The main task of the Soviet periodicals at all levels during the Great Patriotic War was to raise and strengthen the morale of the citizens of the USSR, to instill in the minds of people the hope of a quick victory over the enemy and the conviction of the invincible combat capability of our army, to form a visible image of the enemy, to evoke a feeling hatred of the occupiers. The main theme around which this image of the enemy was formed was, naturally, publications about the monstrous atrocities of the Nazis on the territory of the USSR.
Residents of the village next to the hanged Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.
The amazing story about the girl Tanya (Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya) and the photograph in which she lies in the snow with a noose around her neck - albeit cynically to say so - are just a rare success for a propagandist. It was necessary to turn this photo into huge billboards (posters on the sides of roads and on city streets) and write on them: “Tanya gave her life for the Motherland. What are you ready for the Motherland ?! " or quite simply "We will not forget, we will not forgive!" - and so everything is clear. But for some reason this was not done on a "tip" from the newspaper …
The same photo …
At the same time, reports about the bullying of the Nazis over the civilian population [1] and over Soviet prisoners of war [2] appeared in the newspapers in the very first days of the war. But here, too, there is clearly a lack of deep understanding of the problem. So, for example, in all publications that reported on the bullying of the German fascists over Soviet prisoners of war, they are captured being wounded! "Sergeant I. Karasev, who escaped from German captivity … witnessed the massacre of wounded prisoners of the Red Army …" [3] - this kind of articles were published one after another. However, if you unconditionally believe the newspapers, it turned out that healthy and full of strength fighters of the Red Army did not fall into captivity, but ended up in captivity only being seriously wounded. But even in this state, they immediately fled from captivity, as did, for example, the seriously wounded Red Army soldier Fesenko, who was taken prisoner by the Germans on the bank of the for some reason unnamed "river P" [4]. Meanwhile, to write about the captured Red Army soldiers, proceeding from the fact that "the soldiers of the Red Army do not surrender," should not be at all. And that's all! Nor should the newspaper have published data on the number of our prisoners. They say that the Germans write them 3.5 million, but in fact, only 500 thousand. But even such a figure at that time looked simply monstrous.
There were also very few materials published about the release from captivity of former Red Army soldiers. But they were. For example, in 1943 in the reports of the Soviet Information Bureau there were only two messages about the release of our soldiers from German captivity [5]. In 1945, the press mentioned former Soviet servicemen returning from German captivity only in passing, in articles about the release of all other prisoners of Hitler's camps [6]. Much more attention was paid to the fate of Soviet citizens deported to work in Germany [7]. But no one interviewed them or even tried to arouse hatred of fascism with a story about the heavy share of our soldiers in German captivity, although during the First World War such materials were constantly published in Russian periodicals, often with photographs. Why hasn't the worthy experience of the past been used now?
The Soviet press reported about military operations abroad dryly and dispassionately, without adding any emotion to the content of the articles [8], since it was unclear who would win there. But the actions of local partisans were reported in a completely different way [9], and it was emphasized that anti-fascist uprisings constantly break out in the countries of Western Europe occupied by the Nazis [10]. The newspapers wrote that all strata of the population, including the intelligentsia, were involved in the active struggle against the invaders [11], and even foreign workers who worked at enterprises in Germany are trying to contribute to the victory over fascism [12].
As already noted, in the first years of the war, the primary tasks of the Soviet press were to stabilize the moral climate in Soviet society and strengthen the conviction of the civilian population in the speedy victory of the Red Army over the enemy. To achieve the desired effect, the Soviet press used a wide variety of techniques, including a very primitive one. So, in the reports of the Sovinformburo, published in the central newspapers on the front pages, at the very beginning of the war there appeared statements by German soldiers who surrendered in the first hours of hostilities against the USSR. Thus, in the first days of the war, the former soldier Alfred Liskoff, whose appeal to the German servicemen was published by all Soviet newspapers, became almost the "main hero" of Soviet central newspapers [13]. From it one could learn that "the German people are waiting for peace", the German army does not want to fight the USSR, and only "the stick of an officer, the threat of execution makes the German soldier fight, but he does not want this war, he longs for peace, as he longs for this peace the whole German people. " Further in the Soviet press, appeals were also published by other servicemen of the German army who voluntarily surrendered in the first days of the war. So, the crew of the German army pilots Hans Hermann, Hans Kratz, Adolf Appel and Wilhelm Schmidt advised the crew of pilots of the German army to voluntarily end the war and surrender [14]. And then in the messages of the Sovinformburo, messages began to appear regularly about German soldiers and their allies who voluntarily surrendered to the soldiers of the Red Army [15]. All of them unanimously stated that they did not want to fight, that “the war was boring” [16], “the war provoked by Hitler brings only misfortune and death to all the peoples of Europe, including the German people” [17]. In the troops of the Hitlerite allies, judging by the materials of Soviet newspapers, the soldiers were beaten with steel whips and chained to machine guns in order to force them to shoot, but they still “did not fire a single bullet at the troops of the Red Army” [18], and the Germans themselves tried to drop bombs "so that they do not cause harm" [19].
