taken in 1935 it also shows how Nazi propaganda was building up over a 10 year-long period which lasted until the end of the war (1945).

When I began first reading this book, I learned a lot more about Hitler and how much power he had when he first came into power. Over time, by being in charge he was able to gain more influence on the Nazi party and other European countries as well. After reading this book the first time, I started picking up on some of the smaller details such as how Hitler was a failure when it came to speaking on the radio in comparison to President Roosevelt who was famous for his fireside chats (Zeman, 53). Adding onto that, I was fascinated that when Germany and the Nazi party wanted to expand their propaganda program abroad, Hitler was able to do so. He knew that 27 million Germans were living in other European countries such as, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Poland, and Russia. By having this knowledge, Hitler knew that by having Germans in nearby countries, this would help the Nazi party influence these abroad countries and turn these places into what would be in the best interest for the Nazi party, such as concentration camps and ghettos. Additionally, these abroad countries were eager to become a part of the Nazi party.

I at first encountered this book when I saw that the novel, Persuasive Images: Posters of War and Nazi Propaganda Speeches would not be able to ship until next week and I needed another book that would have photos of Nazi Germany during World War two. I specifically searched in the library for World War 2 Propaganda and I found this book, Nazi Propaganda and it was written by, Z.A.B. Zeman. Overall, when I found this book I knew right away from looking at it that it would help expand upon my research of Nazi propaganda and how propaganda impacted the war. Additionally, I found that the titles of each chapter were going to touch upon some of the points that I wanted my research to cover.

One passage that resonated with me was one week after the Germans occupied Poland. Hitler talked about propaganda on the 8th of September 1938, saying that, “Propaganda is an important instrument of the Leadership for forwarding and strengthening the will to victory and for destroying the enemies’ morale and will to victory.” I picked this quote out because before I read this book I always perceived propaganda as being a picture or cartoon about an individual fighting on behalf of their country in the hopes of making their country a safer place. I never thought of propaganda as being something that would destroy the enemies morale. Propaganda destroys the enemies will because in the Nazi’s opinion the enemy was living within Germany and among other European nations as well. When the Nazi’s sent a message saying that the Jews were different and that they were not human beings; this inevitably destroyed many Jews morales about themselves and about the culture that they were living in. Additionally, propaganda gives the Nazi’s more authority and permission to be ruthless and violent towards the Jews because they were not considered to be equal as people, but instead, they were seen as inferior in comparison to the Germans.

updated reading list

Ian Morris
9/22/17
Reading List Prompt
Forms and Contexts

Updated:
The list should:
(i) include 3-5 secondary or theoretical works (monographs, collections, articles, or journal special issues/edited collections) you will read on your own this fall;
John Dower, War Without Mercy (1987) –this book discusses Propaganda

The Successes and Failures of German War Propaganda in Estonia, 1941-1944 written by Kari Alenius.

Frank Capra (Film Director)-The Nazis Strike- World War 2 1943 (Film) and Battle of Britain 1969 (Film)
Peter Paret-Persuasive Images (1992)
Triumph of the Will (Film)1935, by Leni Riefenstahl

D-Day Proaganda (1984), Caroline Reed

(ii) choose one academic journal of which you will survey the last year’s worth of issues;

One of the academic Journals that I found that will be helpful for my research is Nazi Influence Outside Germany Before and During The Second World War.

(iii) be informed by 1-3 far-reaching keywords or key terms.

1. Newspaper Articles from World War 2
2. Propaganda
3. Nazi Rallies

Primary Texts:
• Triumph of the Will (Film)1935, by Leni Riefenstahl
• Squander Bugs on the home front: National Propaganda and women’s fictions, Nickianne Moody (2009)
• Ethical Judgements about wartime ads depicting combat, written by Richard Tansey, Michael Hyman, Gene Brown (1992).
• The Ascendancy of Radio News in Wartime. Richard Fine, published 2014.
• The Art of Propaganda: Charles Alston’s World War 2 Editorial Cartoons for the office of War information and the Black Press. Harry Amana, published 2004.

