Surrender as the main theme of German propaganda for the Red Army
Warning! This article is for informational and educational purposes only. It is based on historical facts confirmed by sources and does not contain propaganda, justification or approval of the ideology, policies, actions or symbols of the Third Reich.
This article will discuss additional informational narratives in German leaflet propaganda. It will also continue the classification of Nazi leaflets addressed to Red Army soldiers, begun in the previous two articles.
Leaflets with an appeal to a specific military unit
In this case, propaganda materials were addressed to soldiers of a specific division or regiment of the Red Army. They were filled with as much specific information as possible about the combat history of the unit or division addressed. To achieve this, a dossier was maintained for each military unit from the very beginning of the war, detailing its combat history.
These leaflets recalled the losses previously suffered by a specific military unit, as well as other difficulties it had encountered. These propaganda leaflets often demonstrated full awareness of the battle's progress and claimed that Soviet propaganda was deceiving, and that the reality was as described in the German leaflet.
In addition, there were propaganda materials containing the names of soldiers and officers known to fighters from specific Red Army units. A common tactic was for captured prisoners to address comrades from their own unit.
Examples of specific regiments and divisions that had already been destroyed were also given. It was stated that if the leaflet's recipients continued to resist, the same fate awaited them.
A template leaflet where one could enter the desired regiment number, name, and signature as confirmation of the entry. The information could be entered by Germans themselves who could write in Russian.
An interesting leaflet in which Soviet soldiers are called "doomed to die"
Leaflets referencing documents
To lend credibility to their news reports, the Germans cited various documents. These included orders discrediting the Soviet command, letters to Red Army soldiers from their families describing the terrible conditions in the rear, letters from Soviet soldiers who had died or surrendered, and other captured documents. Given the shortage of documents suitable for propaganda, the Nazis actively created their own. The texts of these forged documents, like other leaflets, were intended to address pressing issues facing Red Army soldiers. Facsimile images of the documents were included in the leaflets to support enemy propaganda points.
The most important of these documents was Order No. 13 of the Supreme Command of the German Army, "On Red Army Servicemen Who Voluntarily Came Over to the Side of the German Army." The order was created to encourage defections to the Germans and eradicate Soviet soldiers' fear of German captivity. It also promised a number of benefits for those held captive by the Germans and established the status of "voluntarily defected" instead of the harsher "prisoner of war."
This order actually didn't exist; leaflets containing it were created in the spring of 1943 as part of a German psychological operation codenamed "Silver Streak." The main goal of this operation was to disseminate information about the formation of the ROA (Russian Liberation Army), which Soviet prisoners of war could join. The order was subsequently frequently referenced in other leaflets.
A leaflet containing facsimile images of letters from the wife and daughter of a Red Army soldier. The letters were likely written by Wehrmacht propagandists.
Another leaflet with a facsimile image inciting Soviet soldiers against the NKVD
A leaflet with imitation handwriting. It contains a message supposedly from a Soviet prisoner of war, describing how well the Germans treated him.
The full text of the non-existent order No. 13. This false order was created solely to try to eradicate the fear of German captivity among Soviet soldiers.
An interesting leaflet for the civilian population of the USSR, namely for the wives and mothers of Soviet soldiers
Another leaflet-appeal from a supposedly captured Red Army soldier to his former company comrades
Leaflets containing news from the outside world
Sometimes propaganda relied on events and information from third parties, hoping it would appear unimpeded by censorship in both Germany and the Soviet Union. During the Great Patriotic War, England and America were the USSR's main allies, so Wehrmacht propagandists sought to undermine Red Army soldiers' confidence in foreign aid. Such leaflets instilled in Soviet soldiers the idea that the Allied countries considered the war lost, that the Soviet Union had been betrayed, and that there was no help to be had.
The leaflets also stated that capitalist England and America were in fact enemies of the USSR and had no intention of assisting the Red Army in the fight against fascism. Furthermore, it was often stated that the Soviet Union's leadership was in cahoots with the capitalists and was handing over to them the national wealth of the USSR's peoples, while the German army was bringing liberation and wanted to put an end to this.
Leaflets with frontline news
This type of leaflet was distributed as supposedly "true information" about the situation on all or a specific front. In their leaflets, German propagandists often wrote something like this: "Your command and political officers are lying to you! Don't believe them. They are hiding from you the truth about the real situation at the front and in the world."
After such statements, the need arose to provide some "truthful" information to Soviet soldiers. To this end, leaflets were periodically issued, portraying events in a favorable light for the Germans, or even reporting on events that never happened.
These leaflets were intended to sow doubt in the minds of Soviet soldiers and also give them food for thought in their free time. After all, the Red Army soldiers understood that they were receiving no information other than military newspapers and what their command provided. All this could contribute to the spread of rumors within military units and even beyond them. At the top of the leaflet, it was clearly written: "Read-destroy-verbally pass on to your comrades." Similar news rather undermined the morale of the fighters than encouraged them to surrender to the Germans.
