How was it that under a regime which introduced radio on a mass scale to the average family, that pioneered the Americanization of political campaigning in Europe and that openly encouraged the average citizen to at least boycott their Jewish neighbors, how could the average citizen claim ignorance of the actions of the Nazi regime? The regime made no secret of its ideology nor of most of its methods and yet, even in the period leading up to the start of the war, yet after the war, people claimed that they did not know what was happening right before their eyes.
The truth is far different, for the regime took great pains to publicize its actions as soon as it took power in 1933. This was especially true in its various police actions within Germany, aimed at the opponents of the regime. These included members of the various left of center political parties, trade union and civic leaders who raised questions about the centralization of power by the Nazis. Then there were the criminal elements who were targeted, including ordinary street criminals, organized gangs, homosexuals, etc. The arrest and incarceration of the individuals of these groups were widely proclaimed in the many newspapers and was presented as providing a return to the days of “law and order” which the average German craved. Lists of criminals and their punishments were proudly printed and the police, set free from the weak leaders of the Weimar Republic, were highlighted as the defenders of the ordinary citizen.
Concentration camps were widely used before the war and were often in very public places. Stories in the newspapers of escaped prisoners where were captured and executed in a camp not unusual. Some camps were worse than others but although there was a press band on the camps in the East after the outbreak of the war, the appearance of “foreign workers”, especially those from the East who were poorly fed and housed could not help but be noticed by local Germans. Even before the war, Jews realized that being sent to a camp could very easily be a death sentence.
The first time there was a negative reaction to the stories of the camps, police and mass arrests, was during the first major action against German Jews. Although Goebbels had hoped that there would be a positive reaction to the Nuremberg Laws which defined who was Jewish and what restrictions could be applied to each class. Due to the common occurrence of marriage between Jews and non-Jews, public reaction was swift in questioning the impact on many German families. Both Jews and non-Jews saw inconsistent policies but as time went on, the average German participated in the boycotts of Jewish stores and turned away from family doctors and dentists who were Jewish under pressure from various state agencies, neighbors, etc.
Once the war had started and stories came back to the homeland about the campaigns in the East, especially after Stalingrad, the general public opinion seemed to be that the Germans themselves were victims and that the war had to be continued to the bitter end. The thought of what would be done to Germany if she lost the war reflected the knowledge of German actions during the war. Enough photos, stories from soldiers’ home on leave, etc. had reached the public to make them realize what was the reality they had created. The need to deny and to appear as a victim helped to create a myth of innocence that was only believed by the Germans themselves and certainly not by the people’s who had suffered at their hands.
The regime had prepared the general population well before the war by the widespread acknowledgment of police activities and the existence of concentration camps. It was only one more small step to spread those accepted activities to the rest of Europe.