(iv) In addition to the three parts of the list you have above, I want you to write a healthy paragraph describing for your classmates and me how you put together this list and what kinds of questions frame your inquiry. This short accompanying essay should be in the range of 250-500 words.

I had a great discussion with Professor Sweeney about World War 2. Before our discussion I was very fixated on figuring out if Human Nature played an impact in World War 2. I was also curious to think about what John Locke and Thomas Hobbes would have thought about human nature after witnessing this war. After I had my discussion with Professor Sweeney I wanted to focus more of my studying on trying to figure out how emotions played a role in World War 2. Specifically I wanted to focus more on how leaders, Nazi rallies, and propaganda may have had an emotional influence on the way that it impacted the German people. Professor Sweeney recommended that I look more into the Nazi rallies and specifically propaganda signs to see how the Nazi’s played into the emotional piece of how Germans viewed the Jews daily after seeing these advertisements on a daily basis. She also discussed with me that leaders such as Hitler and Musselini hated liberal democracy so these two leaders played into the idea that if people emotionally became attached to them as leaders than they could carry out drastic plans as they knew that the people would follow their every move. Professor Sweeney also brought up another great point which was to compare how American Propaganda was different from German Propaganda and if there was any emotional pieces that the United States government or German government did to play into the lives of its people. Some of the questions that I asked her were, “Is there any films that you think I should watch for my research? Were there any other leaders that had a big influence on its people other than Stalin? Do you think that human nature played a part in World War 2?” Overall, after talking with Professor Sweeney I was able to narrow some of my focus down on selecting a few broad topics to choose from and dive more deeply into my research about them.

Update:

After doing more research I want to focus more in on how propaganda influenced one group of society to perceive their enemy as being. I want to specifically research propaganda photos and seek out what the government wanted to make their people feel like when they looked at these propaganda photos of the enemy. Overall, I still have the same interests and ideas that I had before the only difference is that I want to find actual newspapers and documents that show how the media and the government made their people perceive the enemy as being. I think the newspapers also played a significant impact in the way that they influenced their own people to view the enemy.

persuasive images: posters of war and Nazi propaganda speeches

The book Persuasive Images: Posters of War and Revolution was written by Peter Paret, Beth Irwin Lewis, and Paul Paret. The story was published in Princeton Universities press in 1992. Peter Paret himself was born in Berlin, Germany on April 13th, 1924.  Peter Paret’s mother was Jewish while the father was not so when the parents divorced Peter eventually immigrated to America in 1937 while Peter Paret’s father stayed in Germany. Peter Paret’s wife was Isabel Harris and their two children were Suzanne Aimeee Paret and Paul Louis Paret. Paret at one point served three years in the United States army from 1943-1946 and he specifically served in New Guinea, the Philippines, and Korea. This first hand perspective on war gave Paret the ability to describe the brutality and a first hand look at how war impacted individuals.“Paret belonged to a generation of World War II veterans who used their experience of the war to better understand military history. Paret’s major interests include the relationship between art of a particular era is related to that era’s ideology and social context, and the interactions among politics, intellectual trends, and war.” (JewAge article)

Additionally, in the book it discusses and brings attention to 317 different posters that were involved in World War 2. With these posters, the United States government wanted its audience to feel compelled to join in the war to fight against the enemy. Through these posters the US government would dehumanize their enemy to help the American people not feel guilty about killing other human beings. By dehumanizing the enemy this allowed more American citizens to become invested in fighting for their government because they knew they were not fighting against another person but they were fighting against something that was not human and was threatening American citizens. Through these posters the United States government gained more civilians to become involved in fighting to defend the US.

