Help!

Illustration of a new gymnastics game "throwing bombs" with rings and medicine balls in the school magazine "Help with!"

Help! (Subtitle: Illustrierte Schulzeitung ) was the most important National Socialist newspaper for students in the Third Reich . It was not a school newspaper by students for students, but a newspaper with educational and propaganda purposes. Help! was published by the National Socialist Teachers' Association (NSLB). It was published from October 1933 to September 1944, monthly before the start of the Second World War , then more irregularly, at longer intervals, and was printed by HA Braun and Co. in Berlin. The 32 pages, 16 pages in the war years, initially cost 10 pfennigs, but were then distributed free of charge. From 1937 Henrich Hansen was the main editor . The magazine had a circulation of up to five million copies per issue and reached almost the entire student body from the age of 10.

Help! and other high-circulation newspapers for schoolchildren such as the Deutsche Jugendburg made a significant contribution to the ideological influence of the younger generation in the Third Reich. The faculty was asked to distribute this newspaper only. Contrary to its subtitle school newspaper , Help was with! a magazine and as such is not primarily designed for private reading, but rather as a " teaching aid ". In order to use Help with! In addition to optimizing the pupils' private reading in class, posters for the classroom were issued for some of the topics, which served as “teaching sheets”.

Content / propaganda

In addition to the typical student topics of the time, such as traffic education , natural science and health education , various propagandistic topics took up a large space. The First World War was represented very often in the form of adventure and hero stories, but also with factual texts; likewise the Germanic early history. Furthermore, topics such as genealogy and race theory were part of the student texts. A serial by Peter Osten covered the years before Hitler came to power and took place during the so-called Reich Youth Days . The story is openly racist and anti-democratic . One of the most important authors of the magazine was Johann von Leers , who at times was also responsible for the “political editing” as its editor . With his own over 100 articles he exceeded the number of contributions of all other authors and dominated the area of "history" in Help! . He indoctrinated the students with anti-Semitic propaganda and stories that glorified Hitler's leadership qualities.

The Nazi propaganda contained in the magazine was effectively packaged into a harmonious overall package of content and images that conjured up a folkish family idyll. The focus of the presentation were stories about healthy German girls and German boys, about mother and child, about the family under the Christmas tree, about cute animals worth protecting. However, “in addition to a little bit of propaganda for Hitler and the Hitler Youth”, according to educational scientist Benjamin Ortmeyer , “extremely subtle articles were interspersed with precision . With perverted educational reform skills, the children are invited to 'research-based learning' ”. The October 1935 issue already presented the story of a fictional student and Hitler Youth leader who, with the help of the parish register, was able to prove that he was wrongly suspected of being a “Jew”. But that's not all: "Fähnleinführer Dieter" can show that the family of another, unpopular boy, with whom there has always been trouble and who has been noticed by a suspicious appearance, has concealed his Jewish origin by converting to Christianity. In front of the assembled Hitler Youth group, the “Fähnleinführer” “exposes” the boy as “Jewish”. Another article suggested that students search their home bookcases for "Jewish poison".

Help with appeared during the Second World War ! often only every two to three months. In a school competition called "Der Kampf im Osten" (The Struggle in the East), which was initiated by the chief editor Henrich Hansen and which ran over several editions, the announcement of the competition published in May / June 1942 suggested a kind of synopsis of anti-Jewish thought figures and Bolshevism - one of the Key questions for the “Struggle in the East” were: “What do you know about Bolshevism, Judaism in the Soviet Union and in the world?” In September / October 1942, under the title “Under the Sign of the Red Cross”, girls were invited to do handicrafts of the competition and encouraged to use it in the army medical service at the front. In the July / August / September 1943 issue, the head of the NSLB Fritz Wächtler announced that 15,000 schools had taken part in the competition, which had produced "around 1 million usable works by boys and girls".

