Dachau concentration camp in the National Socialist press
In the first years after 1933, the Dachau concentration camp was presented as a model camp in the National Socialist press . The National Socialist regime carried out targeted propaganda through press releases, newspaper articles, photo reports and also guided tours through the Dachau concentration camp .
Article in 1933
On March 21, 1933, Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler , who had been acting police chief of Munich for two weeks , announced in a press conference the establishment of a political concentration camp near the city of Dachau. The daily newspapers reported about it the following day, according to the Völkischer Beobachter :
- “On Wednesday, the first concentration camp with a capacity for 5,000 people will be built near Dachau. Here the entire communist and, if necessary, Reich banners and social democratic functionaries who endanger the security of the state, are drawn together. "
On April 3, 1933, the Bavarian State Secretary Hermann Esser assured in a press conference in Berlin that the upheaval in Bavaria had taken place without any deaths and that neither Jewish citizens nor foreigners were "wounded" . Esser described the camp as a measure to “teach the communist functionaries and other elements hostile to the state how to work again that they have so thoroughly forgotten in recent years” . KL Dachau is "open to the foreign press for viewing" .
On April 11th, the Bavarian State Police guarding the camp was assigned the SS as auxiliary police . The next day the first three murders occurred in the camp. The initially positive press reports were now mixed with warnings. The civilian population should not go near the camp, especially not climb walls or the like out of curiosity to catch a glimpse into the camp. At that time, prisoners in the camp still wore civilian clothes and normal haircut, so they could easily be confused with civilians. Three prisoners were shot while they were fleeing, and SS guards were quick to use their firearms.
From then on, press reports increased that well-known politicians had been shot while fleeing or had committed “cowardly suicide” in the camp .
The magazine “Bayerischer Heimgarten” published a positive report on June 22nd. The old ammunition factory had been saved from deterioration by the construction of the camp, and the accommodations shone in brightly whitewashed, cheerful colors. Over the green, well-manicured lawn was reported that with flowers and stones in the form of swastikas was embellished, and the Leo Schlageter - Monument The author of the article, Hermann Larcher, wrote that the prisoners after repair of the building to another community service in Should be used around the warehouse. It is astonishing what has become "of these workers who were once seduced by communist agitators" in such a short time . Photos showed camp facilities, prisoners at work, on marches and in the Gröner drill squad . Regarding the life of the prisoners, it was reported that they now have a regular life, good food and a roof over their heads, most of them are satisfied, only a few have a different opinion. The camp not only has short-term value, but will also "bring blessings and benefits" in the long term . The propaganda of the time is to be seen against the background of unemployment, high poverty and homelessness as a result of the global economic crisis .
On July 16, 1933, a propaganda photo report appeared in the magazine Münchner Illustrierte Presse , apparently inspired by Himmler. It was entitled The Truth About Dachau and the subtitle Early Roll Call in the Education Camp . The cover picture showed neatly and neatly dressed prisoners. The article indicated that every revolution eliminated its enemies: in France through the guillotines, in Russia millions through the subhumanity of the Cheka . The SA and SS would also stand unsullied before the eternal judgment of history, and the National Socialist revolution could be called a holy revolution . The enemies wanted to destroy the Fiihrer's work. The Marxist and Jewish intellectuals abroad came up with the "most mean slander [...] about the Bavarian education camp" . The truth is, as can be seen in the photos, that in the Dachau camp, people are educated to work and discipline. They were treated strictly but humanely, they were under medical care, they had never fared as well as in the Dachau camp, where they were finally given the opportunity to exercise their professions.
In the autumn of 1933, the Amper-Bote published that 160 prisoners had been used to cut peat for several weeks, the prisoners would happily work and spend their free time doing games and sports.
The news pointed to the common good of the camp, increasingly describing inmates as "individuals who do not deserve this care" .
Article in 1936
In the summer of 1936 the Olympic Games took place in the German Reich. Since the sporting event also took place near Munich, it was reflected more in newspaper reports. The event became a great propaganda success at home and abroad.
