German Propaganda during the German Occupation of Greece   (1941–1944) 

Connection to prior learning

Let’s now see what we remember from the previous activity

Can you answer the True/False questions?

Note for the teacher: If you are in a classroom, show the PowerPoint presentation   ppt  and ask your students to respond experientially using a red card for True and a white card for False.

The questions along with their answers are also available here. 

Introduction

Here you can see how hate speech was cultivated in the children’s books of Nazi Germany. 

Section  1  - Those who collaborated

Now you will watch a video  (here)  and read a written source (here) in order to understand the historical events of the Occupation period and to become aware of the concept of collaboration.

The written source is from the book by Menelaos Charalambidis, “Collaborators – Armed, Political and Economic Cooperation during the Years of the Occupation”, Alexandria Publications, 2023.

You have now understood that collaborators were partners of the occupiers!

Section 2 - Germans in Athens - Propaganda

Next, you will listen to the final announcement of the Athens radio station, just a few hours before the Nazis entered the Greek capital on April 27, 1941.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJCS7FQ6OyY 

Let us see how the occupiers presented daily life in Greece:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFROGgM6dQg 

However, reality was different, as shown in the documentary “The Partisans of Athens” (2018 – Directed by X. Vardaros, G. Xydas).

Watch  here a very interesting excerpt.

You can also watch the full documentary:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlaGFmnOjAI

Take a moment to reflect:

1.      Is the message from the radio announcement confirmed by the videos you watched?

2.      What kind of lies are being told?

3.  What means are used?

In the following photos, you can see Greek collaborators with the Germans, as well as newspapers of the time serving the occupier.

Section 3 - It is time to “confront” propaganda…

Note for the teacher: If you are in a classroom, ask your students to work collaboratively in groups on the worksheet (here) and then present their answers, using a red card for True and a white card for False where needed.

With the activities that follow, after working with your group, we want you to recognize the forms of Nazi and collaborationist propaganda in Greece during the period 1941–1944.

1.      According to the sources we studied, which of the following forms of propaganda do you think were most commonly used during the Occupation by the Nazis in Greece? Choose three (3).
a) Control of the media
b) Posters and leaflets
c) Symbols and emblems
d) Creation of enemies
e) Control of education
f) Use of radio and cinema
g) Cultural propaganda – connection with ancient Greek civilization
h) (Pseudo)scientific propaganda
i) Cultivation of the Leader’s image
j) Distortion of reality

2. Which of the two photographs would the collaborationist press choose, and what caption might accompany it?

3. During the Occupation period, Germans were presented in pro-Nazi newspapers as (you may select more than one answer):

• Heroes and victors on every front

• Humane and close to every citizen

• Violent and suffering

• Hardworking

• Indifferent to culture, heroes in battle

 4. Who do you think took the following photographs and for what purpose?

5.      Fill in the blanks in the following text using some of the words below:
 

gatherings – Metaxas – close – repression – Mussolini – images – comments – speeches – organizations – marches – food – demonstrations – sports teams – propaganda – control – Hitler

The Nazis wanted occupied peoples to support the Nazi dictatorship and believe in Nazi ideas. To achieve this goal, they tried to —------------ the means of communication through censorship and —--------------------. The Nazis used various tools to spread their ideas. Examples of propaganda under the Nazi regime included:

• Glorification of —-------------- through the use of his photograph on postcards, posters, and in the press.

• Spread of negative —-------------- about Jews in magazines, films, cartoons, and other media.

• Broadcasting of Nazi —------------ on the radio and public loudspeakers.

• Organization of large and celebratory —------------- of the Nazi Party

• Creation of —-----------, such as the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls, which promoted Nazi ideals.

(Text from https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/el/article/nazi-propaganda-and-censorship)

The answers are  here

Finally, create a poster or a collage with a propaganda message in favor of war.
What slogan would you use? How would you create it?

Section 4 - Let's see what we remember!

Self-assessment questions follow  here.

Thank you for your participation!!!

😀