Propaganda in Nazi Germany Essay Example

The Holocaust didn't happen overnight. There was many strategies used by the Nazi's that led up to this event. From the memoir, Shores Beyond Shores written by Irene Hasenberg Butter. Before the Holocaust began, Germany was peaceful, but everything changed when the Nazi's came into power. The Nazi's believed that the Aryan race was superior because of their features. They were tall, slim, fair-skinned, blonde-haired, and blue eyed. Anyone who didn't fit this idea was not considered a true German. This left Jews to be unliked and treated poorly because they didn't fit into this idea. Many Jews got their homes and jobs taken from them, causing them to live in ghettos and concentration camps separated from their families. As the Holocaust unfolded, the Nazis used strategies such as power authority influence and propaganda to isolate, oppress, and convince others to go along with their plan.

First, the Nazi's used power authority influence. They did this because Hitler was in a position of power, so people looked up to him as a role model. Therefore, he would be able to influence many people into having the same beliefs as him because he was well known. I know this because of the quote, "Adolf Hitler had now been the Führer, or leader, of our country for four years" (Butter 1). This shows that he was the leader of Germany, so he would be able to guide and brainwash people into thinking and believing like him. They also used power authority influence because Hitler's opinions and beliefs would be heard by all of Germany. He was able to state and express his thoughts and feelings about Jews freely, which was how he got so many people to think and believe like him. I know this because of the quote, "He liked people he said who were true Germans. He said they were better than all other people, and if they stayed pure—didn’t mix with other peoples—they would take over the world some day. According to Hitler, people who were not pure German were less perfect, and he didn’t like them" (Butter 1). This shows he thought that non-Jews were perfect and he liked them, while he thought Jews were not true Germans, and he didn't like them. This isolated many Jews like Irene Butter's family because others would be influenced by Hitler and would believe how he does, so they would now look at them and other Jews in a bad way from then on. 

Second, the Nazi's used propaganda. They used this by creating anti-Jewish posters and graffiti, which they placed all around Germany. When they did this non-Jews would see this and believe what is on the poster, while Jews would be upset because they are being portrayed as evil and not as a true German. I know this because of the quote, "There are more anti-Jewish graffiti and posters” (Butter 26). This shows that they were placing anti-Jewish posters and graffiti all around Germany, so people would see it and believe it. A specific poster killed a snake with a spear, representing the Jews being killed. I know this because of the quote, “And I saw one of the posters. It had a spear killing a snake, and the snake had our Star of David on it” (Butter 33). This shows that the posters and graffiti would portray Jews as evil, which caused non-Jews to look at Jews in a bad way just like the Nazi's. This isolated and oppressed many Jews like Irene Butter's family because their friends would now not associate themselves with them and people would treat them terribly.

In conclusion, the Holocaust didn't happen overnight, and as the Holocaust unfolded, the Nazis used strategies such as power authority influence and propaganda  to isolate, oppress, and convince others to go along with their plan. From the memoir, Shores Beyond Shores written by Irene Hasenberg Butter. First, the Nazi's used power authority influence because Hitler was in a position of power, so he was able to brainwash people into believing and thinking like him. Second, the Nazis used propaganda by creating anti-Jewish posters and graffiti that caused Jews to be looked at as evil. Both of these strategies, the Nazi's used isolated and opressed Jews, while it got others to go along with their plan. Since they used very convincing strategies, they were able to get enough people to go along with their plan and execute it how they wanted.