12. The Nazi “co-ordination” effort to control the minds of Germans
In the spring of 1933, Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels delivered a speech in which he stated that the purpose of propaganda was to “permeate the person it intends to grasp”. To Goebbels, successful propaganda seized control and shaped a person’s beliefs and attitudes without the person being aware that they were being, as it were, sculpted by another. Beginning in the spring of 1933, all persons in any position who did not fully support the Nazi philosophy and goals were purged, an important part of the civil service “reforms” installed by the Nazis. Another was the mandatory membership in youth organizations, beginning at the age of six for boys, and ten for girls. Following completion of the youth services boys were directed into the armed forces or the labor services. By 1936 over six million Germans were in the Hitler Youth.
In May, 1933, all labor unions in Germany were dissolved by decree and replaced with the Nazi run German Labor Front. Under its wing the party established an organization which it called Strength through Joy (Kraft durch Freude) which mandated all recreational organizations throughout Germany, whether they be football leagues or bridge clubs, be members, and thus under the control of the party and subject to its propaganda. The KDF operated recreation centers, organized day trips and vacation excursions, and held mandatory recreational events for workers across Germany, reaching a membership of more than 25 million before World War II. Other organizations were developed to structure worker activities within industry and in government positions, creating in Germany a situation in which the people were isolated from those the Nazis considered unworthy and suspect.
