1 Anna Elliott Professor Wertz-O English 1103 November 21 2013

Inquiry on Communication during the Holocaust My inquiry research dealt with the communication tactics used during the Holocaust, and what methods the Nazis used to get their tasks done, as the luxury of modern technology was not yet created. It amazes me how people of this time used propaganda and mass media that didnt always involve technology to spread the word of the Holocaust and Hitlers reign. I was curious how one man, Hitler, could inform and persuade so many people to join his movement. I also find it fascinating how the Holocaust is being communicated and stories are being passed down to the next generation. Holocaust survivors are still alive able to tell their experiences and how the Holocaust directly affected themselves and their families. It is incredible to hear individuals speak who have witnessed the terror of the Holocaust with their own eyes, and suffered immensely. Storytelling by first-hand survivors is the most pure and organic form of communication that we have from the Holocaust. I have personally been blessed to hear these survivors speak about their lives (Holocaust Survivors). Susan Bachrachs book, Tell Them we remember: the story of the Holocaust, was one I found that did more than address questions that I had about my topic, and helped satisfy my curiosity. Words cannot give enough credit to this book; it was thoughtfully written addressing each part of the Holocaust. The book went above and beyond what I

2 was looking for as it was extremely organized; it was split into three sections. They were about Germany before and during the Nazi regime; the final solution, including the various ghettos, and resistance from the Jews. The book contains reproduced pictures, artifacts, and maps of Europe during the terror of the Holocaust. I focused on the section describing how the Nazis came to power and their methods of communicating their views to Germany as a whole. Once Hitler was in power, he marketed his views through huge speeches, parades, radio broadcasts, and all sorts of posters and magazine articles. On the other side of communication, Jews also were able to get their story and experiences heard years after the Holocaust (Bachrach). In Bachrachs book, Anne Franks story is told. She kept a journal of the terrible experience she shared with her family during the Holocaust, and her story is still being communicated today, thanks to her writings. Because of her now-famous diary, Anne Frank may be the most well-known child victim of the Holocaust (Bachrach 86). It still blows my mind to try to comprehend how anyone, no matter how much they were persuaded, could accept the terrible ways of the Nazis. The variety of communication tactics is amazing and I was eager to research more about them in detail. I read an article called Nazi propaganda and censorship, which discussed the ways Nazis successfully spread the word of their ideas and motives. Before they were able to spread propaganda, Nazis first ended democracy in Germany and turned Germany into a dictatorship, with Hitler as the advocate. Dr. Joseph Goebbels was the main Nazi Propaganda leader. The most common forms of communication to spread the word of the Holocaust and Nazi authority was through magazines, books, meetings, rallies, music, art, newspapers, and radio- many of these we often forget about, since television is the

3 main form of communication today. The reason Nazi beliefs were common and easily distributed was because Nazis were now in charge, they removed anything from the media that threated Nazi beliefs. How did Nazis become so smart and manipulative of the Germans? How could one party possible convert all these people to such a horrible purpose? In the article I read, reasons for Nazi authority and their success was explained well. One reason Germans so blindly supported the Nazi party was because it was taught to children in schools that they must obey the party, have a love for Hitler, and support anti-Semitism. This makes sense because when children are young, they automatically believe and respect the values and idea that are being taught to them. Children are taught to obey to what is right, and they were raised that loyalty to the Nazi party was right (Nazi Propaganda and Censorship). I researched Holocaust survivor stories, and I found a website that contained biographies of several Holocaust survivors with descriptions describing each of their stories. One of the survivors names was Joseph Sher. One quote that stuck out to me was this: When you went to the toilet, you had to drop your pants and sit over a big ditch. There was no paper; you used leaves. All of the sudden from the distance a bullet would knock you down. The Ukranian and Lithuanian guards took their guns and they played with us. They tried to shoot close to us. If they got you fell in the ditch. These survivor stores are incredible and moving. Because of their ability to tell their stories to us, we are as knowledgeable about the Holocaust as we are. Storytelling is a huge communication resource that we have in regards to the Holocaust (Holocaust Survivors). In Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust, Goldhagen emphasizes Hitlers crafty and sly techniques to draw people towards him and

4 convince people that his beliefs were right. Because tasks were so fragmented, perpetuators could not understand what the real nature of their actions was; they could not comprehend that their small assignments were actually apart of the global extermination program. Goldhagen offered several explanations on Hilters slow and deliberate purpose of communicating to the Germans in a way that would drag them into his ultimate goal (Goldhagen 12).

6 Bibliography

Bachrach, Susan D. Tell Them We Remember: The Story of the Holocaust. Boston: Little, Brown, 1994. Print. Goldhagen, Daniel Jonah. Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust. New York: Knopf, 1996. Print. Holocaust Survivors. Joseph Sher. N.p.,n.d. Web 21. Nov. 2012 Nazi Propaganda and Censorship." Nazi Propaganda and Censorship. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.