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“Propaganda of the NSDAP, its formations and affiliated associations is the responsibility of the Reichspropagandaleiter.

“He determines all manifestations of the Movement, including its formations and affiliated associations, with regard to propaganda.

“He issues the directives for the Party, including its formations and affiliated associations, for the realization of the cultural wishes of the Fuehrer.” (2319-PS)

These functions were organized vertically through a close network of Gauleiters, Kreisleiters, and Ortsgruppenleiters which reached even the smallest communities. In addition, synchronization of propaganda within the Movement was guaranteed through the Reichsring fuer National-Sozialistische Propaganda und Volksaufklaerung, (National Socialist Organization for Propaganda and People’s Enlightenment), an office within the Reichspropagandaleitung. The Reichsring constituted the center of control responsible for the complete coordination of Party and Movement in the field of propaganda.

“The Reichsring * * * had the task to ensure the uniform direction of propaganda of all formations and affiliated associations through the Party.” (2319-PS)

(b) To imbue the Nazi Movement and the people with Nazi ideology.

“(The Reichspropagandaleiter) upon his initiative, is concerned with the permeation of German people with the National Socialist ideology.

“He enlightens the people about the achievements of Party and State.

“He controls the entire German wireless system with regard to its internal organizational, cultural and economic possibilities;

“Press, radio and film are in the service of propaganda.” (2319-PS)

(c) To coordinate Party propaganda with that of the Reich Government.

“The liaison officer has the task of centralizing all contacts with the Reich Ministries, public authorities, and corporations and to establish all such contacts with same * * *”. (2319-PS)

(d) To investigate the effectiveness of Nazi propaganda. This function was assigned to the lower grades of the Party leadership, and to regional and local officials, who assembled and analyzed information on public reaction to the current content of propaganda.

(e) Other activities of the Reichspropagandaleitung were discharged by numerous functional departments which included, inter alia, “Hauptstellen” (Main Bureaus) or offices for the following:

1.	Press—preparation of all propaganda material issued by Reichspropagandaleitung for dissemination to newspapers.
2.	Exhibits and fairs—supervision of propaganda aspects of exhibits and fairs in which the Party participated.
3.	Mass or “Aktive” propaganda—organization of propaganda campaigns within the movement; training and supplying speakers with propaganda materials.
4.	Films—Popularization of Nazi-inspired films; photographing official rallies.
5.	Radio—radio propaganda.
6.	Culture—making all forms of art conform to Nazi standards.

Other Bureaus included Architecture, Style and Design, Works of Art, Formulation of Programs, and Training of Speakers. (2319-PS)

The Reichspropagandaleitung was regionally organized into Gau-, Kreis-, and Ortsgruppenpropagandaaemter (Gau, district, and local propaganda offices). The Gaupropagandaleiter (leader of the Gau propaganda office) was at the same time the Gau representative of the Chamber of Culture (Landeskulturwalter) and in most cases also represented the regional office of the Propaganda Ministry, so that on the lower levels, Party and State propaganda were completely unified. (2315-PS)

(2) The office of Reichspressechef (Reich Press Chief).

The office of Reich Press Chief of the NSDAP was created in 1934 by decree of the Fuehrer (2319-PS). The functions of this office were exclusive:

“The Reich Press Office of the NSDAP is the central office for the entire political publishing activity of the Party. It represents the press interests of the Reich leadership of the NSDAP vis a vis both the German and the foreign press. It alone has the authority to issue directives to the press of Reich policies concerning the treatment of Party affairs. It alone has the authority to issue press directives to all offices of Reich leadership. It is responsible for the political and editorial preparations, execution and utilization of all important Party activities in the Reich. It supplies the domestic and foreign press with information, news and commentaries about the Party. It keeps a record of press reaction to the Party work in publications of the domestic and foreign press.” (2319-PS)

The Reich Press Chief exercised control over all press offices, including the chief editors of the National Socialist newspapers, as well as the Gau press wardens of the Party. He also served as liaison officer between the Party press and the “Independent” press, and between Party and Government. (2319-PS)

The executive functions of the Reich Press Chief were carried out by two offices:

(a) The Pressepolitisches Amt (Press Political Office).

