The Nazi party was nothing if not thorough. Its decades-in-the-making propaganda apparatus, designed to win votes, promote the Aryan state, exclude and eliminate Jews, and win a war, reached every facet of life in Germany, down to the tiniest Hitler youth.
The US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s special exhibit, State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda breaks apart the Nazi strategy piece-by-piece and shows how devastatingly effective it all was. A nifty touch screen of a map of Berlin takes you to state broadcasters, newspaper publishers and theatre venues, all spewing out the party line in tandem. Posters promise, “You too belong to the Fuhrer;” community chalkboards announce Nazi youth meetings; and–this really got me–children’s board games reward players for deporting Jews. No medium went unexplored.
Not exactly a cheery exhibit for the holiday season, but an important one given how many propaganda ministries still practice the trade. At the close of the show, there’s a too-brief section on the legacy of Nazi propaganda, with a mention of state radio’s role in the Rwandan genocide.
One wonders what the Internet age will bring.
State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda runs through December 2011.
Image: Kunstbibliothek Berlin/BPK, Berlin/Art Resource, New York