In support of these materials, the Soviet press began from the very first days of the war to publish letters from German soldiers killed or wounded in the course of hostilities. These materials, as well as publications about the military operations of our army, were supposed to convince the population of the imminent victory of our people over the fascist invaders and create a vivid and expressive image of the enemy. From them, Soviet citizens learned that defeatist sentiments reign in the enemy army [20]. Such a well-tuned military machine in battles with all of Europe, like the German army, judging by the publications of Soviet newspapers, was characterized by such deep flaws as lack of military discipline, weakness and cowardice of servicemen [21], fear of military hardships and hardships [22], failures in supply of food [23], but the moral climate among the German soldiers was depressing [24].
The letters painted vivid pictures of the hopelessness and despair of the soldiers of the German army, who faced such an invincible enemy as the Red Army. So, from the very first days of the war, the Germans realized that "the Red Army is armed with equipment that is in no way inferior to ours" [25], "the Russians are better and more reliably outfitted for the winter … They endure the difficulties of campaigns better … The commanders are brave and have a lot of experience" [26], and the servicemen of the German army without tanks "are not soldiers, but some timid rabbits" [27]. Judging by the letters home, the soldiers of the German army often had to starve and experience other hardships and deprivations of their marching life [28]. In reality, the soldiers of the German army sent letters home of a completely different content and character [29]. Brought up by the system of German propaganda on a sense of racial superiority, German servicemen treated the population of the USSR as a tribe of "subhumans" and, accordingly, wrote about this to their relatives and friends [30]. This is what you can and should have told the readers of Pravda. So that they know that they are not going to fight with "fearful rabbits", but with people who do not consider them to be people, and bring them death, destruction and slavery worse than in ancient Rome.
In 1943, after the decisive Battle of Stalingrad, the pessimism of letters from German servicemen in Soviet newspapers intensified even more [31]. The soldiers of the German army were simply driven to despair, and were forced to eat dogs and cats [32]. But such letters would hardly have been missed by the German postal censorship. And then the question is - why did they write them then. And everyone knew that we had censorship and the Germans should have it. And then suddenly such letters … But what about the German Gestapo?
Interestingly, the analysis of the frequency of these materials allows us to conclude that the peak of the publication of letters from German soldiers in the Soviet press fell on 1941-1942, i.e. for the most difficult period for our army. In 1943, letters from the Germans were printed less and less, and at the end of the war they disappeared from the pages of the Soviet press altogether, giving way to oral testimony of prisoners of war in the German army.
In addition to the letters of the German soldiers, letters from the German civilian population to their relatives and friends who were fighting on the Eastern Front were also published. The impression from them is that there was no military censorship in Germany, let alone the Gestapo! By reading them, Soviet citizens could see how hard life was in Germany, and, therefore, conclude that the collapse of Hitler's military machine should happen very quickly. And how could it be otherwise, if the civilian population [33] of Germany suffered from cold and hunger, and “various diseases are raging among children” [34]. Since 1943, in the letters of the German civilian population, news of the consequences of the bombings began to appear (this is actually nonsense, no military censorship would have simply missed this, especially the German one, and smart people, of course, understood this!) By the planes of the British Air Force [35] … Here again, it should be said that such publications were popular in the Soviet press only in the first years of the Great Patriotic War, and in 1944-1945. they almost never appeared on the pages of Soviet newspapers.
In addition to reports of the plight of German workers and peasants [36] and defeatist sentiments among the civilian population [37], it was reported that its food situation “was becoming alarmingly bad. Semi-starvation rations are decreasing every month … In the cities, cases of scurvy have become more frequent”[38], and“signs of real decay are found in German industry”[39],“terrible fatigue reigns everywhere”[40]. Again, when writing such materials, you should look very carefully at the time. And keep in mind when this or that event happens. It was obvious that victory would not come soon. Otherwise, people will say - "they said fatigue, but they are all fighting and fighting." And it will be like with the "world revolution", which was written about in the 20s and even in the 30s, but it still did not come.
