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Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi minister of propaganda, speaks at a rally in favor of the boycott of Jewish-owned shops.

Nazi Propaganda and Censorship

The Nazis used propaganda to win the support of millions of Germans. Censorship helped to suppress ideas that the Nazis saw as threatening. 

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The Nazis wanted Germans to support the Nazi dictatorship and believe in Nazi ideas. To accomplish this goal, they tried to control forms of communication through censorship and propaganda. This included control of newspapers, magazines, books, art, theater, music, movies, and radio.

Nazi Propaganda and Censorship
  • Joseph Goebbels speaks during book burning

    Joseph Goebbels, German propaganda minister, speaks on the night of book burning. Berlin, Germany, May 10, 1933.

  • Students and members of the SA unload materials for book burning

    Students and members of the SA unload books deemed "un-German" during the book burning in Berlin. The banner reads: "German students march against the un-German spirit." Berlin, Germany, May 10, 1933.

  • Cover of a German antisemitic children's book

    Cover of a German antisemitic book for children, Der Giftpilz (The Poisonous Mushroom), published in Germany by Der Stuermer-Verlag.

  • Antisemitic children's book

    Antisemitic children's book published in 1936 in Nuremberg, Germany. The title, in German, is translated as "You Can't Trust a Fox in the Heath and a Jew on his Oath: A Picture Book for Young and Old." The cover depicts a fox in the heath and a caricature of a Jew taking an oath.

  • Julius (Julo) Levin

    Julo was born to a Jewish family in the city of Stettin in northeastern Germany. From an early age Julo showed an interest in art; at 6 he had collected more than 3,000 pictures. His family hoped he would become a businessman, but his interest in painting absorbed all his energy. In 1926 he graduated from art school and by 1931 he secured his first commission in Duesseldorf.

    1933-39: Until the Nazis came to power in 1933, Julo was a highly regarded artist. The Nazis' strict interpretation of art, however, left little room for expression. Many artists who did not support the Nazis were labeled communists or "degenerates." In 1933 he was arrested and forbidden to show his work in public. Julo began to teach art in Berlin's Jewish schools in 1936.

    1940-43: When the Nazis closed the school where he was teaching in 1941, he was assigned to work as a handyman. Working at the train yard he saw freight trains crammed with Berlin's Jews leaving continuously to the east, and when these trains returned empty, he cleaned the wagons of blood and excrement. On New Year's Eve 1942 Julo made a woodcut titled "Cart rolling downhill," reflecting these dreadful events. He sent it to a friend. On May 17, 1943, he was arrested and deported to Auschwitz.

    Julo died in Auschwitz. His precise date of death cannot be determined. His artwork, and that of his students, was preserved by his friends.

How did the Nazis use censorship? 

When the Nazis came to power in 1933, the German constitution guaranteed freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Through decrees and laws, the Nazis abolished these civil rights and destroyed German democracy. Starting in 1934, it was illegal to criticize the Nazi government. Even telling a joke about Hitler was considered treachery. People in Nazi Germany could not say or write whatever they wanted. 

Examples of censorship under the Nazis included:

  • closing down or taking over anti-Nazi newspapers; 
  • controlling what news appeared in newspapers, on the radio, and in newsreels;
  • banning and burning books that the Nazis categorized as un-German; and
  • controlling what soldiers wrote home during World War II.

How did the Nazis use propaganda?

The Nazis used propaganda to promote their ideas and beliefs. Beginning in March 1933, the regime tried to centralize its propaganda efforts in a new ministry led by Joseph Goebbels. This ministry was called the Reich Ministry of Enlightenment and Propaganda. 

The Nazis used a variety of propaganda tools to spread Nazi ideas. Examples of propaganda under the Nazis included: 

  • glorifying Adolf Hitler by using his image on postcards, posters, and in the press; 
  • spreading negative images and ideas about Jews in magazines, films, cartoons, and other media; 
  • making radios more affordable so that more Germans could listen to Nazi ideas and news;
  • broadcasting Nazi speeches on the radio and public loudspeakers;
  • organizing large and celebratory Nazi Party rallies; and
  • creating groups, like the Hitler Youth and League of German Girls, that fostered Nazi ideals.

How did propaganda and censorship work together?

Textbooks are a good example of how propaganda and censorship worked together in the Nazi regime. The Nazis used both propaganda and censorship to control what students read in school. Nazi censors removed some textbooks from classrooms. New textbooks taught students to obey the Nazi Party, love Hitler, and hate Jews.

Last Edited: Sep 23, 2025
Author(s): United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC

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