Changing subjects, I watched this video on Hitler giving a speech to the German people. In the speech, he tells his Nazi supporters that he needs their help to get the German people on his side. These brief ten minutes clips of some of his speeches provide me with an insight at how well Hitler was able to influence and make people believe in his theory that the German people were superior to other races. Hitler at the beginning of the video makes the Nazi people out to be the victims that went through adversity. He says, “I know, my comrades, that it must have been difficult at times… when you desired change that never came… so again and again the appeal had to be made… to continue the struggle… you mustn’t act yourself, you must obey, you must give in… you must submit to the overwhelming need to obey.” That is the whole idea behind propaganda is to make an individual’s actions justified so that it can “help” make an individual’s country better. When the most powerful man in Germany turned to his people and told them to try and exterminate the Jews as it would be helping them save their country from evil. Many of his followers did what they were told. Additionally, just watching these short clips on Hitler’s speeches made me realize that many of his speeches include uniting the German people together to fight and support their country through the ups and downs. He also wanted all of the German people to help one another despite their social class and work together as a unit. Hitler made the German people believe that their actions were helping their people and as Hitler said, “The most precious possession you have in the world… is your own people.” While Hitler may have been trying to “create” a better Germany he ultimately made millions suffer and the world a more hateful and cruel place, in my opinion.

In addition to those speeches, one of the films that I started watching was called, Triumph Of The Will or also known as Triumph des Willens. This films was produced in 1935 and shows clips of the Nazi group coming together and giving praise to their leader Hitler. To the Nazi group Hitler seemed to be beloved by his followers. The film has an up close personal viewpoint of Nazi leaders giving speeches to the Nazi parties and the speakers included Nazi leaders such as Adolf Hitler, Rudolph Hess, and Julius Streicher. These clips and speeches give me as the audience a personal first hand-look at Nazi propaganda and how the leaders were capable of influencing their followers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=34&v=AnpTWKKWQ1o -Hitler Speeches

 

“Peter Paret – Biography.” JewAge, www.jewage.org/wiki/he/Article:Peter_Paret_-_Biography.

 

Everipedia. “Peter Paret.” Wiki | Everipedia, 6 July 2016, everipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Paret/.

 

Riefenstahl, Leni, director. TRIUMPH OF THE WILL. N.S.D.A.P. (NAZI PARTY), 1936.

 

https://www.hs.ias.edu/files/Paret_CV.pdf- (Facts and analysis on Peter Paret)

 

Reoccuring Motif in Culler

In Jonathan Culler’s book Literary Theory: A very Short Introduction Culler specifically uses personal and relatable examples of his terminologies such as interpretation and Narratology to allow the reader to have a better understanding of his chapters and points. Before using an example, Culler always sets up the reader with some brief knowledge about the example and how it is going to add more detail into his overall argument. Not only do his examples reinforce and back up his points but it also allows the reader to personally visualize or understand his examples and so that way they can grasp his concepts. Two examples when Culler does this is in chapter four when he uses a poem by Robert Frost “We dance round in a ring and suppose, But the Secret sits in the middle and knows” (Culler, 55). In this poem he explains to the reader that there is a difference between interpreting meaning from a specific word or from the poem itself. Culler says, “We have different kinds of meaning, but one thing we can say in general is that meaning is based on difference” (Culler, 56). Through this personal example Culler wants the audience to understand that there is going to be differences based on the text because people interpret words and writing differently than others.

Another personal example that Culler uses in chapter 6 about Narratology is when he discusses a clock. Culler says, “Frank Kermode notes that when we say a ticking clock goes ‘tick-tock’, we give the noise a fictional structure, differentiating between two physically identical sounds, to make tick a beginning and tock an end. ‘The clock’s tick-tock I take to be a model of what we call a plot, an organization that humanizes time by giving it form” (Culler 83). Using a clock is a simple and straightforward concept to understand, when Culler wants the reader to comprehend that the clock represents time through his usage of saying that time was once started and it will one day be finished. When Culler uses this relatable example it helped me as the reader understand that the point that he was trying to make was that the ticking of a clock symbolizes the beginning and ending of something. The larger issue that this motif speaks to is understanding and grasping his concepts.

