Summing up our European Journey

When Jordyn and I began our preparatory course all the way back in the fall, we chose the topic of Nazi propaganda to focus our research on. In that respect, we also chose to focus our overarching questions for this blog on the topic of propaganda. Our questions were as follows:

1. What makes a person vulnerable to propaganda?

2. How can multiple propaganda mediums work together to convey a message?

3. How effective were Nazi propaganda messages in reaching their intended audiences?

In addressing these questions, we tried to look at each activity we did on the trip from varying perspectives. In doing so, our questions were all answered one way or another in our previous posts. 

First of all, it became apparent to me that it is very easy to be vulnerable to propaganda. As I described in my last post, people constantly try to seek evidence in their lives. Therefore when they see films such as The Triumph of the Will or The Eternal Jew, they will want to believe them. If the public is uncertain or ignorant about a topic, they look for evidence like these films to gain a better understanding. In addition, censorship makes people very vulnerable to propaganda. Essentially, censoring the types of things that people can view is propaganda in itself because it causes the aforementioned ignorance and uncertainty. Media censorship tends to cut people off from knowing the truth and instead fills in the gaps with altered versions of the truth. Also, when media is limited, people only have few places they can go to get accurate information. This makes it easier for people to fall victim to propaganda simply because they do not know as much. Through our experiences with the multiple broadcasting centers such as BBC, Sky, and Deutsche Welle, we learned that having multiple sources of information is important. The more informed people are, the less vulnerable they are.

This idea leads into our second question, "How can multiple propaganda mediums work together to convey a message?" Multiple propaganda mediums are important to offer a variety of different platforms for people to view them. Having messages portrayed through posters, books, films, and more allow them to reach larger audiences. We saw on our Berlin walking tour how posters and books really emphasized Nazi ideals of purity. Also, we saw in the German Documentation Museum how films and books could have the same message but be displayed in entirely different ways. Yet, all of these mediums work together because they can all offer something different. For example, books and posters are tangible and rely on words and still pictures. Meanwhile TV and film utilize audio and moving pictures. In all, they all work differently and work well in combination with one another to portray messages.

Lastly, to address our final question, I would say that Nazi propaganda messages were definitely very effective in reaching their intended audiences. Hundreds of people would go to see each movie premier as they were released. Also, books such as Mein Kampf circulated worldwide. The Nazi ideals that needed to be portrayed were done so efficiently and effectively. The messages proceeded to brainwash children and adults alike with their anti-Semitic and Hitler-praising ideals.


So, as you can see, all of our questions were addressed during this course. The strong communication focus of the class related well to our theme of propaganda. In addition, the strong communication focus always kept me very engaged in the material. Just like Jordyn, I'm not huge into history either. I've often found it to be a dull subject to learn in the classroom. But being able to see history where it happened and as it relates to communication kept me interested throughout the course. I loved getting to visit new places while concurrently learning new information. I think one of my favorite parts of this trip was just maneuvering the cities on our own. I felt extremely free having an entire city to just roam around in. Since I had never previously been to Germany or the Czech Republic, entering cities in which I didn't know the primary language was strange to me. It made me very hesitant to travel around in them. For example, Berlin was our first stop on the trip that didn't speak English as the primary language. Thus, I was nervous to use the underground system because of all of the German stop names and signs. As the trip went on, I gained confidence in my abilities. However, if I had the chance, I would love to try my hand at Berlin undergrounds again. I feel that if we I used them more often, I could have discovered an entirely new outlook on Berlin.

In going along with this, I would also love to explore the German language more. Since our world is becoming increasingly connected in language, I spoke English everywhere on the trip. However, I would love to know German so as to experience the real German culture more. Regardless though, I am glad I got to speak English on this trip because it made communicating with everyone from bus drivers to waitresses easier. But even if I didn't get to speak or understand the language at all, I know I still would have had an amazing time. The places we went and people we were with were incredible. I wouldn't have traded this experience for the world.

-Chelsea Weber

Recap

Rewinding all the way back to fall semester Chelsea and I had three questions that we wanted to get answers to while abroad. The three questions were:

1. What makes a person vulnerable to propaganda?

2. How can multiple propaganda mediums work together to convey a message?

3. How effective were Nazi propaganda messages in reaching their intended audiences?

Luckily all three of our questions were answered.