(b) The Pressepersonalamt (Press Personnel Office), which was in charge of training journalists and keeping files on German and foreign journalists.

The vertical organization of press controls, corresponding to that of the Reichspropagandaleitung, included Gau-, Kreis- and Ortsgruppen departments. Each was headed by an Amtsleiter, or press warden, who was responsible for the entire Party press within his sphere of jurisdiction. He supervised the editorial policy of the Party press, issued information bulletins about the activities of the Movement, and served as liaison officer between the Party and non-Party press. He also transmitted local information to headquarters for distribution and made recommendations concerning the appointments of local party editors. The Gau- and Kreis- press wardens, at the same time, served as regional and local representatives of the Home Press Division of the Propaganda Ministry and of the Reich Press Chamber. (2319-PS; 2315-PS)

(3) The Reichsleiter fuer die Presse (Reich Press Leader).

The Reich Press Leader, Max Amann, was charged with supervising all matters concerning the German publishing business. The Organisationsbuch der NSDAP (1937) described his function as follows:

“He is charged with the creation of a press for the German people, which is responsible and answerable to him, and which reflects the life and experiences of the German people’s community. In addition, the Reichsleiter for Press has the function of issuing regulations necessary to carry out the demands concerning publication policies established in Article 23 of the Party Program and to supervise their execution.” (2319-PS)

Article 23 of the Party Platform referred to above, provided, inter alia, that (a) all editors and newspaper personnel must be “members of the nation”; (b) non-Germans are prohibited from financial participation in, or influence of, newspapers; (c) the publication of papers “which do not conduce to the national welfare” is prohibited; (d) tendencies in art or literature “of a kind likely to disintegrate our life as a nation” will be prosecuted; and (e) “institutions which militate against the requirements mentioned above” will be suppressed. (1708-PS)

Thus the Reich Press Leader was not only empowered to control all publishing houses of the Party, but was assigned the task of bringing the entire German press into line with National Socialist ideology. To this end he was given wide and specific powers.

His sphere of jurisdiction included specifically:

(a) The administration, publishing, and financing of the Party press;

(b) The establishment of newspapers by Party members or affiliated associations;

(c) The incorporation of newspapers into the Party press combine;

(d) The appointment of publishers and of their deputies;

(e) The termination or alteration of contracts with newspapers;

(f) The appointment of Commissars to supervise publishing houses. (2319-PS)

In addition to controlling the administration and finance of the National Socialist publishing houses in the Gau, the Press Leader headed the Zentralverlag, which was the central publishing house and holding company of the entire Party publishing machine and all its official organs, such as Der Voelkischer Beobachter, Der Angriff, Der SA Mann, Das Schwarze Korps, Die HJ, etc. (3016-PS)

It was one of the Reich Press Leader’s duties to turn all publishing by Party officials into a lucrative undertaking, and to set up an absolute monopoly in the publication of all political literature. To effectuate that objective, a decree was passed which made it mandatory for all “manuscripts which have National Socialist problems and subject matter as themes” to be offered first to Eher Verlag publication. (2383-PS)

The Reichsleiter fuer die Press, who was also president of the Reich Press Chamber, exercised economic controls over the entire German press. He made use of his position to expand the Party publishing machine at the expense of non-party newspapers. As president of the Reich Press Chamber, he was authorized to issue directives with the force of law. In that capacity he issued certain regulations which had the effect of prohibiting the ownership of newspapers by corporations of any kind, except the NSDAP or such groups as were approved by the Party. (2315-PS)

These decrees enabled Amann to close down one or more papers in a particular locality “to safeguard reasonable standards of competition.” They thus provided, along with racial and other discriminatory legislation, the “legal” basis for the pressure which was brought to bear on such publishing firms as Ullstein and other opposition publications, in order to force them to sell out to the Party. These sales were in no sense voluntary; the alternative in each case was total suppression. The authorizing decree provided:

“The President of the Reich Chamber of the Press will therefore endeavor at first in every individual case to effect agreements which will relieve him of the necessity of issuing orders for the closing of establishments.” (2315-PS)

Max Amann has admitted in an affidavit that he discharged his duties as Reich Press Leader consistently with the statement of his functions contained in the Party Organization Book and with Article 23 of the Party Program. He has further stated that racial and other discriminatory legislation made it expedient for firms “owned or controlled by Jewish interests, or by political or religious interests hostile to the NSDAP * * * to sell their newspapers or assets to the Eher concern”; and that there was “no free market for the sale of such properties and the Franz Eher Verlag was generally the only bidder.” His affidavit concludes as follows:

“It is a true statement to say that the basic purpose of the Nazi press program was to eliminate all press in opposition to the Party.” (3016-PS)

(4) Parteiamliche Prufungskommission zum Schutz des NS-Christums (Office of Party Examining Commission for the Protection of National Socialist Publications) (PPK).

The PPK was charged with the censorship and supervision of all literature with cultural or political implications. According to the Party Manual:

“The functional scope of the official Party Examining Commission is not confined to any one group of publications but includes the entire publishing field. Thus the work of the Official Party Examining Commission is sub-divided into departments for books, magazines and newspapers. Out of these main departments a group of important special fields have emerged as more or less independent fields. They are specifically the editing of speeches, scientific books, textbooks, scientific periodicals and the calendar as a special type of magazine.” (2319-PS)

The Examining Commission’s function was to protect National Socialist literature from attempts to destroy its propagandistic effect or to pervert its political and social content. The Party Manual stated:

“It is the function of the Examining Commission to protect the National Socialist literature from abuse, corruption, and attempts at dissolution. Thus it forestalls the infiltration of elements within the National Socialist literature which are irreconcilable with it.” (2319-PS)

In addition, the PPK concerned itself with the actual suppression of literature incompatible with Party tenets, and with the approval of those works which it deemed beneficial to the extension of the National Socialist ideology. The Party Manual specified as follows:

“Particularly it is the function of the official Party Examining Commission to determine whether or not a work can be considered National Socialist literature.” (2319-PS)

This office worked in close collaboration with the Delegate of the Fuehrer for the Total Supervision of the Intellectual and Ideological Training and Education of the People (Rosenberg). (2319-PS; 2383-PS)

(5) The Beauftragte des Fuehrers fuer die Ueberwachung der gesamten geistigen und weltansschaulichen Schulung und Erziehung der NSDAP (Delegate of the Fuehrer for the Total Supervision of the Intellectual and Ideological Training and Education of the Party) (BdF).

The delegate of the Fuehrer was Reichsleiter Alfred Rosenberg. The Office of the BdF was placed in charge of the Party’s intellectual and ideological training and education. Its declared objective was the uniform ideological orientation of the Party, Party formations, and affiliated associations. Its main functions, in furtherance of this objective, were the preparation of suitable training materials and the issuance of directives thereon; the preparation, editing, and establishment of curricula; the training of qualified teaching staffs; the counseling of Party agencies, formations, and affiliates on content and methods of indoctrination; and the elimination of such reading and teaching materials as were deemed inappropriate from a National Socialist point of view. To perform these tasks, Rosenberg had the assistance of a large organization with numerous functional divisions (2319-PS). The BdF took a major part in the work of Party organizations, affiliated associations, and schools and training institutes which were instrumental in the indoctrination of the German people and youth. (2383-PS)