One last personal example that Culler uses that helped me grasp the concept of time in a story was when he discussed how the prince became a king. “The grateful Monarch gave the Prince his daughter’s hand in marriage, and when the King died, the Prince succeeded to the throne and reigned happily for many years” (Culler, 89). When Culler uses this example he is showing the reader that over an extended period of time he summarized how a prince was able to become king. For me I was quickly able to grasp the concept that even though the narrator made this plot line seem like it was a couple short events it probably took a period of time for the prince to become the new king. I was also able to understand that the narrator plays an important role in the readers perception of time in the story. The narrator has the ability to control time within the writing. Through examples and relatable objects the reader can visualize and grasp certain foreign concepts better through Culler’s usage of everyday objects. In my opinion, I do not think I would have had the same interpretation of Robert Frost’s poem if I did not understand that there is a difference between understanding the meaning of a poem and specifically the meaning of a word within the poem as well. Through examples I was able to comprehend Culler’s specific points about understanding a text better.

World War 2 discussion with professor sweeney

  • include 3-5 secondary or theoretical works (monographs, collections, articles, or journal special issues/edited collections) you will read on your own this fall;

John Dower, War Without Mercy –this book discusses Propaganda

Frank Capra-The Nazis Strike- World War 2 (Film) and Battle of Britain (Film)

Peter Paret-Persuasive Images

Triumph of the Will (Film) by Leni Riefenstahl

Sigmund Froid, Civilization and its Discontents

  • choose one academic journal of which you will survey the last year’s worth of issues;

One of the academic Journals that I found that will be helpful for my research is Nazi Influence Outside Germany Before and During The Second World War.

  • be informed by 1-3 far-reaching keywords or key terms.
  1. Roosevelt Speeches
  2. Propaganda
  3. Nazi Rallies
  • In addition to the three parts of the list you have above, I want you to write a healthy paragraph describing for your classmates and me how you put together this list and what kinds of questions frame your inquiry. This short accompanying essay should be in the range of 250-500 words.

 

I had a great discussion with Professor Sweeney about World War 2. Before our discussion I was very fixated on figuring out if Human Nature played an impact in World War 2. I was also curious to think about what John Locke and Thomas Hobbes would have thought about human nature if they were alive to witness this war. After I had my discussion with Professor Sweeney I wanted to focus more of my studying on trying to figure out how emotions played a role in World War 2. Specifically I wanted to focus more on how leaders, Nazi rallies, and propaganda may have had an emotional influence on the way that it impacted the German people. Professor Sweeney recommended that I look more into the Nazi rallies and specifically Nazi propaganda signs to see how the Nazi’s played into the emotional piece of how Germans viewed the Jews daily after seeing these advertisements on a regular basis.  She also discussed with me that leaders such as Hitler and Musselini hated liberal democracy so these two leaders played into the idea that if people emotionally became attached to them as leaders than they could carry out drastic plans as they knew that the people would follow their every move. Professor Sweeney also brought up another great point which was to compare how American Propaganda was different from German Propaganda and if there was any emotional pieces that the United States government or German government did to play into the lives of its people. Some of the questions that I asked her were, “Is there any films that you think I should watch for my research? Were there any other leaders that had a big influence on its people other than Stalin? Do you think that human nature played a part in World War 2?” Overall, after talking with Professor Sweeney I was able to narrow some of my focus down on selecting a few broad topics to choose from and dive more deeply into my research about Nazi Propaganda, Nazi rallies, and leaders.

 

 

 

Meaning in Marxism and Interpretation

Jonathan Culler’s book Literary Theory discuses meaning in chapter 4. When he discusses meaning Culler claims that meaning is based on differences. He says, “We have different kinds of meaning, but one thing we can say in general is that meaning is based on difference” (Culler, 56). By reading a specific work a person creates their own interpretation of the text and what they perceive the authors writing as being. Now one key word that we have read and also watched a movie on in class is related to the term Communism and specifically its Marxism. Marxism was founded and created by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels as an economic system that would create equality within a country. Marxism is based on the idea that there is equality amongst everyone in society and regardless of how much work a person works or does they will always make the same amount of money and receive the same amount of supplies as everyone else. Communism sounds like a good idea but it demotes the idea of working hard for a better life and thus destroys the idea of working hard to achieve a goal or dream. In particular, Marxism matters because it was the creation of an economic system that failed to work and almost caused a nuclear war between the United States and Russia. Relating Marxism back to Culler’s point, Marxism worked well on paper but when it came to individual’s needs it failed as people are not willing to work hard if their hard work is not going to get them anywhere in life. Marxism is an important keyword because without Marxism the Berlin wall would not have come down in 1989. Additionally, there would also be no Red Scare or McCarythism in America and even the Cold War would have possibly never happened without the term Marxism. My interpretation of Marxism is that it is responsible for almost causing a nuclear war, it separated East and West Berlin, and lastly it helped promote how important achieving the American Dream was.

