"Propaganda attempts to force a doctrine on the whole people... Propaganda works on the general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea." -Adolf Hitler in "Mein Kampf"

The Beginning

The Nazi Party began to use propaganda in Hitler's campaign for the 1933 election.

In the beginning Nazi propaganda was to be simple and had to appeal to people's emotions. The posters pulled over a few main points. The party's massive propaganda campaign won the loyalty of Germans.

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was the head of the Nazi Party and was brilliant in the use of propaganda. He was depicted as a charismatic superman and a man of the people. Hitler was shown in posters as a mystical figure guiding the nation's destiny.

Censorship

Once the Nazi Party took control of the German government the Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda (RMVP) was created. One of Hitler's most trusted associates, Joseph Goebbels became the head of the RMVP on March 13, 1933. The agency controlled newspapers, magazines, books, art, movies, radio, and public meetings and rallies. Viewpoints that were threatening to the Nazi Party were censored from the media. Books that were thought to not be read by the Germans were collected and burned. Groups such as the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls trained children to be faithful to the Nazi Party.

The Jews

Nazi propaganda soon started to take aim at the Jewish people. The propaganda increased and reflected a growing of radicalism of the dictatorship's anti-Semitic policies. The propaganda posters showed Jewish stereotypes to reinforce anxieties about modern developments in political and economic life. Jews were also portrayed as feeding off Germany, poisoning its culture, seizing its economy, and enslaving workers and farmers.

Professors and religious leaders incorporated anti-Semitic themes in their lectures and church sermons. The Nazi Party created other ways to disseminate anti-Jewish propaganda. An exhibition called "The Eternal Jew" showed Jews with "degenerate art". They were showed as Nazi views of their dangers to Germany. The exhibition attracted 412,300 visitors.

The propaganda campaigns created an atmosphere tolerant of violence against Jews.