literature

Natalie Bethke: Old heroes on a new mission - youth literature in the 3rd Reich . In: Werner Graf (ed.): Literature & Experience Volume 24/25: Gift in the bookcase. Reading for children and young people under National Socialism . Berlin / Paderborn 1992, ISBN 3-9801659-5-7 , pp. 53-58 .
Sabine Omland: Nazi propaganda in German schools 1933–1943. The National Socialist school magazine “Help with!” As a teaching and propaganda tool. Longitudinal studies in the publication period 1933-1943, conditions of publication, author biographies and tabular presentation of analysis results. 2 volumes. Lit, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-643-12823-2 (also dissertation University of Münster 2014).
Benjamin Ortmeyer: Indoctrination. Racism and anti-Semitism in the Nazi school magazine "Help with!" (1933-1944). Analysis and documents . Beltz Juventa, Weinheim 2013, ISBN 978-3-7799-2889-8 .

Web links

Commons : Help us! - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Subtle, spiteful and effective. A conversation with the educational scientist Benjamin Ortmeyer about the Nazi school magazine "Help with!". . In: Die Zeit , January 24, 2013

Individual evidence

^ Benjamin Ortmeyer: Indoctrination. Racism and anti-Semitism in the Nazi school magazine "Help with!" (1933-1944). Analysis and documents . Beltz Juventa, Weinheim 2013, p. 38f.
^ Benjamin Ortmeyer: Indoctrination. Racism and anti-Semitism in the Nazi school magazine "Help with!" (1933-1944). Analysis and documents . Beltz Juventa, Weinheim 2013, p. 7 u. P. 39; Sabine Omland: Nazi propaganda in German schools 1933–1943. The National Socialist school magazine “Help with!” As a teaching and propaganda tool . Lit, Berlin 2014, p. 113; traces the circulation development as follows: at the end of 1934 the circulation of the magazine was already over two million, in 1937 over three million, in 1939 4.4 million and in 1942 about five million copies; before Help with! the total circulation of all youth magazines had totaled a maximum of 300,000 copies.
↑ Rainer Mackensen, Jürgen Reulecke, Josef Ehmer: Origins, types and consequences of the construct "population" before, during and after the "Third Reich". On the history of German population science. Springer Verlag 2009, ISBN 978-3-531-16152-5 , p. 38.
^ Sabine Omland: Nazi propaganda in the teaching of German schools 1933–1943. The National Socialist school magazine “Help with!” As a teaching and propaganda tool . Lit, Berlin 2014, p. 73.
^ Benjamin Ortmeyer: Indoctrination. Racism and anti-Semitism in the Nazi school magazine "Help with!" (1933-1944). Analysis and documents . Beltz Juventa, Weinheim 2013, p. 39.
^ Sabine Omland: Nazi propaganda in the teaching of German schools 1933–1943. The National Socialist school magazine “Help with!” As a teaching and propaganda tool. Longitudinal studies in the publication period 1933-1943, conditions of publication, author biographies and tabular presentation of analysis results. 2 volumes. Lit, Berlin 2014, pp. 116f.
^ Sabine Omland: Nazi propaganda in the teaching of German schools 1933–1943. The National Socialist school magazine “Help with!” As a teaching and propaganda tool. 2 volumes. Lit, Berlin 2014, p. 579 and P. 640.
^ Benjamin Ortmeyer: Indoctrination. Racism and anti-Semitism in the Nazi school magazine "Help with!" (1933-1944). Analysis and documents . Beltz Juventa, Weinheim 2013, p. 132f.
↑ Subtle, spiteful and effective. A conversation with the educational scientist Benjamin Ortmeyer about the Nazi school magazine "Help with!". . In: Die Zeit , January 24, 2013; in detail Benjamin Ortmeyer: Indoctrination. Racism and anti-Semitism in the Nazi school magazine "Help with!" (1933-1944). Analysis and documents . Beltz Juventa, Weinheim 2013, pp. 123–131.
↑ Hans-Christian Harten; Uwe Neirich; Matthias Schwerendt: Racial hygiene as an educational ideology of the Third Reich. Bio-bibliographical manual . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2006, p. 217 u. P. 392.
^ Sabine Omland: Nazi propaganda in the teaching of German schools 1933–1943. The National Socialist school magazine “Help with!” As a teaching and propaganda tool . Lit, Berlin 2014, p. 343 u. P. 758f.
^ Benjamin Ortmeyer: Indoctrination. Racism and anti-Semitism in the Nazi school magazine "Help with!" (1933-1944). Analysis and documents . Beltz Juventa, Weinheim 2013, p. 81.