We learned that everyone is vulnerable to propaganda, which was especially the case with respect to Nazi propaganda. Hitler and Joseph Goebbels made sure that whatever technique they were using to spread awareness about Hitler and the Nazi party, it was targeted to one individual or another whether it be about a concentration camp or supporting the Nazi party. With that being said Nazi propaganda was very effective because it was designed to make a lasting effect on their audience. For example, concentration camps used fit, healthy people and not injured, ill people in their propaganda in order to show the public that a concentration camp was a good place to be and that everyone should want to be at a concentration camp. In addition, pictures taken and distributed were by the Nazi's and used as part of their propaganda campaign. There was no outside press given an opportunity to provide an opinion/story on the matter therefore, the Nazi's were able to control what the public saw and perceived. Lastly, multiple propaganda mediums worked together to convey a message through many different approaches. Just to hone in on one thing, speeches, posters and pictures all worked together. First off speeches were made to the public to grab their attention about the Nazi party and to persuade them to follow the Nazi's. Second posters were released about the things the Nazi's did during their time in power. Lastly, pictures were used not only on posters but also just for the public to see how "great" of a job the Nazi's were doing in Europe, in concentration camps and in surrounding areas. Although these propaganda mediums sound minor, together the three techniques created a powerful message to the public. This fueled the ability for the Nazi party to gain significant power in Europe. People were engulfed and mesmerized by all the propaganda as  if they could never escape it.


Fast-forwarding to my trip back to the states, I had some time to reflect on such a long flight back. This trip was amazing and it not only taught me so many new things but also opened me up to new experiences. The top experiences that filter to the top are enjoying a typical German meal, trying to navigate a country you are unfamiliar with (without technology) and getting so caught up in the history and the culture of three amazing countries. If there were one area that I could pick out from this course that I would like to explore further it would be Dachau. Dachau made me want to visit Auschwitz and now it is on my list of things to do within the next ten years. I was able to see one type of concentration camp, a labor camp, and where it all began. However, I would like to see another type of concentration camp, one that was designed strictly as a death camp. I simply want to visit Auschwitz because I believe that it would be two completely different experiences. One was a death camp and one was a labor camp and less people died at Dachau then at Auschwitz. In no means am I saying that this makes Dachau any better than Auschwitz however, I feel as if there was a different atmosphere, different emotions and different scenery at Auschwitz then there would be at Dachau. To fully appreciate the history and understand the atrocities of that time, I believe that it would be important to not only see the history myself, but also see the broad spectrum of concentration camps and see multiple stages of this part of history. In addition it would provide a further understanding of how the Nazi party was able to run these camps and through media were able to hide them from the realities of what they were.

All in all, I very much enjoyed this study abroad program. I typically do not like history classes but being able to get out there and see where history actually took place really changed my attitude about history. I was able to absorb so much more on this study abroad program then I could ever achieve in a classroom. Even more powerful was the ability to connect my learning’s in my field of study, communications, with how media is used in the real world. Specifically how media can be used to deliver messages, persuade people, and shapes ones perspective whether for good or catastrophic outcomes. I am so thankful for having the opportunity to participate on this program.

We will miss Europe! 

-Jordyn Jaffe

The Power of Films

Sunday marked the last class day of our journey. It began with a luxurious late wake up call of 9 AM and a refreshingly sunny walk to the German Film Museum. Upon arrival at the museum, I was extremely well rested and ready to explore. While I'm not a cinema major, I do have a strong appreciation for the cinematic arts. Movies are one of the strongest communication tools we have.

Pictures and motion pictures give us visual evidence that many other mediums of communication cannot. Sure, everything can be edited, but being able to see something makes it more believable than just reading or hearing about it. That's why films are used so often in newscasts. Yet, conversely, that's also why movies are used as propaganda. Being able to see something helps us believe in it. However, the downside is that these films have the ability to be fabricated just like anything else.

In the museum, I learned that one of the earliest forms of editing included taking individual frames out of reel. Physically cutting and stitching film together would create an edit. This is amazing to think of because of where we are today in terms of video editing. As a communications student, I know about complex editing softwares such as Avid and Final Cut. With a simple click, you can do anything from add music to completely rearrange clips.