By the way, were there examples of successful foresight at that time? That is, correctly disseminated information! Yes they were!!! But not in the newspapers, but in the movies. In 1943, director Pyriev began filming the film "The Daughter of Moscow", which was released in 1944 under the title "At six o'clock in the evening after the war." And there the forecast for victory was announced very accurately. The man thought, maybe he consulted with the experts, and gave an amazing means of mass influence on the audience, very lyrical and optimistic, brightening up the expectation and its hardships, with a wonderful ending. That is, individual people could …
1. News. July 17, 1941. No. 167. C.1; Nazi atrocities in Brest and Minsk // Izvestia. August 10, 1941. No. 188. C.1; The face of the Hitlerite army // Izvestia. August 31, 1941. No. 206. C.3; Curse // True. January 10, 1942. No. 10. C.3; Monstrous atrocities of Hitler's robbers // Pravda. January 23, 1942. No. 23. C.3; Fascist robbery in Ukraine // Pravda. March 21, 1942. No. 80. C.3; The atrocities of the Germans in the Maikop oil fields // Pravda. February 11, 1943. No. 42. C.3; The bloody atrocities of the Nazis in the village of Alekseevka, Stalingrad region // Pravda. March 17, 1943. No. 73. C.3; The bossy of the Nazis in Estonia // Pravda. March 1, 1943. No. 60. C.4; On the massive forced withdrawal of peaceful Soviet citizens into German-fascist slavery and on the responsibility for this crime of the German authorities and private individuals who exploit the forced labor of Soviet citizens in Germany // Pravda. May 12, 1943. No. 121. C.1; In German slavery // Pravda. May 30, 1943. No. 137. C.3; Terror and robberies of the Nazis in Estonia // Pravda. February 9, 1944. No. 34. C.4
2. News. August 4, 1941. No. 183. C.1; News. September 11, 1941. No. 215. C.2; Mockery of the Nazis over Soviet prisoners of war in Norway // Pravda. January 3, 1942. No. 3. C.4; The brutal treatment of Soviet prisoners of war by the Germans // Pravda. January 10, 1942. No. 10. C.4; Fascist scoundrels burn prisoners of the Red Army // Pravda. January 13, 1942. No. 13. C.3; Mockery of Soviet prisoners of war in Finland // Pravda. January 14, 1942. No. 14. C.4; The monstrous bullying of the Nazis over the captured Red Army soldiers in Norway // Pravda. February 13, 1942. No. 44. C.4; Mockery of Soviet prisoners of war in Romania // Pravda. January 18, 1942. No. 49. C.4; The Nazis' reprisals against Soviet prisoners of war in Norway // Pravda. March 4, 1942. No. 63. C.4; The brutality of the Finnish fascist executioners // Pravda. August 29, 1942. No. 241. C.4; Truth. January 3, 1943. No. 3. C.3; The brutal treatment of Soviet prisoners of war by the Germans // Pravda. January 29, 1943. No. 29. C.4; Truth. March 26, 1943. No. 81. C.2; Truth. June 30, 1943. No. 163. C.1; The Nazis shoot Soviet prisoners of war // Pravda. February 10, 1944. No. 35. C.4; The atrocities of the Germans in the Pruszków concentration camp // Pravda. January 26, 1945. No. 22. C.4;
3. From the Soviet Information Bureau // Stalin Banner. July 12, 1941. No. 162. C.1
4. Stalin's Banner. July 27, 1941. No. 175. C.1
5. True. January 14, 1943. No. 14. C.3; Truth. August 4, 1943. No. 193. C.1
6. From German bondage // Pravda. March 5, 1945. No. 55. C.3;
7. True. February 23, 1943. No. 54. C.2; Truth. March 12, 1943. No. 69. C.1; Truth. May 14, 1943. No. 123. C.1; Truth. May 14, 1943. No. 123. C.1; Truth. May 22, 1943. No. 130. C.1; Truth. June 17, 1943. No. 152. C.1; Truth. August 16, 1943. No. 204. C.1; Truth. March 9, 1944. No. 59. C.4; Forcibly driven away Soviet people do not submit to Hitler's monsters // Pravda. March 16, 1944. No. 65. C.4; Soviet citizens return from Romanian captivity // Pravda. October 19, 1944. No. 251. C.4