At the end of 1936, the Illustrierte Beobachter again published a detailed photo report; the camp had now existed for over three years. The changed political conditions could now be seen in the tone of the propaganda. The educational successes of the therapy through work and discipline were highlighted, but not all inmates had the desired effect. It was reported about "incorrigible muddles, pathological criminals, genetically burdened people, from whom a social community can never expect good. [...] Any effort for them will remain in vain, and it is important to protect the community from them by all legal means. ” The readers were described the facility, organization and medical care, as well as the food. For breakfast there is coffee, milk or cocoa and bread, for lunch there is meat with vegetables, fish or a pastry. Many prisoners are doing better than ever before, and their state of health is excellent. Only the “hereditary health” cannot be influenced, the camp doctor must therefore “occasionally” request permission to sterilize or castrate her according to the “ Law for the Prevention of Hereditary Diseases ” that came into force in 1934 . In three manipulated, less photogenic images, “types of this genus” were depicted and described in National Socialist terminology: a “Jewish people criminal”, a “racial molester”, a “face of political crime”, a “pest of the people” and “three typical ones Representatives of subhumanity in the Dachau concentration camp ”(a communist, a“ work-shy ”and a“ professional criminal ”).
Sightseeing tours
The second, very important part of the propaganda was made up of sightseeing tours that were granted to selected visitors from abroad and also to Reich German officials or National Socialist officials.
For example, the Bavarian Prime Minister Ludwig Siebert was allowed to visit the camp under SS supervision in March 1934. He was entering some for selected barracks granted and in other model building, such as the modern kitchen in farm buildings . The residential barracks corresponded to the standard of the imperial barracks at that time. After his visit Siebert wrote a letter of praise to Himmler, in which he described the camp as a “model prison camp”. Since the press published Siebert's letter, the term “model camp” was now imprinted on the people. For sightseeing tours, a staged procedure developed over the years, and visits were soon almost the order of the day. Foreign sightseeing was avidly reported in local newspapers as evidence of an impartial testimony. For example, newspapers reported on the visit of the Dutch clergyman touringbut in 1933, who apparently had not seen through the scenario. In Holland ,ourenbuts published the article “Dachau, Lies and Truth”. He reported on the exemplary equipment of the camp, the good food, the excellent medical care, the sports area, the extremely hygienic conditions and the prisoners' bathroom. Furthermore, that inmates only had to work three to four days and only two inmates died, reports of abuse belonged “absolutely to the realm of fables,” he said nothing of corporal punishment, the only punishment was solitary confinement. The Völkischer Beobachter took over the content of the article in full and printed it in January 1934. The Dachauer Volksblatt and the Amperbote followed suit. Numerous visits to the Dachau camp were made until at least 1938.
SS magazine "The Black Corps"
Dachau was the first camp of the SS. The SS magazine Das Schwarze Korps was the organ of the Reichsführung SS - newspaper of the protection staff of the NSDAP . She also reported on the Dachau camp.
Online photos
- Staged propaganda photos. Photographer: Heinrich Hoffmann , June 1933: (see source)
literature
- Stanislav Zámečník: (Ed. Comité International de Dachau ): That was Dachau. Luxembourg, 2002. pp. 91-98.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bayerischer Heimgarten from June 22, 1933, author of the article: Hermann Larcher, photographs: Sessner company.
- ↑ Münchner Illustrierte Presse of July 16, 1933, Münchner Illustrierte Presse, report of July 16, 1933 .
- ↑ Amper-Bote of September 7, 1933.
- ^ Illustrated Observer of December 3, 1936, Issue 49.
- ↑ See: Dr. Heyde and IKL granted this permission
- ↑ See “Glonntal-Bote” from April 1, 2 and 3, 1934. KD, p. 80. Source taken from Stanislav Zámečník, p. 96.
- ^ "Dagblad van Noordbrabant" of December 9, 1933.
- ↑ Völkische Beobachter of January 6, 1934, Dachauer Volksblatt of January 9, 1934, Amperbote of January 11, 1934.
- ↑ Source photos: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek ( Memento of the original from August 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