One of my favorite exhibits in this museum was about how audio editing can affect a film. There was an interactive screen that had a clip from the movie The Matrix with three sound controls. There was one for dialogue, one for background music, and one for sound effects. You could turn these controls up or down, for example, to see how having louder dialogue and quiet background music could change the feel of a scene. Also, there was another screen that allowed you to change the music along with the clip. One of my peers changed the background music of an intense sports scene to a lullaby. It was amazing how even the slightest change in audio would affect the mood of the clip.

This just goes to show that editing has great power. As we discussed in our fall presentation, the Nazis were very deliberate in their production of films for propaganda purposes. Films released to the public tended were edited to concentrate on themes such as the Jews, the greatness of Hitler, the Nazi way of life, and how badly the Germans were treated. In my previous post about the German Documentation Museum, I analyzed the famous film, The Triumph of the Will, and how it was edited to portray such themes. Some other notable films of the time regarding these themes include The Eternal Jew and Hitlerjunge Quex.

The Eternal Jew was a film made in 1940 by the Ministry of Propaganda in Germany and directed by Fritz Hippler. It sought to  portray Jews in the way the Nazis wanted people to think of them. This meant that each scene was shot and edited to paint a negative depiction of the Jewish people. Most notably, the film showed scenes of Jews living in poor conditions and poverty as if this was a normal state for them. It also utilized narration to compare the Jews to rats. Throughout the film, the narrator would say that Jews spread diseases just as rats do. Putting this audio along with scenes of squalor reinforced the idea that Jews are dirty and undesirable to the German population.

Furthermore, Hitlerjunge Quex was another film that served as propaganda for Germany. It was made in 1933 and was directed by Hans Steinhoff. Similarly to how The Eternal Jew painted Jews in a negative light, Hitlerjunge Quex depicted the socialists/communists negatively. The film showed the story of Heini, a boy that wanted to join the Hitler Youth. Heini was originally rejected by the Youth but later is allowed to distribute leaflets in Berlin for the Nazis. As he is doing so, he is attacked by communists and becomes seriously injured. With his dying breath, he speaks the words of a Nazi marching song. This story is clearly Nazi propaganda and its message is enhanced by the way it was filmed and edited. Cinema specialists Curtade and Cadars once said, "with refined use of light and shadow, integration of the urban landscape, expressive use of the face in close-ups, adroit editing, stirring music, it must be said that Hitlerjunge Quex is technically and aesthetically an outstanding film." With all of these film aspects carefully controlled, the Nazi party was more effective in using this movie as propaganda.

As one can see, film is a vital communication medium. After the aforementioned films were released to the public, they achieved what they sought out to do; people fell victim to the propaganda-driven messages within them. The careful shooting and editing of these films allowed this subtle brainwashing to happen. This goes to show that well-placed shots and audio clips are important to make a film powerful.

Citation:

Curtade, F/ Cadars, P: Geschichte des Films im Dritten Reich. München, Wein 1975.

-Chelsea Weber

My Shoes Against Their Shoes

It took me about a week to be able to write this post because I wasn't too sure how I was going to write it, and I am still not too sure how. Figuring out how I felt walking on to the ground of Dachau was challenging, and it is still hard to put it into words. However, what I do know is that this is an experience unlike any other experience. Everyone will handle his or her experience at a concentration camp differently. Stepping on the gravel walkway that the prisoners stepped on, roaming the buildings that the prisoners worked in and walking through the gate that many prisoners walked through yet, very few had the chance to walk out of is an indescribable feeling that can cause a sea of emotions for many people. 

I am Jewish. I have never been to a concentration camp before, but I have learned about and talked about concentration camps and the Holocaust in history classes, religion classes and with my family members before. However, other than museums I have never been to Germany to see where everything started. It was hard to walk on the grounds of where a lot of my ancestors died on and it was even harder to think that there were even more people who were killed on these grounds for example, Protestants, homosexuals and Jehovah's witnesses. 

However, once you start realizing where you are and what happened on the ground you are standing on, you start realizing that Dachau is one of the many concentration camps established during WWII. That is when it hits you, that there was not just one place where many innocent people were killed, there were many. They were helpless and most of them lost hope.

It begins to get even tougher when you start thinking how many prisoners walked through a concentration camp gate and how many were never able to walk out through those same gates. But you were. You came to see Dachau. You walked through that gate and you had the freedom to walk out of that same gate. That feeling in itself is both terrifying and reassuring. It is terrifying because something so horrible like this happened in history, yet it is reassuring because you know the world would never let anything like this happen again. 