8. See, for example: Stalin's Banner. January 12, 1941. No. 10. C.4; Stalin's Banner. January 14, 1941. No. 11. C.4; Stalin's Banner. January 15, 1941. No. 12. C.4; Stalin's Banner. January 16, 1941. No. 13. C.4
9. Europe in the fight against Hitler // Pravda. January 19, 1943. No. 19. C.4; Partisan movement - a serious threat to the rear of the Hitlerite army // Pravda. July 8, 1943. No. 170. C.4
10. Yugoslavian peasants sabotaging the activities of the occupiers // Pravda. July 9, 1943. No. 171. C.4; Anti-German demonstrations in Denmark // Pravda. July 21, 1943. No. 181. C.4; Anti-Hitler Demonstrations in Copenhagen // Pravda. July 18, 1943. No. 178. C.4; Anti-German demonstrations in Lyon // Pravda. August 20, 1943. No. 207. C.4; Armed clash between the population of the city of Yassy and the German troops // Pravda. March 4, 1944. No. 55. C.4
11. The intelligentsia of the occupied countries in the fight against Hitlerism // Pravda. November 29, 1943. No. 294. C.4
12. True. May 15, 1943. No. 124. C.1; Truth. May 21, 1943. No. 129. C.1; Sabotage of Foreign Workers in Germany // Pravda. March 2, 1944. No. 53. C.4; Mass exodus of foreign workers from German enterprises // Pravda. March 4, 1944. No. 55. C.4; Mass exodus of foreign workers from camps in Germany // Pravda. March 17, 1944. No. 93. C.4;
13. News. June 27, 1941. No. 150. C.1; The story of the German soldier Alfred Liskof // Izvestia. June 27, 1941. No. 150. C.2; Stalin's Banner. June 27, 1941. No. 149. С.1
14. Stalin's Banner. June 29, 1941. No. 151. P.1
15. News. June 29, 1941. No. 152. C.1; News. July 20, 1941. No. 171. C.1; News. August 21, 1941. No.200. C.2; Truth. July 15, 1943. No. 176. C.3; Truth. January 2, 1944. No. 2. C.1
16. News. June 26, 1941. No. 149. C.1
17. Stalin's Banner. June 29, 1941. No. 151. P.1
18. News. July 29, 1941. No. 177. C.1
19. Stalin's Banner. June 29, 1941. No. 151. P.1
20. Izvestia. August 5, 1941. No. 184. C.1
21. Ibid. August 19, 1941. No. 195. C.1
22. True. January 1, 1942. No. 1. C.1
23. News. August 16, 1941. No. 193. C.1; Truth. February 19, 1942. No. 50. C.1; Truth. March 1, 1942. No. 67. C.1
24. Testimony of the dead // Truth. January 12, 1942. No. 12. C.2; Truth. January 20, 1942. No. 20. C.1; Reflections of a German Soldier // Pravda. April 22, 1942. No. 112. C.3
25. News. August 5, 1941. No. 184. C.1
26. True. March 14, 1942. No. 73. C.1
27. News. August 19, 1941. No. 195. C.1
28. The sad howl of the fascist-German newspaper // Pravda. January 11, 1942. No. 11. C.4; Truth. March 8, 1942. No. 67. C.1
29. On both sides of the front. Letters from Soviet and German soldiers 1941-1945 M., 1995.
30. Ibid. P.202
31. True. January 10, 1943. No. 14. C.3; Truth. February 7, 1943. No. 38. C.3; Truth. May 10, 1943. No. 120. C.3
32. True. January 31, 1943. No. 31. C.3
33. True. January 21, 1942. No. 21. C.1; Truth. May 26, 1943. No. 133. C.1; Truth. July 7, 1943. No. 169. C.1
34. Ibid. January 12, 1942. No. 12. C.2
35. Ibid. May 29, 1943. No. 136. C.1; Truth. June 5, 1943. No. 142. C.3; Truth. June 25, 1943. No. 159. C.1
36. The situation of peasants in fascist Germany // Izvestia. July 12, 1941. №163. C.3; The growth of diseases in Germany // Pravda. February 15, 1942. No. 46. C.4; Typhus epidemic in Germany // Pravda. February 27, 1943. No. 27. C.4; Evacuation of German cities // Pravda. August 19, 1943. No. 203. C.4
37. Fatigue, apathy, the only desire is peace. Swedish newspaper about moods in Berlin // Izvestia. August 14, 1941. No. 218. C.4; Depressed mood in Germany // Izvestia. August 8, 1941. No. 186. C.3; There are many pessimists in Germany // Pravda. February 22, 1942. No. 53. C.4; No fun in the German rear // Pravda. March 11, 1942. No. 70. C.4;
38. The population of Germany on the eve of the third military winter // Izvestia. September 5, 1941. No. 210. C.4
39. The situation in Germany // Pravda. January 9, 1944. No. 11. C.4
40. Swiss press on the situation in Germany. // Truth. April 16, 1944. No. 92. C.4
