Radical antisemitism and the elimination of all Jewry was a key pillar in the German national socialist ideology. From segregation to eventual euthanasia, the Nazi regime was hell-bent on creating a racially homogenous society through racial hygiene. However, getting the German people to be on board with forced emigration and mass extermination would prove to be difficult. With this tall task at hand, the Reich turned to the use of propaganda, a cornerstone of their rise and hold of power. Through the use of flyers, speeches, radio, etc., the Nazis were able to instill feelings of hate and contempt towards Jewish people. Although various forms of propaganda were key to this development, cinematography proved to be one of the most vital instruments …show more content…
This is especially prevalent in Jud Suess, directed by Veit Harlan. Throughout the movie, the Jewish people are increasingly villainized and portrayed as parasites to the Duchy of Wuerttemburg and its people. This depiction of the Jewish people causing great despair to the German people invigorated the viewer’s resentment of the Jews. The portrayal of the villain Jewish people and victimized Germans, coupled with the use of different audio and visual elements instilled the idea that the viewers, the German nation, was being leached on by the Jewish enemy. This, in turn, caused the German people to more strongly identify with the aforementioned elimination of all …show more content…
Starting with the coronation of the new duke of Wuerttemburg, Karl Alexander, who needs a gift for the queen. When one of his servants goes to Suess’ shop, he is given an exorbitantly low price for a pearl necklace. This simple transaction leads to an avalanche of taking wealth and power from the dukedom. Suess becomes the financial advisor to the duke and makes numerous decisions for the embetterment of his wealth and power, not for the Germans. Suess has the roads taxed, the duke’s council dissolved, and a blacksmith hanged for attacking him. Even further, Suess rapes councilman Sturm’s daughter, who commits suicide as a result, and has her husband, Faber, tortured. This theme occurs throughout the film where Suess annexes evermore power from the duke to foster power and wealth for him and the Jewish people, all at the expense of the German people. At the climax of the film, where the protagonists typically exercise victory, Suess is arrested and hanged at the joy and liberation of the crowds of Stuttgart. The plot of the film showcases the intertwining of the Jewish people’s well-being and the German people’s suffering. This belief that the Jewish people benefit from the German’s suffering is key to the National Socialist’s ideology. In the minister of propaganda’s “Why are we Enemies of the Jews?”, Joseph Goebbels notes that the Jew doesn’t care to
Triumph of the Will and Jud Suess as Nazi Propaganda It has been readily admitted that propaganda has little to do with the truth. Why then is it so convincing? Why does the demagogic appeal of propaganda triumph over reason and truth? The answer is that the power of our emotions and our prejudices clouds our reasoning; and even more, propaganda uses our emotions against us by manipulating them. We are shown what the propagandist wants us to see; we feel what the propagandist wants us to
the nation had been suffering deeply. An economic depression, large-scale unemployment, and the shame of losing World War I had put Germany in a dark place. The Nazi’s were incredibly aware of this, and their propaganda at the time reflected a need to reunite the German people. Propaganda appealed to national pride, and putting ones country before themselves. Of course, a strong united people needed a leader that was just as strong, and the “myth of Hitler” would create that leader. Slogans like