Pravda (Wehrmacht)
"Pravda" was the name of an imitation of the Soviet party newspaper of the same name , the largest newspaper in the USSR . The external imitation served as a propaganda tool for the German Wehrmacht after the attack on the Soviet Union in World War II .
General
The invasion of the Soviet Union by German troops in the summer of 1941 was accompanied by an intensive propaganda offensive. It was directed at Soviet soldiers and the civilian population in the occupied territories in the hope of undermining the morale of these target groups and causing them to cooperate with the German Wehrmacht. In addition to leaflets, posters, radio broadcasts and local loudspeaker announcements, one aid was the distribution of newspapers in Russian. In addition to a few other papers, the Wehrmacht Propaganda Department in Ostland produced an imitation of the nationwide central organ of the Soviet party leadership. Since the third edition at the latest, this imitation has looked deceptively similar to the real “ Pravda ” in terms of scope, format and presentation. Russian editors who had knowledge of the Soviet newspaper system and were familiar with the mentality of the intended readership could be won as employees .
In addition to text contributions, the fake “Pravda” also contained pictures, maps, caricatures and song texts. Current war events were dealt with - mostly as summaries of the reports of the High Command of the Wehrmacht (OKW) - selected events abroad and the alleged comforts of life in Germany. The Soviet ruling elite was attacked in many contributions, as was the Jewish people and their culture. Often calls were made to soldiers and civilians to voluntarily cooperate with the “German liberators”. The texts were emphasized in a simple and popular way and "should be understood even by the simplest workers and farmers".
The area of distribution was the greater area of Army Group North , the Reichskommissariat Ostland and smaller parts of Belarus and Latvia . In general, the sheet was distributed free of charge by the troop units, and later partly by a civilian distribution company. A special edition - up to 12,000 copies - was intended for prisoner-of-war camps. From the publisher's point of view, the newspaper was initially very successful. It appeared weekly and in December 1941 had a circulation of more than 257,000 copies. Secret sentiment reports from the Propaganda Department said that farmers had come from far away to the nearest distribution point to get the newspaper. Soon there were plans to publish the paper several times a week or even daily - this failed due to a lack of material and overloaded distribution channels.
Since the late summer of 1942 it was found that the interest in the special "Pravda" declined and the area of distribution shrank. One of the causes was the increasing activity of partisans ; the newspapers could often no longer be distributed undisturbed. More important were the increasingly blatant contradictions between the propaganda texts and the obvious reality - the brutal Ostpolitik of the National Socialists and the Wehrmacht's war of annihilation in the Soviet Union. Although, in the opinion of its editors, the newspaper was still the most effective of all the propaganda tools used, its publication, as far as is known, was discontinued at the turn of 1942/43.
Text examples
The front page of the Wehrmacht "Pravda" of 28 August 1941 contains - in Cyrillic script and Russian - the following elements: Over the graphically deceptively copied title word calling "working people of all countries, unite to fight against Bolshevism ", a Tendentious variant of the formula that was used in the original “Pravda”. Next to it is a photo of Adolf Hitler with the caption: "The supreme leader of the German army, which is victoriously advancing on its crusade against the world enemy of mankind, against Bolshevism." A red headline reports the "brilliant record of German successes in the course of the first two months." of the war against the Soviet Union ”. The related article talks about the great losses of the Red Army , the capture of some Russian cities, the threat to Soviet Arctic ports and the successful battle for Gomel . There is also talk of events in the western theater of war, of air raids on England and the shooting down of numerous British aircraft. A map illustrates the loss of territory by the Soviet Union since the beginning of the war.
In an edition that cannot be precisely dated, a picture of the German steamship " Wilhelm Gustloff " was on display. The caption reads in German translation: “What you cannot even dream of is owned by the German worker. In the picture [you can see] the German steamer 'Wilhelm Gustloff', which is available to the German organization ' Kraft durch Freude '. This labor army has ten large transatlantic ships that not only call at German ports, but also make trips abroad ... Working people in the Soviet Union, you were not let out of the 'Soviet paradise' for 23 years so that you could not see life abroad. You were only given the right to see the life of the Soviet concentration camps ”.
Since August 1941 at the latest, a German / Russian pass has been regularly printed on the pages of the false “Pravda”, which was originally only distributed in the form of leaflets. The text read: “Red Army men! With this pass you will be welcomed by the Germans in a friendly manner! ” And further in smaller letters: “ Soldiers-Red Army men! If you love your homeland and want a bright and happy life for you and your loved ones without the Bolshevik knout, throw away your weapon and run over to the Germans! Tear out the enclosed pass and keep it. With a single pass, an unlimited number of officers and soldiers of the Red Workers 'and Peasants' Army can go over to the side of the German troops! ” And larger again: “ Tear out and keep! ”