B. The Reich government organization.

The state organ of control was the Reichsministerium fuer Volksaufklaerung und Propaganda (Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda). The Minister was Josef Goebbels. The Ministry was founded by decree dated 13 March 1933, which defined its duties as the “enlightenment of, and propaganda among, the people on the subject of the policy of the Reich government and on the national reconstruction of the homeland.” (2029-PS). By decree dated 30 June 1933 the functions of the Minister were extended to include “jurisdiction over the whole field of spiritual indoctrination of the nation, of propagandizing the State, of cultural and economic propaganda, of enlightenment of the public at home and abroad; furthermore he is in charge of all institutions serving these purposes.” (2030-PS). In the words of Mueller, an authority on the Propaganda Ministry, these decrees formed the basis for the creation of a central agency for propaganda “the like of which heretofore existed nowhere in the world.” (2434-PS). The influence which this agency exerted on the everyday life and activities of the German citizen was illustrated by the multitude of civic and cultural affairs, including public entertainment, which fell under the sweep of its direction and control. (2434-PS)

A few of the more important departments of the Propaganda Ministry, together with a brief description of their respective functions, follows:

(1) Personnel. This department issued directives for unified personnel policy, and exercised general supervision over the personnel of public art instituted within the entire Reich.

(2) Law. “The nuclear task of the law department is the publication and execution of national socialist cultural laws. The professions and institutions of literature and art had to be transformed from carriers of a liberal individualistic intellectual movement to the carriers of the tasks of public propaganda and leadership. To reach this goal required the enactment of governmental decrees for creating new organizations or the making of new laws.”

(3) Propaganda. This department coordinated propaganda policies and issued over-all directives to the various functional departments (press, radio, etc.) which then carried out the directives. A special function was “enlightenment of the people as to Jewish question” and as to “racial policies.”

(4) Foreign. This department was the Ministry’s listening post for political and economic developments abroad “to counteract the worldwide publicity activities of the enemy against our philosophy and our political objectives by exposing and rectifying the lies of the press” and to exploit the information in German propaganda. It also cooperated closely with the Auslandsorganization der NSDAP.

(5) Radio. Hans Fritzsche headed this department. It supervised the political content of German broadcasting, issued directives as to the arrangement of programs and treatment of material, and cooperated with the Party in the technical organization of German radio.

(6) The Film Department was in charge of directing and guiding the German film industry, censoring of films, and developing the German weekly newsreel.

(7) Literature. This agency, in close collaboration with BdF and PPK, controlled all German literary activities, censored new books, provided for the publication of German books abroad, and arranged for the translation and censorship of foreign books.

(8) Abteilung Deutsche Presse (German or Home Press Department). This department was headed by Fritzsche until he was relieved in 1942 to take charge of the Radio Division. It was responsible for political control over the entire German press; it controlled the editorial policy of the press and its personnel (through the Reich Press Chamber), and supervised the dissemination of news through the official German News Agency (DNB). The Home Press Division outlined the editorial policy of all newspapers and the comment of editors and journalists in its daily directives. (Tendenz berichte). These dealt with the daily contents of the paper, the methods of treatment of news material, the writing of headlines, the preference for or omission of certain items, and the modification or cessation of current campaigns. The directives were issued to the representatives of the press in person or sent through the facilities of the DNB to the local papers. (2434-PS; 2529-PS)

The Home Press Department of the Propaganda Ministry had an important participation in administering the provisions of the Editorial Control Law, which made the profession of editor “a public task, which is regulated as to its professional duties and rights by the state.” That law also included requirements for admission to the profession and other elaborate controls. (2083-PS)

(9) Periodical Literature. This department supervised German periodical literature in the same manner as the Abteilung Deutsche Presse controlled the daily press.

Other divisions exercised supervision over the Theatre (selection and supervision of the entire dramatic production and influencing the programs of all German Theatres); the Arts; Music (“the entire cultural and political leadership of German musical life”); Special Cultural Tasks (“This department serves mainly to eliminate all Jews from German Cultural life”); and Foreign Tourists. (2434-PS)

A large organization of faithful Party followers was recruited to discharge the manifold functions of the Propaganda Ministry. The staff numbered 1000 persons in 1939–1940. In the words of Mueller:

“It is no accident; therefore, that the great majority of the official workers and other personnel of the Ministry consist of reliable National Socialists of which almost 100 are bearers of the Gold Party Pin.” (2434-PS)

