Randall Bytwerk, Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan (USA), has been interested in Nazi propaganda since 1970, and developed an interest in East German propaganda around 1980. 'I have published a variety of books and articles on the subject, and just finished a book comparing Nazi and East German propaganda, to be published by Michigan State University Press in April 2004. Its title is Bending Spines: The Propagandas of Nazi Germany and the German Democratic Republic. A new edition of my book Julius Streicher was published in September 2001. ... The German Propaganda Archive is a growing collection of English translations of propaganda material from Nazi Germany and the German Democratic Republic.
The GPA got started on a whim. I had some translations of material I had done for my students, and thought it might be worth the trouble to put them on the web. Calvin College then decided to encourage faculty to use the Web by providing student assistance. ... There are two primary kinds of material. First, I include a variety of propaganda material designed to influence the citizenry. Second, I have included the "behind the scenes" material designed for propagandists themselves. It was rarely all that secret, but gives an idea of the strategies being followed.I am avoiding material otherwise available. For example, I do not plan to put many of Hitler's speeches on the GPA, since there is a full English translation of most of them available in a four-volume edition by Max Domarus. Remember that this is propaganda! Its makers did not hesitate to stretch the truth or lie outright in pursuit of their persuasive goals. Even today, there are people who are so impressed by Leni Riefenstahl's film Triumph of the Will that they imagine that that is really the way Nazi Germany looked.
