The New Germany
The New Germany ( DND ) was an alleged freedom movement that was launched by the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in June 1944 during the Second World War . Its main organ was a magazine of the same name, which was brought to Germany by resistance fighters , former German prisoners of war , and with the help of airplanes. The aim was to use propaganda articles in this magazine to create the impression that there was an underground movement on the territory of the German Reich with the intention of overthrowing the Nazi regime . In the editorial design, care was taken to ensure that as little reference to enemy propaganda as possible was discernible; the idea of an opposition that is independent of the Allies and existing within Germany should definitely be conveyed.
In order to find a meaningful name for the magazine, the planning group obtained over 30 suggestions, all of which however turned out to be unsuitable. Either they were names that had already been used in the Weimar Republic and therefore had negative connotations, or they were names of smaller local splinter groups that were used earlier. Since the magazine was intended to convey the idea of a new Germany after the Nazi dictatorship, an agreement was finally reached on the final name, which was never used in the past.
The total circulation of the magazine is given as 9,514,620 copies.
In order to dispel doubts that arose in the population due to the magazine appearing too suddenly - which might have indicated hostile propaganda - a preparatory measure was planned and carried out. For this purpose, various leaflets were produced, which were intended to give the impression that various smaller underground movements already existed in German territory, which now resulted in a united, larger one. These leaflets were given names such as Messengers of Peace or Our Struggle, and 10,000 pieces each were smuggled into occupied France . From there they seeped into the territory of the German Empire. For example, about four weeks before the magazine Das Neue Deutschland appears, a path should be paved as inconspicuously as possible in order to give the magazine a plausible character. In order to make the alleged German opposition magazine appear credible, additional texts were printed on the front page of the magazines, which were supposed to point to alleged chance finds during the advance of Allied forces. For example, the text appeared there: “ During the occupation of Paris , this German newspaper fell into the hands of the Allies ” or “ This German newspaper was found by our troops in the area of Aachen ”.
The first 4,500 copies of the magazine were printed and packaged in Algiers , Algeria, from June 28, 1944 . Because no German umlauts were available there for the printing presses, the originally planned start of printing was delayed by 19 days. The missing characters had to be requested via Washington and reached Algiers by air mail on June 22, 1944. From mid-July 1944, the printing works were relocated to Rome .
Immediately after the failed assassination attempt on 20 July 1944 on Hitler it was decided to print this The New Germany Extra - edition, which was launched with 50,000 units. The aim was to react as quickly as possible to the dramatic events that almost led to a coup in Germany. For the first time, people in full Wehrmacht uniforms were successfully deployed to spread this extra edition and infiltrated the German lines . This action was as Operation Sauerkraut referred.
When Germany's defeat was already clearly in sight, a so-called Olive Project was drawn up at the end of February 1945 . These alleged Wehrmacht soldiers to the headquarters of Albert Kesselring on Lake Garda advance to tell him that thousands of members of the Wehrmacht movement The New Germany had joined and had turned against Hitler. Kesselring should now take over the supreme command of the movement in Italy. When the action was planned, it was not yet known that surrender negotiations for General Wolff had already been initiated. The Olive project was therefore postponed and later not carried out.
The magazine is considered the most successful American subversive measure against the Nazi regime during the Second World War. From 1944 onwards, numerous copies of the magazine were found in Berlin , Pilsen , Lübeck , in the Rhineland and even in the Dachau concentration camp . Magazines were found in the shoes or headgear of prisoners of war. The great psychological importance of the magazine can also be seen in the fact that the German side tried numerous countermeasures to limit the damage. So let Heinrich Himmler in his own propaganda magazine entitled Das Schwarze Korps , the contents of the journal revoke the strongest terms. There was also massive awareness of the enemy propaganda in radio broadcasts and through information leaflets for members of the Wehrmacht . For unknown reasons, however, such extensive counter-propaganda did not take place until January 1945, six months after the DND first appeared. From the so-called Mitteilungen für die Truppe , a weekly political "information magazine" for members of the Wehrmacht, it emerges that the German side was aware of the problems of the magazine from August 14, 1944 and the effects caused great concern.
To give the alleged freedom movement a boost, so-called membership cards were printed in the magazine from autumn 1944, which should be cut out, filled out and kept in a safe place. People who were ready to join the movement Das Neue Deutschland as combatants and founders should be able to gain considerable advantages after the war and the ensuing liberation. So later special food and clothing allocations were promised. Surveys of prisoners of war carried out after the end of the war showed that the magazine was relatively well known. It is estimated that 95 out of 100 readers of the magazine believed in an underground organization or in the truthfulness of the magazine. As a rule, numerous holders of a DND membership card later refused to hand it over to their interviewers because they were worried that this would cause them to lose proof of their anti-Nazi attitude . Typical comments from prisoner-of-war soldiers on the content of the magazine were for example:
- "The magazine destroyed the last chance for me to believe the Nazi propaganda "
- "I am firmly convinced that the text is true, as I have seen enough Nazi atrocities"
- “I believe that the newspaper was distributed by Catholic groups in Germany and not by former members of political parties in Germany. Even if the content of the magazine is partly true, I do not consider the presentation to be very effective overall ”
- “I was very impressed with the DND. It gave me hope that the war would soon end ”
- “I was amazed at how well informed the magazine's editors were. The texts mostly corresponded to everything that was known as word-of-mouth propaganda in the troops "
- "This magazine was my weapon in the fight against the Nazis"
- "After reading a few issues of the magazine, I really wanted to become a member of the movement and filled out the membership card"
Significant actions to spread the magazine were for a very successful operation Pig Iron , in which the magazine has been dropped in miniature over German territory by air; on the other hand, Operation Cornflakes , in which the magazine was distributed in counterfeit mail bags .