Propaganda and its Appearance in the Holocaust

Propaganda is advertisement that is used to promote biased political views and ideas. Propaganda is most popular and commonly known for its use in World War II and the Holocaust by Hitler and the Nazis. During the war Hitler used propaganda to get more people to believe in his message and to get people to join him and the Nazis. Propaganda was shown in many different ways during World War II from videos, posters, cartoons, radio, books, and even movies. Even though propaganda could have some truth within it, propaganda was a very biased way of advertising the political views of the Nazis, and sent out the wrong message that was often misleading.

The purpose of propaganda during the Holocaust and World War II by Hitler and the Nazis was to promote and spread their political ideas and message to gain the support from many Germans. Hitler wanted to shape and change the Germans public opinion and behavior towards Jews and anyone who was not like them. To be able to do that, Hitler knew he needed to establish a good and engaging connection with those of the German community to really make it work. The Nazis were able to use propaganda to make what they were doing look like an amazing thing. They would hide the actual truth from the German public and twist it to hide the fact of the horrible things that they were doing to the Jewish community. Hitler would use propaganda in an appealing and relatable way to help target his audience better. By using movies, posters, etc. the German people would see it in their everyday lives and find it relatable. Hitler created a symbol for his campaign, the Swastika, this was even used as a propaganda tool because, for the people who supported him it gave them something to wear and show that they were with him. The purpose of this piece of propaganda was to have something for people so they could feel a part of his army and get more attention drawn to his campaign. Other forms of propaganda were very successful and useful to Hitler much like the Swastika such as the film Triumph of the Will. In the propaganda film Triumph of the Will that was released in 1935 it portrays the Nazi army and Hitler as open and approachable people. They were shown shaking hands with people and appearing very happy. The film showed scenes of people of all ages, including children, showing their support for the Nazis and their message. This movie was used to show the German people that many people just like them were supporting the Nazi troops and portrayed supporting it as a celebration. Hitler was shown also giving speeches and during the movie and you can hear the roaring of the crowds showing their support. This movie alone prompted many people to stand with Hitler and his army and became one of the most famous propaganda films. Propaganda served the main purpose of winning the support and keeping the support of the German community and changing the public opinion and behavior to that of which Hitler and his army saw fit.

Propaganda is different from opinion. Opinions are a view that you yourself form about something or someone, whereas propaganda is an advertising technique and tool that influences opinions and thoughts on a political topic. Although opinion is often used in propaganda there is a definite difference between the two. Propaganda in Nazi Germany was used to try and persuade the German community to have an anti-Semitism view and opinion. Of course, the Nazi's opinion was put into all of the different forms of propaganda that were used but, it was not all opinion. Because propaganda was used as a way to try and influence opinions, the Nazis propaganda was thought of as something that brainwashed the German people in to conforming to the ideals portrayed in their propaganda. Propaganda is unmoral and unethical. Epically during Nazis Germany, it cannot be used ethically or morally. Propaganda used during the Holocaust and World War II was often negative and hurtful towards Jewish people and other people who did not fit the discerptions of what Hitler defined as a German. It would make people have extreme opinions on those who did not fit in Hitler's idea of a normal German. The propaganda used during this time was full of deception and hurtful lies to achieve Hitler's end goal of his perfect society. It limited and controlled people's ability to form opinions on what they truly believe in. Hitler controlled everything people watched, saw, read, and even heard. Because of that Nazis were able to understand how the German community worked and would then make their propaganda based on what they studied. Hitler looked at the community as numbers he could benefit from and not people and that is just not morally right. Anything used to win or achieve something for personal gain in a hurtful way cannot be defined as something moral or ethical.

In conclusion, propaganda during the Holocaust and World War II was a tool used to spread the biased political ideas and the views of Hitler and the Nazis. Their uses of propaganda had the purpose of making a society act and work as one under Hitler and his dictatorship. There are seven different types of propaganda such as, bandwagon and Plain Folks, and every single one of them were used in someone way in Nazi propaganda. The different uses of propaganda during this time spared nothing and no one to get to the top. No amount of moral or ethical thought went into the making of any of the propaganda seeing as they were full of hatred and lies. Hitler reached his main purpose he was trying to reach with propaganda and that was to influence and change those of the German populations minds to his views. Propaganda corrupted the minds of those in Germany during the time of the Holocaust and helped put Hitler in his dictator position.

Cite this page