C. The semi-autonomous professional organizations Reichskulturkammer (Reich Chamber of Culture).

The Reich Chamber of Culture was set up in September 1933 to control (under the supervision of the Propaganda Ministry and within the framework of general policy directives issued by that activity) personnel engaged in all fields of propaganda (2082-PS). Its tasks as described in the First Executive Decree of the above law, dated 1 November 1933, were:

“To promote German culture as responsible to the people and the Reich, to regulate the social and economic relations of the different groups in the cultural professions and to coordinate their aims.” (2415-PS)

The Reichskulturkammer was a so-called “Nachgeordnete Dienststelle” (Subordinate office) of the Propaganda Ministry. Together with its subordinate Chambers it was charged with supervising all personnel active in any field under the jurisdiction of the Propaganda Ministry. All persons employed in the cultural professions were obligated to register with one of the subordinate Chambers. The Chambers were also responsible for investigating the activities and political reliability of their members. Moreover, power was given to Chambers to prosecute members offending against Nazi standards or persons pursuing their occupation without being duly registered. The punitive powers included, expulsion from membership, which was tantamount to the loss of livelihood. The Chambers were also given power to issue directives, which had the validity of law, regulating the cultural activities under their control (2529-PS). The President of the Chamber of Culture was the Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, who nominated the Vice-Presidents. In 1937, the latter consisted of Walter Funk, Max Amann (Reich Leader of the Press) and Leopold Gutterer (Secretary of State in the Propaganda Ministry).

The Chamber of Culture was divided into seven functional chambers:

(1) Reichspressekammer (Reich Press Chamber). Max Amann was president of this chamber, which was, to a greater extent than the other chambers, a loose association of technical bodies and organizations, such as the Reich Association of German Newspaper Publishers. It integrated the activities of these groups and, through the composition of its governing body, ensured close coordination with Party and State propaganda machinery. (2529-PS; 3016-PS)

(2) Reichskammer der bildenden Kunste (Reich Chamber of Fine Arts). This chamber supervised the activities of all architects, interior decorators, landscape gardeners, sculptors, painters, draftsmen, art publishers, etc. By 1937, all other art groups and associations had been dissolved, and all their members “obligated by profession” to join this chamber. (2529-PS)

(3) Reichsmusikkammer (Reich Music Chamber). This Chamber was organized to “oversee the practice and activity of musicians in their cultural, economic, and legal relationships with the world. * * * in order that music will still remain a prized possession of the German people.” (2529-PS)

(4) Reichstheaterkammer (Reich Theater Chamber). The Theater Chamber was the professional organization for the entire field of the professional theater. Its purpose was to supervise and promote the “cultural, social and economic conditions of the professions which it includes”. Actual censorship of stage production was the responsibility of the Reichsdramaturg. (2529-PS)

(5) Reichsfilmkammer (Reich Film Chamber). The primary function of this Chamber was to lift the film industry “out of the sphere of liberal economic thoughts” by giving it a sound economic foundation and thus enable it to “receive those tasks which it has to fulfill in the National Socialist State”. (2529-PS)

(6) Reichsschrifttumskammer (Reich Chamber of Literature). The Chamber of Literature had jurisdiction over all persons concerned with the “basic production” (writing and publishing) of literature. Its task was to protect writers “from undesirable elements” and to keep out of the book market everything “unGerman.” It had the further function of bringing literature to the people and making the writer more “aware of his duty to the nation.” Primary responsibility for critical evaluation and censorship of literature however, was left to the Propaganda Ministry. (2529-PS)

(7) Reichsrundfunkkammer (Reich Radio Chamber). The official gazette of the Reich Culture Chamber stated that the radio was the most immediate propaganda instrument of the National Socialist leadership; that the ideal and cultural life of the nation could be shown “totally” in and through the radio; and that since the radio constituted the most important technical means of influencing the masses it was necessary to establish a close tie between the radio and the Party.

Functions of the Radio Chamber included: mobilizing of all technical possibilities of broadcasting, bringing the people closer to radio, planning the manufacture of cheap receiving sets, and propaganda in connection with the drive for new listeners. (2529-PS)