Reich speaker

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Reich speakers were rhetorically trained functionaries of the NSDAP who were deployed throughout the Reich at mass rallies on behalf of the Reich Propaganda Management.

Before 1933, in addition to the Reich speakers , there were also Gauredner , district speakers and "speaker students" in hierarchical order ; the latter were only allowed to speak at general meetings.
The "Organization Book of the NSDAP" from 1937 carries a total of five categories of party speakers to:
1.  Reich orator , the second  shock troops speaker and shock troops speaker contender, third  Gauredner , 4th  district speaker and 5.  expert speakers . These designations should also be emphasized when posting.

Speaker training

As early as 1924 there was a training center in Munich for the training of National Socialist speakers, but it was rejected by Adolf Hitler and closed in autumn 1925. The lack of suitable speakers - in the election year 1928 there were only 300 speakers available for around 20,000 meetings across the Reich - forced a change of heart. In an appeal in the Völkischer Beobachter in 1928, Hitler wrote: "The bulk of our people will be won over by the power of speech [...]." It goes on to say: "The more the National Socialist movement unites the most important speakers of the German nation in its ranks the more necessary is the uniform training of all these leaders and subordinates, some of whom did not belong to any political camp before. "

In 1928, Fritz Reinhardt , then Gauleiter of the Upper Bavaria Gau, began to "organize" the young speakers. Reinhardt had previously founded a correspondence business school and brought experience in the organization of correspondence courses. On June 10, 1929, Reinhardt's training center in Herrsching was officially recognized by Hitler at the suggestion of Himmler and was given the name "Reichsrednerschule der NSDAP". This institution traded from November 15, 1930 as "Reich Propaganda Department II".

The courses at the Reich Speaker School lasted nine months and were supported by course materials. Each district named two participants for the first course. In addition to the courses, Fritz Reinhardt published teaching letters and speaker materials. The lesson units aimed to improve the rhetorical skills of the party speakers and included exercises and role-plays. The biweekly speaking materials dealt with questions of principle and current political issues. According to Reinhardt, around 6,000 party speakers had been trained before the Nazis "came to power " in 1933.

commitment

Prior to 1933, the use of the speakers was controlled by the Gauleitung, later by the speaker brokerage of the “Active Propaganda Office” within the Reich Propaganda Management of the NSDAP .

Before 1933, speakers were often forced to pay their travel expenses out of their own pocket. Fees, which were paid out of entrance fees and money collections and were staggered, had to be waived if the attendance at an event was poor.

The "Organization Book of the NSDAP" describes the function and admission requirements of the trained speakers as follows:

“The political speaker has the task of conveying the National Socialist worldview and measures of the National Socialist government to the German people through the spoken word in public rallies and assemblies.
Only party members who were already members of the NSDAP before the seizure of power are confirmed as political speakers. were and at that time were active as speakers or as political leaders or in the SA , SS or HJ . In future, only party members who have completed an examination period as candidates and who have successfully participated in an ideological course at a regional training castle of the NSDAP will be used as political speakers . "

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mathias Rösch: Die Münchner NSDAP 1925-1933. An investigation into the internal structure of the NSDAP in the Weimar Republic. Munich 2002, ISBN 3-486-56670-9 , p. 308
  2. ^ The organization book of the NSDAP , ed. by the Reich Organizational Leader of the NSDAP. 4th edition, Munich 1937, p. 299.
  3. ↑ Mathias Rösch: The Munich NSDAP ... , p. 116
  4. ^ Gerhard Paul: Uprising of the pictures. The Nazi propaganda before 1933. Bonn 1992, ISBN 3-8012-5015-6 , p. 66 with note 30
  5. ^ Adolf Hitler: Speeches, Writings, Orders. Edited by the Institute for Contemporary History. Vol. III / 1, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-598-21934-2 , document 75, p. 372
  6. ↑ Gerhard Paul: Uprising of the Pictures ... , p. 67
  7. ^ Mathias Rösch: Die Münchner NSDAP ... , p. 307 f.
  8. ^ The organization book of the NSDAP / see Cornelia Schmitz-Berning: Vocabulary of National Socialism. , Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-11-013379-2 , pp. 251f