I think an experience like this is not something I will ever, nor anyone will ever, be able to put into words. Yes, you can say it was powerful, sad, emotional and heartbreaking but, it was more than that. However, I do believe that it is something that everyone should take the time to do. 

-Jordyn Jaffe 

Nazi Propaganda

In the fall, it was clear to us that the Nazi's had a very bizarre way of projecting their propaganda to the public. However, the extent to how powerful and thought out their propaganda was, we have learned, is quite scary. We found out that everyone was vulnerable to Nazi propaganda. The Nazi's made all their propaganda something that was targeted to one individual or another, whether framing ones opinion about a concentration camp or becoming supporters of the Nazi party. Throughout the past week we visited the Nuremberg rally grounds. In this location we have seen many different styles of propaganda, that we are not use to today, within the Nazi party.

Nuremberg was the heart of where you see most of Nazi propaganda. Nuremberg was known as the Nazi city because of all the propaganda and rallies that took place there. It was four square miles that lined up with the sun so that the sun would always shine on Hitler-- projecting a positive image of Hitler himself. Something else we learned was that the Nazi's liked to do everything big. For example, big structures of buildings just for the big screen-- so it would catch the attention of their audience. One example of this is the WWI memorial in Nuremberg, also known as the Luitpold Arena. This building served as a location for mass parades and assembles, it was able to assemble 150,000 people before Hitler in the Arena. This building was added onto to create a large impact on the public. The Nazi party made a large granite pathway to make the building stand out. This created a large image for not only the people in attendance before him but also for television-- which made the public view Hitler as a ruling power. At the other end of the arena was a grandstand with a speaker's platform and three tall swastika banners. The tall banners were used on many of their buildings. Not only did they stand out because of their size but they stood out because they were everywhere. This propaganda technique created a lasting image of the Nazi party in the publics mind. 

In addition, the Congress Hall, which was never finished (because the Nazi's lost the war) and is the largest remaining monumental National Soviet building in Germany, has a self-supporting roof and was to stretch over the interior court where 50,000 people were meant to assemble. This building is very unique because the entrance of to the Congress Hall faced the sun-- which meant that whenever Hitler would walk out the entrance the sun would always shine on him. This propaganda technique was very influential for people watching him on television because people would see how much he stuck out on the screen due to the spot light from the sun.

The thing we realized was that the Nazi's had a different way of doing things compared to what we are used to today. Their buildings and the location of their buildings were not in any way ideal, it was essentially all just to look good for the cameras-- in order to affect a larger audience. People are going to be more attracted to something big, bold and lit up versus something small and dull. This is something the Nazi's knew and took advantage of. They knew what attracted people and were able to capture their audience through their bizarre propaganda skills. Their propaganda is what made them gain the power they did.

It is scary to think that persuasion through propaganda lead to such a mark in history and how easy it is to fall for the propaganda we see around us.

-Jordyn Jaffe

The Intricacies of Nazi Propaganda

Propaganda is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as, "Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view." In my opinion, this is a definition that makes propaganda seem more simplistic than it is. After seeing everything within the German Documentation Museum, I know for a fact that there are many ways propaganda can be transmitted.

Whether it be through print, film, architecture, or audio, messages supporting the Nazi party got through to the public. In the fall, Jordyn and I got a brief introduction to this concept through our research. In particular, we learned about how Mein Kampf, Hitler's political book, was one of the most influential propaganda pieces released in print for the National Socialists.  

Therefore, it is not a surprise that Mein Kampf was one of the first exhibits when you walk into the museum. Audio guide in hand, I went straight for the glass box the book was displayed in.

 I then listened to the friendly English-speaking man tell me about the book. He explained how Mein Kampf expresses Hitler's racist ideologies and essentially acted as a political manifesto for the National Socialist party. Because it was available in 16 languages, the book truly circulated not only within Germany but also abroad. Also, what really surprised me was that the book was presented to newly weds in Germany as a wedding gift. This small fact is demonstrative of how the Nazis tried to work their propaganda into every way of life they possibly could. They wanted to get their views into the minds of the public any way they could.

