Propaganda And Censorship In Nazi Germany

Society is driven by many forces created by human interaction. Politics is one of the most influential and important human organizations simply because of the fact that it holds together the fabric of our social systems. Politics is driven by many mediums, one of which is propaganda through music. In the years between 1939 and 1945, Europe underwent a drastic change due to new political control by the National Socialist Party, and the events surrounding World War Two. Propaganda and censorship were at an all time high during this period of time, therefore music was widely influenced. Music that was traditionally used to portray positive German history was warped to fit the ideals of the Nazi Party as well as influence the highly impressionable
Before the Reichsmusikkammer came to be, “Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels had unveiled a mammoth new organization called the Reichskulturkammer, the Reich Culture Chamber,” (Goldsmith, 70) in 1933. As the Reichskulturkammer progressed, it “was subdivided into separate chambers for music, theater, the visual arts, literature, film, radio, and the press.” (Goldsmith, 70) In 1933, the Reichsmusikkammer was formed to get a proper handle on the way German music was portrayed. On November 15, Joseph Goebbels announced that composer, Richard Strauss, was to be the new head of the Reichsmusikkammer. The Reichskulturkammer and all of chambers associated with it, including the Reichsmusikkammer were made to root out non-Aryan aspects of German society and produce material to showcase the new morals behind German music. One of the first things produced by the Reichsmusikkammer was a piece written by Paul Hindemith called Mathis der Maler (“The Mathis Symphony”). The symphony was intended to be an opening work from the Reichsmusikkammer to showcase a new and bold orchestral sound. As the onset of World War Two came near, the Reichsmusikkammer began to hold music days to influence large amounts of citizens all at once. The musical “holidays” were called Reichsmusikstage (Reich music days) and held significance because of the fact that they were intended to seem like a German tradition when, in reality, they were a forceful display of music that held no place in the hearts of German people. Exploited musical groups, including the Hitlerjugund (Hitler youth), gathered from around the world to perform in the Reich Music Days. In opening, Joseph Goebbels discussed “degenerate” music in Germany such as jazz, modernism and the dominating Bolshevik and Jewish music styles in Germany. Goebbels’ speech made