[1] Benjamin Ortmeyer: Indoctrination. Racism and anti-Semitism in the Nazi school magazine "Help with!" (1933-1944). Analysis and documents . Beltz Juventa, Weinheim 2013, p. 38f.

[2] Benjamin Ortmeyer: Indoctrination. Racism and anti-Semitism in the Nazi school magazine "Help with!" (1933-1944). Analysis and documents . Beltz Juventa, Weinheim 2013, p. 7 u. P. 39; Sabine Omland: Nazi propaganda in German schools 1933–1943. The National Socialist school magazine “Help with!” As a teaching and propaganda tool . Lit, Berlin 2014, p. 113; traces the circulation development as follows: at the end of 1934 the circulation of the magazine was already over two million, in 1937 over three million, in 1939 4.4 million and in 1942 about five million copies; before Help with! the total circulation of all youth magazines had totaled a maximum of 300,000 copies.

[3] Rainer Mackensen, Jürgen Reulecke, Josef Ehmer: Origins, types and consequences of the construct "population" before, during and after the "Third Reich". On the history of German population science. Springer Verlag 2009, ISBN 978-3-531-16152-5 , p. 38.

[4] Sabine Omland: Nazi propaganda in the teaching of German schools 1933–1943. The National Socialist school magazine “Help with!” As a teaching and propaganda tool . Lit, Berlin 2014, p. 73.

[5] Benjamin Ortmeyer: Indoctrination. Racism and anti-Semitism in the Nazi school magazine "Help with!" (1933-1944). Analysis and documents . Beltz Juventa, Weinheim 2013, p. 39.

[6] Sabine Omland: Nazi propaganda in the teaching of German schools 1933–1943. The National Socialist school magazine “Help with!” As a teaching and propaganda tool. Longitudinal studies in the publication period 1933-1943, conditions of publication, author biographies and tabular presentation of analysis results. 2 volumes. Lit, Berlin 2014, pp. 116f.

[7] Sabine Omland: Nazi propaganda in the teaching of German schools 1933–1943. The National Socialist school magazine “Help with!” As a teaching and propaganda tool. 2 volumes. Lit, Berlin 2014, p. 579 and P. 640.

[8] Benjamin Ortmeyer: Indoctrination. Racism and anti-Semitism in the Nazi school magazine "Help with!" (1933-1944). Analysis and documents . Beltz Juventa, Weinheim 2013, p. 132f.

[9] Subtle, spiteful and effective. A conversation with the educational scientist Benjamin Ortmeyer about the Nazi school magazine "Help with!". . In: Die Zeit , January 24, 2013; in detail Benjamin Ortmeyer: Indoctrination. Racism and anti-Semitism in the Nazi school magazine "Help with!" (1933-1944). Analysis and documents . Beltz Juventa, Weinheim 2013, pp. 123–131.

[10] Hans-Christian Harten; Uwe Neirich; Matthias Schwerendt: Racial hygiene as an educational ideology of the Third Reich. Bio-bibliographical manual . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2006, p. 217 u. P. 392.

[11] Sabine Omland: Nazi propaganda in the teaching of German schools 1933–1943. The National Socialist school magazine “Help with!” As a teaching and propaganda tool . Lit, Berlin 2014, p. 343 u. P. 758f.

[12] Benjamin Ortmeyer: Indoctrination. Racism and anti-Semitism in the Nazi school magazine "Help with!" (1933-1944). Analysis and documents . Beltz Juventa, Weinheim 2013, p. 81.