Historic resource

[SCG_Neun]

Thought some of you might be interested in this resource...I thought it was pretty cool seeing the actual newspapers of the time and from the German propaganda perspective.....You can search a wide range of years and have resources to other newspapers as well.

 

 http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=ovz&datum=19430120&seite=1&zoom=33

 

For the english take on this....this is a good resource as well.....lots of information here concerning German propaganda and the War period...

 

http://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/

Edited June 13, 2015 by JagdNeun

[Boomerang]

Thanks!

[andyw248]

That's interesting how it took the Volkszeitung 3 days (between Nov 19 and Nov 22) to report about the Soviet offensive in their headlines... and even on Nov 22 and later it was still all about sunk tonnage in the battle of the Atlantic and advances in North Africa. Still browsing to find out at what time they notice there was something going on around Stalingrad

Ah, found it... Nov 25: "Schwere Abwehrkaempfe suedlich Stalingrad" - heavy defensive fighting south of Stalingrad.

...and on Nov 26: "Harte Abwehrkaempfe im grossen Donbogen" - hard defensive fights in the greater Don arc. The article depicts the defensive stance of the German forces pretty well.

...and then from Nov 27 onwards there is daily coverage of the fighting along the Don river.

...also interesting for those that are geographically inclined... they call it the "Kalmueckengebiet" - the area of the Kalmykia, even though that area is actually located east of the Volga.

...and finally on Nov 30 the battles of the Don make their headlines!

...in early December the battle of the Don continues to live on the front page, but still not a headliner... small articles on front page talk about all the victories against the Soviets in that area.

December 5... first time on the headlines! Still no mentioning of a city named Stalingrad... apparently lots of victories in the Don and Kalmykia areas.

...December 6 is disappointing; all the action took place in Tunisia, nothing worthwhile to report from the Don area... but more victories on Dec 7.

...Dec 8: Celebrating Japan's maritime successes.

...Dec 9: An interesting theoretical elaboration on the role of air transport, and how it can substitute land transport. No reason is given why this would be important...

...Dec 10 - another 15 ships sunk in the Atlantic, some minor successes in the east.

...Dec 11 minor news about a minor victory on the Don front. Major discussion about Roosevelt's failures...

...Dec 12: Finally we made the headlines! The Soviets lost 1,262 tanks in ten days! Some high ground had been wrestled from the Soviets! An assault group was taken from the enemy! Ok, that was enough, let's rather switch back to Tunisia...

...more tanks destroyed on Dec 13, nothing on Dec 14.

...Dec 15: Stalemate in the Don area so let's highlight the achievements of some units, for example the "Ostmaerkische Division" which managed to destroy more than a hundred tanks.

[andyw248]

...More random victories between Don and Volga from Dec 16 to Dec 18, always with strong support from the air force.

...But again, on Dec 19 philosophical topics about Islam and Judaism are just so much more important and relegate the fighting in the Don area to second place.

...Dec 19: The Soviets are attacking but are being repelled.

...Dec 20: The German-Italian brotherhood takes first place, but some success between Don and Volga comes in close second on front page.

...Dec 22: Just a brief note today... fighting in the Kaukasus, Black Sea, and at the Don front. Oh, and of course North Africa, let's talk about Tunisia...

...Dec 23: Heavy fighting. We do make the headlines today. Seems it was a defensive battle on the Don river. A large defensive battle...

...Dec 24: The Mediterranean dominates front page. Fighting in the Don area continues, according to the general news.

...Dec 25: Christmas message makes the headlines. Some minor success in the Don area, but only 49 enemy tanks destroyed.

...Dec 26: Less pressure from the Soviets in the Don area. But that's not the headline, of course. The headline is about some French admiral.

...Dec 27: Somewhere in the fineprint on front page: More successes in the Don area - 59 tanks destroyed. Headline is some perceived political differences between Washington and London about how to proceed with North Africa.

...Dec 30: Submarines make the headlines, again! Some minor success in the Don area, apparently... Still no word of that city named Stalingrad.

...Dec 31: Submarines make the headlines, but we do get a summary of the fighting in the Don area further down the page. Quite successful again apparently, as many Soviet attacks were pushed back, tanks destroyed, and fighter and ground attack planes excelled.

...Jan 1: Message from the Fuehrer.

...Jan 2: Summary of tonnage war in the Atlantic. No mentioning of anything else.

...Jan 3: A summary of the number of tanks destroyed so far, somewhere at the bottom of front page.

...Jan 4: Headlines! Success! Pushed back along the front lines in the Don area. But then it's only about 10 lines from the Don area; the article moves on to Tunisia really quick.

...Jan 6: Almost nothing, only a brief note following a more detailed account of fighting at Velikiye Luki.

...Jan 7: Heavy defensive fighting continuing.

...Jan 8: Submarines, submarines

...Jan 9: America's weakness makes the headlines. Otherwise continued heavy fighting in the Don area.

...Jan 10: Major news about a minor success east of Charkow... yes it was heroic, so why not telling the whole story in full detail on front page? Who knows, maybe it's going to be a one-of-a-kind story...

...Jan 11: Don area and submarines rolled into a single article at the bottom of front page.

...Jan 12: Time for another summary of the successes on all fronts, including the Don area, in a small article somewhere in the center of front page.

...Jan 13: Tonnage, tonnage... not much going on at the Don.

...Jan 14: Major article about Velikiye Luki makes the headlines!

...Jan 15: Defensive fighting at Stalingrad. Captain Philipps, a fighter pilot, earns his oak leaves.

...Jan 16: Headlines... The summary states that 5,000 Soviet tanks have been destroyed. It also explains how the Soviets missed their strategic objective. Heavy fighting continues.

...Jan 17: Headlines again. It talks about heroism at Stalingrad. It also reports how an encirclement in Lybia has been repelled.

...Jan 18: Some success at Velikyie Luki makes the headlines! Some success at the southern front (Stalingrad) as well...

...Jan 19: Not a headliner, but troops in Stalingrad still standing.

...Jan 20: Stalingrad makes the headline! Conditions are tough, utmost dedication required to withstand Soviets.

...Jan 21: Defenders of Stalingrad still fighting. Not on the headline though...

...Jan 22: The headlines are all about evil America... But there's a small sidebar praising the heroism of the Stalingrad fighters.

...Jan 23: Big headliner about heroism at Stalingrad.

...Jan 24: Even more praise of heroism on the headlines.

...Jan 25: Stalingrad still in the headlines, plus reports of fighting at other sections of Don front.

...Jan 26: The headliners become more philosophical.

...Jan 27: More heroism... The air force makes attempts to support the encircled fighters... All in the headlines.

...Jan 28: Submarines take the headlines again, but there's a big article talking about the sacrifice at Stalingrad.

...Jan 29: The headlines are about mobilization. There's an article about giving the last sacrifice... and a pretty picture of a female mechanic servicing a Bf-109 in a well-heated hangar... all on front page

...Jan 30: Durchhalteparole (appeal to hold out), taking the entire front page.

...Jan 31: Same, this time in Hitler's words.

...Feb 1: The fuehrer honors the heroes of Stalingrad.

...Feb 2: More successes in the Atlantic. Group Stalingrad had to surrender.

I'm just trying to imagine how parents or spouses would have read the news during these two months...

Edited November 20, 2015 by andyw248