Posted: April 20th, 2022

Propaganda at the Movies

Propaganda at the Movies
During World War I, the British discovered the power of lms to shape
public opinion (see reading, Western Front at the Cinema in Chapter 3).
The Soviets made a similar discovery in the 1920s. Joseph Goebbels
learned from both. He began with the newsreels, short lm-based news
reports that in those days were played before feature lms. In Germany,
those newsreels showed the nation as the Nazis wanted it to be seen—rich
and powerful in comparison to its neighbors. But propaganda was not
limited to newsreels; other kinds of movies made in Nazi Germany also
expressed the government’s political and social views.
Some lms, like Triumph of the Will by director Leni Riefenstahl, gloried
Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The documentary-style lm was shot at
the 1934 Nazi Party congress and rally in Nuremberg. American Journalist
William L. Shirer was new to Germany at the time, and that rally was his
rst. He describes it this way:
Like a Roman emperor Hitler rode into this medieval town
[Nuremberg] at sundown, past solid phalanxes of wildly
cheering Germans who packed the narrow streets. . . . Tens of
thousands of Swastika ags blot out the Gothic beauties of the
place, the facades of the old houses, the gabled roofs. The
streets, hardly wider than alleys, are a sea of brown and black
uniforms. . . .
About ten o’clock tonight I got caught in a mob of ten thousand
hysterics who jammed the moat in front of Hitler’s hotel,
shouting: “We want our Führer.” I was a lile shocked at the
faces, especially those of the women, when Hitler nally
appeared on the balcony for a moment. . . . They looked up at
him as if he were a Messiah, their faces transformed into
something positively inhuman.
1
That was the scene that Leni Riefenstahl captured on lm, and her movie
became an immediate sensation. It was popular not only in Germany but
also in France, where it received an award for “artistry” at the 1937 World
Exhibition in Paris.
Other lms were not designed to glorify the Nazis but to dehumanize,
criminalize, and demonize vulnerable minorities—particularly Jews.
Goebbels even issued special instructions on how such movies were to be
described. Following these instructions, a brochure that announced the
release of the antisemitic lm Jud Süss (“Süss, the Jew”) claimed it was
“historically accurate” and summarized the plot:
Clean-shaven and dressed like a gentleman, the Jew Süss
Oppenheimer contrives to be appointed Finance Minister to
the Duke of Wuremberg . . . Matching one another in
treachery, the court Jew and Minister Süss Oppenheimer and
his secretary outbid one another in tricks and intrigue to bleed
the people of Wuremberg. . . . The Jew Süss Oppenheimer
violates the beautiful Dorothea Sturm, an outrageous act
which conrms the extent of his guilt. . . . Jew, hands o
German women!
Another antisemitic lm, Der ewige Jude (The Eternal Jew), was praised as
a documentary but contained such blatant lies that parts of it had to be
omied from the version shown in other countries. Ocials feared the
hostile tone might damage the lm’s “credibility.” Marion Pritchard, then a
graduate student in the Netherlands, recalled seeing the lm:
We went to see this movie and sat and made smart remarks all
the way through and laughed at it because it was so
outrageous. And yet when we came out of the movie, one of my
Gentile friends said to me, “I wish I hadn’t seen it. I know that it
was all ridiculous and propaganda, but for the rst time in my
life I have a sense of them and us—Jews and Gentiles. I’m going
to do everything I can to help them, but I wish I didn’t have this
feeling.”
2
Citations
1 : William Shirer, Berlin Diary: The Journal of a Foreign
Correspondent, 1934–1941 (New York: Knopf, 1940), 17–18.
2 : Carol Riner and Sondra Myers, eds., The Courage to Care (New
York: New York University Press, 1986), 28. Reproduced by permission
from New York University Press.
Connection Questions
. How did the Nazis use lm to create an image of their ideal “national
community”? How did they use lm to create an image of who would
be excluded from this community?
. What did Marion Pritchard’s friend mean when she said, “I know
that it was all ridiculous propaganda, but for the rst time in my life
I have a sense of them and us—Jews and Gentiles”? How do you
explain her statement?
. Why does lm have the power to engage our emotions? How do
television shows or lms today help to shape an ideal image of
ourselves and our society? Give examples.
. What is a documentary lm? How is a documentary lm dierent
from a propaganda lm? If possible, watch a clip from Triumph of
the Will. Based on the description in this reading, or on the clip you
viewed, do you think that Triumph of the Will should be considered a
documentary lm?
. While this reading highlights lms with a direct connection to
propaganda, the German lm industry was very active during the
Nazi years, also creating “entertainment” movies like romances and
comedies. In what ways might those also have had a role as
propaganda? What purpose can entertainment in the media serve
for a government?
Related Content
Image
Holocaust
Triumph of the Will Propaganda Film
Leni Riefenstahl’s documentary-style lm gloried Hitler and the Nazi
Party. It was shot at the 1934 Nazi Party congress and rally in Nuremberg.
See full-sized image for analysis.
Add or Edit Playlist
Video
Holocaust
Transforming Germany in the 1930s
Propaganda
Triumph of the Will(Triumph des Willens)
Triumph of the Will is a Nazi propaganda lm made by Leni Riefenstahl.
Add or Edit Playlist
hps://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter6/propaganda-movies

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Propaganda in the Cinema
During World War I, the British discovered the shape-shifting power of lms.

the general public’s opinion (see reading, Western Front at the Cinema in Chapter 3).

The Soviets made a similar discovery in the 1920s. Joseph Goebbels

learned from both. He began with the newsreels, short lm-based news

reports that in those days were played before feature lms. In Germany,

those newsreels showed the nation as the Nazis wanted it to be seen—rich

and powerful in comparison to its neighbors. But propaganda was not

limited to newsreels; other kinds of movies made in Nazi Germany also

expressed the government’s political and social views.

Some lms, like Triumph of the Will by director Leni Riefenstahl, gloried

Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The

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