As Jordyn explained previously, even the architecture of Nuremberg was made with propaganda in mind. Having buildings line up with the sun meant that Hitler was always in the light during political events. This added to the heroic persona Hitler wanted to convey. When translated to the medium of television and film, this meant that Hitler was once again the heroic focal point.

After weaving in and out through the expansive documentation musuem, I found myself within an exhibit that showed this concept in action. There was a section of the musuem dedicated to Leni Reifenstahl's film, Triumph of the Will.

In the fall, we learned that this film was arguably the most successful Nazi propaganda film released. It included  scenes of Nazi demonstrations and rallies. The way that Reifenstahl made the film was to show unity and strength. It was 113 minutes of heroic background music and carefully shot scenes. From the audio guide, I learned that Reifenstahl arranged the events and focused specifically on Hitler. She did so in a manner that was more to trigger public enthusiasm than to inform. Thus, she spent extra time getting 16 of the best camera men in the area to help her portray Hitler in the positive light the National Socialists wanted. She did everything from move Hitler on a circular track to getting low camera angles to make him appear large and powerful.

I at first did not realize these small details about the film but, once I did, they were all I could see. I sat in front of a wall in the Triumph of the Will exhibit watching the film play for about 10 minutes. The camera angles, music, and editing all work together to exemplify what a film used for Nazi propaganda purposes was. 

When I walked away from the exhibit, I felt like I had a firm grasp of what propaganda meant to the Nazis. Propaganda distribution was not the simplistic definition described at the beginning of this post. It was an intricate process of conveying calculated messages to the public. All of the different mediums the Nazis used worked together to demonstrate the idea of Nazi control.

Through print, film, and more, messages can get into the minds of the public. What this musuem made me realize was how subtle these persuasive messages can be. I always thought it was so apparent that certain Nazi propaganda pieces were misleading. Yet, I now understand that the messages can be so subtle you barely recognize them.

As I've been walking through these European cities, I've even thought about how this idea applies to advertisements. How many street ads were the reason for my sudden hunger for schnitzel or for my sudden desire to buy a new scarf? There really is no telling for certain. However, I do know that the more I am exposed to these ads, the more I internally believe I need those things. And I think that this subconscious messaging is exactly what the Nazis had in mind with their constant propaganda. Not only was it well planned but it was also extremely effective.

-Chelsea Weber

Connectivity through History

From Gutenberg to Web-- this is the statement that this course revolves around. Not only is it the official name of the class, it is also the phrase that unifies us as a group. In the fall, all of our tweets ended with the common hashtag, #gut2web. This hashtag served the purpose to bring all of our tweets into one place and to communicate that we were tweeting for a common purpose. And while I thought this little hashtag would only be relevant in the context of our fall course, I was proven wrong during this winter term.

Throughout our trip so far, this hashtag has been used often on our personal social media accounts such as Instagram and Facebook. And the more I see it, the more I consider the meaning of this course. The creation of the Internet brought about about so many ways we can be interconnected as people. It lets us share information quickly and vastly. It is what lets us send our abroad photos back home and our text updates with a click of a mouse. The amount of times I have heard talk of wifi during this course truly shows the importance of the Internet in this day in age. Everyone is always on the constant search for Internet access so they can share what they need to share with their networks. But yet, we don't often think about everything that got society to this point. Therefore, this week truly made me consider the concept of this course more deeply.

Before the Internet, there were books. The written word was the communication avenue of choice. We had an impromptu teaching of how these books came about when some of us stumbled into an old time print shop accidentally in Wittenberg. We learned all about how printing presses work and about the man behind the machine himself, Johannes Gutenberg.

After this brief introduction in Wittenberg, we further delved into the topic of printing  the next day at the German Technological Museum. At the museum, we looked at versions of old printing presses and typewriters.

             

      

While these seemed like they were just machines to make words appear on paper, they served the much greater purpose of creating a reusable and mass produced form of communication. The written word brought society far, but the printed word brought it farther. And even further than that, the computer sent us into another dimension.

A couple rooms away from the printing press exhibit, there was the computer exhibit of the German Technological Musuem. This room was full of history on the invention of arguably one of the most useful inventions of our time, the computer. 

Below is a picture and description of the first computer in Germany, the Z11:

         

This computer was the start of the many computers around today. Its invention brought about the iPhones, tablets, and laptops we use everyday. The things that bring us back together no matter if we are hundreds of miles away from home or just a hashtag away.

-Chelsea Weber