English Translation
The Third Reich refers to Germany during the period from 1933 to
1945, when it was governed by the Nazi Party with Adolf Hitler as
Chancellor. Within this totalitarian dictatorship existed the Reich
Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda. It was headed by
Dr. Joseph Goebbels and was responsible for regulating not only the
press but also the arts, literature, music, theaters and the film
industry.
The role of the Ministry, upon its enactment by Hitler, was
described as follows: "The Minister for Popular Enlightenment and
Propaganda is responsible for all tasks regarding national
education, the propaganda of the state, culture and economy, the
information and foreign publicity as well as the administration for
discharging all these purposes."
Advertisements during this period generally carried an extremely
militaristic intonation. They reflected the goals of the Nazis,
which can be recognized easily by the usage of words in some
advertisements texts. For example, a word such as sharp shooting
was used on an advertisement for cameras. It was typical to use
such militaristic expressions in such form of propaganda.
It is also noted that advertisements during this period appeared
more in the form of pictures than photographic images. One possible
reason is because through pictures, the Nazis could portray what
they deemed as the "ideal Aryan". Of course, some of the
information presented by the advertisements were clearly
unrealistic and inaccurate.