Another keyword that Jonathan Culler discusses is interpretation. In particular, interpretation is what gives meaning to writing and to a text. Interpretation specifically comes from the reader and through these interpretations the reader creates their own opinions and perspectives based on the text that they just read. Interpretation brings about individuality and meaning to every word. As an example, in the Intentional Fallacy the text discusses how the reader, the author, and the text are all separate from one another in the way that they are meant to be viewed. As an example of this in my poetry class, Professor Perabo asked our class to think about the word “love” and then describe what we perceived love as being within our own heads. It was amazing to see and listen to the different perspectives based on just one word. I perceived love as being a big red heart while one of my classmates saw love as two people getting married and someone else saw love as being a mother’s love for their child. Now one thing about interpretation is that it can change over time. In Benjamin Walter’s text, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction he discusses that over time artwork changes, “Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element; its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be” (Walter, 714). My interpretation of this quote is that as time passes one individual might have a different interpretation of a text over time. Their perception of a text or work of art might be very different from age 18 in comparison to age 35. The individual may notice more cracks in the art or see the artwork as being smaller than what it used to look like. Not only does interpretation create meaning in the text but it creates individuality and expressing one’s own thoughts and ideas.

Protest Scene in Goodbye Lenin

In one specific scene near the beginning of the film Alexander is walking with a protest group to promote, “the idea of walking without borders.” The protest group wants East Berlin to be connected with the West. Right from the start of this scene everyone in the crowd with Alex is wearing dark shades of clothing and no one’s shirt or colors seems to stick out to the audience. While Alex is protesting with the large crowd his mother on the other hand is sitting in a cab trying to get to a specific location but is forced to get out of the cab as the protestors and officers have taken up the streets. The protestors start getting more and more angry and things begin to get out of hand. While Alex’s mom gets out of the car, Alex is getting arrested by the police. When Alex sees his mother from across the street in a red and white outfit she immediately faints. Alex tries to help save his mother but the cops drag him into the large vehicle and then the car immediately drives away. Alex is forced to watch his mom lay helplessly there as he drives away into the distance.

This one scene shows an importance of love and how love is portrayed in the film. As the audience I was able to see two different types of love in this scene that was being displayed by Alex’s mother. The reason why Alex’s mom fell into a coma was not only the fact that she did not want to see one of her children being arrested but it was also seeing her country ripping itself apart that sent her over the edge. Alex always saw his mother as being connected with the East Berlin and once East Berlin began to destroy itself from the inside that was when he knew how fragile his mom’s life really was. In my opinion Alex’s mother loved her country dearly and she always tried to remain loyal to East Berlin as that was her home. However, by seeing two of the most precious things in her life being taken away from her all at once she was unable to take it all in at and because of it she fell into a deep coma. This scene is about love because without love in a person’s life, human beings begin to lose strength not only physically but mentally too. Overall, as Alex’s mother dies their country dies with her too.

However, while this scene shows Alex’s mother losing two of the most precious things in her life it does also show a transition of who Alex will love in the future. At the beginning of this protest scene Alex is eating an apple and he begins to choke on it. While he is choking on the apple a woman in the crowd comes up to him and starts patting him intensely on the back. Alex coughs up the apple and is immediately mesmorized by this woman. He essentially is speechless when he sees her. When the protest begins to get more out of hand that is when Alex and Lara are separated from one another. This brief encounter shows a transition of who Alex will begin to spread his love to as his mother’s love slowly dies with the falling of East Berlin.