IMPROVING PROPAGANDA
Sta,—The actual value of good propaganda undoubtedly increases with the prolongation of the war. Is there still room for improvement in propaganda against Nazi-Germany? How many Germans listen to the German news from the B.B.C.? How many Germans have ever seen a pamphlet dropped by the R.A.F.? After four years of war, we can hardly see any effect of our propaganda on Nazi-Germany. The Underground movement and the acts of sabotage in the factories were not inspired by propaganda. That does not mean that all our efforts in conducting good anti-Nazi propaganda have been in vain, but we haven't realised the change of the political situation between 194o and 1943 in our " word warfare." Today, the question " Why was your husband in our country, Frau Kramer? " with which the Russian propaganda system so successfully appealed to the widow Frau Kramer at the beginning of Hitler's invasion of Russia, has lost its psychological effect, as also has Frau Wernicke's talk in Berlin dialect from the B.B.C. Nazi-Germany is on the wane ; one internal crisis is followed by another ; the German General Staff have disagreed over the policy of the S.S.; von Runstedt has already admitted that Germany cannot win this war. Did we ever seize the opportunity of making use of such good fortune? We must remember that Nazi-Germany is built up on a grand propaganda scheme introduced by Goebbels long before the Nazi Party came to power. Certainly we must beat Nazi-Germany on the battlefield, but, at the same time, the way to destroy the myth of Nazism is by means of propaganda warfare.
"Why is Hans retreating in Italy, and Fritz in Russia? " " Did the Fuhrer order this retreat? " The R.A.F. has destroyed the homes of Ham and Fritz in Berlin, but do Hans and Fritz know why? The Three-Power Conference in Moscow has already decided the future of Germany ; it is still a secret to us, and to Hans. But why don't we give Hans some indication that the Four Freedoms of the Atlantic Charter will give him the same rights and privileges as us, if he recognises the evil for which he was fighting or is still fighting? In common language, We could explain that the " Luftwaffe" has destroyed our homes in Coventry, Birmingham and London ; that you, Hans, have bombed defenceless women, children and cripples in Warsaw, Rotterdam and Belgrade. Now, Hans, the R.A.F. is hitting back until you decide to get rid of your leaders, who aren't leaders, but gangsters.
It is easy to say or to write such proposals, but the German mentality has been nourished for years on the weapon of propaganda. Perhaps they wouldn't react to those suggestions of anti-Nazi propaganda, but by saying it over and over again, with the bombs on Berlin and leaflets explaining the action taken by the R.A.F., in a whispering campaign, Frau Schmidt will tell Frau Muller why they bombed Berlin or Munich again. No Gestapo terror can stop Frau Schmidt or Frau Muller from thinking that their husbands and sons are in a hopeless struggle, or that the decline of Nazi-Germany is appearing on the horizon, as surely as day follows night.—Yours sincerely, JOSEF GETA.
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