The Third Reich used extensive propaganda measures such as visual media, as well traditional forms to disseminate their National Socialist ideologies. Despite the variety of propaganda employed, posters were arguably the most influential and ubiquitous type of media, as they were open to a wider public and expressed Nazi messages the most clearly. In consolidating the Nazi state, the Reich’s Propaganda Ministry adopted the notion of Volksgemeinschaft (“The National Community”). Kamenetsky illustrates the decisive role of the traditional German values of “Volk” and “Blut und Boden” (Blood and Soil) in building a new “folk Reich” and reinforcing classical societal roles. Arguably, the Nazis exploited the precarious political, economic and social environment in Germany to materialize the goals of their party and as a result shaped German national identity. The cultural artifacts explored in this essay are a series of Nazi propaganda posters, which treat different target groups of the party such as the family unit, the youth as well as the state’s enemies, namely the Jews and the Bolsheviks.