The leaflet seems to imply to the Red Army soldier that the Germans understand he is under constant surveillance by his command, political officers, and other informers. Therefore, this "truth" can only be discussed secretly with comrades.
Such information leaks, designed to spread rumors, could be effective in military units where internal party-political work with personnel was poorly conducted, or sometimes nonexistent. And it was precisely this work that served as a kind of "shield" to repel enemy propaganda and agitation.
Leaflets showing death and destruction
These leaflets were created solely for the purpose of intimidation. They exploited the ultimate human fear—the fear of death. This was reinforced by photographs of dead soldiers, destroyed equipment, ruined buildings, and other similar images. They also detailed the Red Army's losses, including personnel and equipment losses, and the lines captured by the Germans. When the tide of the war turned toward the Soviet Union, drawings sometimes began to be used in leaflets instead of real photographs, as Nazi Germany's victories dwindled.
Despite the simplicity and effectiveness of this method, such leaflets were rarely issued on the Eastern Front, while they were quite common on the Western Front. This is likely due to the fact that, due to the mentality and intense ideological work within the Red Army and in the rear, such displays only fostered greater unity and hatred of the enemy.
This method was actively used by many countries in military conflicts, for example, by Finnish propagandists in the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939–1940.
Leaflets for transfer to captivity
One of the main goals of almost all German leaflets was to encourage Soviet soldiers to defect. Most leaflets featured an image of a pass with the clarification that it was valid for an unlimited number of soldiers and officers (at the beginning of the war, up to 50 people could defect with a single pass). The passes contained a slogan to be shouted to indicate their intention to defect to the Germans ("Stab your bayonets!", "Stalin kaput!", and others).
The Nazis understood that to get Soviet soldiers to surrender, they had to promise them what they most needed. Primarily, this meant an escape from the war, tasty food, and warm housing. To this end, a huge number of leaflets were produced, depicting the good life in German captivity. Most of these leaflets featured photographs of Soviet soldiers, supposedly already captured. The photographs depicted the soldiers eating delicious food, working in their chosen field, relaxing, playing cards, participating in camp festivities, and so on.
Of course, the vast majority of the photographs were staged. They depicted German soldiers dressed in Soviet uniforms, or they were photos of Soviet prisoners of war taken under threat of death. But, of course, there were also collaborators.
The most recognizable of these propaganda materials are the "Listen to What Your Comrades Say!" leaflets. They featured a photograph of a prisoner of war and, in his own name, a description of how well the Germans were treating him and how all Soviet propaganda about the Germans was a lie.
Leaflets with the title "Follow Your Comrades!" were also popular. These leaflets listed the Red Army units that had surrendered and published the total number of soldiers who had defected to the Germans (usually inflated). This information appealed to the herd mentality. Despite the hardships of war, it was easy to think that if so many had defected and survived, they could follow their example, especially if the soldiers recognized the names of the divisions published in the leaflets or the names of their comrades.
There were also more inventive means, such as the distribution of booklets titled "Not Only for You, but Also for Your Comrades," featuring numerous detachable blanks and cartoons. Also worth mentioning were leaflets announcing that the Red Army contained many enemies of Stalin and soldiers collaborating with the German army. These leaflets recommended joining the Communist Party and "being a model communist" to deflect commanders' suspicions of disloyalty to Soviet power, thereby making it easier to defect to the Germans.
This type of leaflet also emphasized the importance of providing practical recommendations and a step-by-step procedure for Red Army soldiers (a kind of "road map"). The leaflets were supposed to explain how to separate from one's unit, how best to cross the front line, how to safely and correctly defect to the German side, and how to behave when doing so.
Of particular note were the leaflets, which detailed how to feign symptoms of various illnesses and injure oneself in order to be admitted to hospital, deceive doctors, and thus avoid combat.
A leaflet with a sequence of steps for going into captivity. Written in cursive to attract attention due to its unusualness.
A leaflet reminding Soviet soldiers of the delicious food that supposedly awaited them in German captivity.
A leaflet with an unusual message
Detailed instructions for entering German captivity. Described specific actions were crucial to achieving results, as it's one thing to call for help, and quite another to actually do it.
It's also worth noting that Nazi propagandists didn't use "pornographic" propaganda against Red Army soldiers. Meanwhile, on the Western Front, the Germans actively distributed leaflets featuring naked women and accompanying slogans. These were intended to distract young men from the war, appeal to their instincts, and remind them of peaceful life, perhaps even of their beautiful wives or girlfriends, thereby lowering their morale.
The absence of such a direction on the Eastern Front probably indicated that the Germans, having previously studied the population of the USSR, came to the conclusion that its moral level was high and that this type of propaganda was ineffective.
Following three articles in which I analyzed and systematized the main directions of fascist propaganda materials, I would like to once again draw attention to the serious information threat faced by citizens of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War.
And the past, as we know, always influences the present...
In the next article, I will discuss the methods the Germans used to “deliver” their printed propaganda materials to Red Army soldiers.
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