Adolf Hitler: A Chilling Tale of Propaganda

If you consider yourself an amateur history buff as I do, and is fascinated by tyrants such as Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin, this book is one that should interest you.There are many pictures that one will normally not see nowadays. Pictures of happy Germans fawning over their Fuehrer. The writing is stilted and bad. But it is interesting in how different writers were so uniform in their deification of one man. Under normal circumstances this book would not rate one or two stars due to the poor writing style but the importance and significance of this book makes these a good book for one's collection. But only if the reader has an interest in such drivel.If one is to believe Joseph Goebbels, the German people loved their Fuehrer in 1936. But did the German people love their Fuehrer in 1946?

I just got this book yesterday,and stayed up til midnight scan- ning it. The subject matter is repellent, the packaging and mar- keting of Adolf Hitler, for the German nation, but at the same time, it is fascinating to read. Dr. Goebbels utilized some very "modern" ideas to market Hitler, such as using paste-in stickers for booklets, showing Hitler using the then revolutionary concept of flying all over Germany to get to multiple sites for speeches. Giving the impression he was omnipresent, and concerned about all economic and age groups-where ever he popped up.It is both horrifying to read, because you know what happens even tually, but strangely fascinating, watching how the devil's mar- keter packaged him, complete with glowing testimonies from people coming from all walks of life. In all the photo ops, der fuehrer is shown smiling benevolently, as ecstatic crowds greet him. Yes there are the requisite baby-kissing, attentively listening to children, etc.So, if you wish to study the black side of marketing and packag- ing a political figure-read this book. And remember it's lessons well when you are asked to vote for someone that is packaged a little too smartly.....there lurks no friend, but a savage mask- ing behind a sheep's clothes.Well worth the price for it's historical value, as well as the wrenching reality that one has seen such slick packing of polit- ical figures before-remember The Selling of the President?

During the 1930's it was fashionable to include small photographs of Hitler attached to cigarette packages. You would then paste the photos sequentially into an album that included glowing textual references to Hitler and the Third Reich. I own the original version of this 1936 book and this new offering is considerably less powerful than the German version. Still, this is an effective way for people of our era to understand and grasp the enormous importance of propaganda in the Third Reich. Goebbels and Hitler were masterminds of this art and the book personifies their mastery of mass persuasion. In the photographs, Hitler is presented as a "normal guy" in civilian clothes, surrounded by adoring children at his retreat on the Obersalzberg. He is also presented as the omniscienet Fuehrer, presiding over mass rallies in Nuremberg, mesmerizing the audience. The photographs, all by Hitler's official photographer, Heinrich Hoffman, are excellent representations of a nation gone collectively mad, seduced by Hitler's paralyzing charisma.One cautionary note: this book is not written by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. The text is incidental and was certainly not penned by Goebbels, who scarcely appears in this book. Despite the misleading title, this is an essential book for anyone with an interest in how Hitler effectively and brutally utilized propaganda in the 30's.

I already own this book in the original German so imagine my surprise when I ordered the book here and received a quite faithful reproduction in English with some introductory text added. The book is not really authored by Dr. Goebbels but is undoubtedly inspired by him and is a propaganda masterpiece. Back in the 1930s, tobacco cards were quite popular, so all pictures in the book are reproductions of the front sides of tobacco cards. The idea with the book was to have the reader fill it in as one might a stamp album, attaching cards acquired on the matching space in the book. This format assured that the book did not become a coffee-table book for mere show, but was actively and eagerly opened regularly as collectors posted newly acquired photos in their proper places. Stamp collecting was extremely popular in Europe and in America during the 1930s as were many associated collecting crazes. National Socialism did not innoculate one against the urge to collect something as this urge was especially strong in Germany. The Nazis were quite aware of the acquisitive nature of the people. The genius of this book uses the acquisitive instints of the people, instilling in them a desire for a complete collection and infusing them with a benign, fatherly portrait of their fuhrer! What a masterstroke! It is said that most German language copies were destroyed by their owners after the war in an attempt to appear to have been apolitical. Fortunately, some copies were saved thus allowing this fabulous reproduction to be available to the public today. This book should serve as a cautionary tale of the power of propaganda. Even those of us who live in relatively free countries and are jaded by a daily barrage of political and commercial propaganda are susceptible to a well-designed and well-orchestrated propaganda campaign.