How effective was Nazi propaganda? Did most Germans really believe the propaganda, or did they just pretend to out of fear?

by Tamburrelo
Sea-Gear334

Nazi propaganda was arguably one of the most effective eras of propaganda for a number of reasons. Joseph Goebbels institutionalized propaganda, basically turning it into a corporation, that made it virtually impossible to conduct your life without some sort of Nazi influence. This meant that whether you liked it or not, the average German citizen's life was consumed entirely by Nazi propaganda. What did this look like in practice? Well, a mother who wanted to take cooking classes would be met with Nazi themed cooking classes, i.e., "the best recipes for a National Socialist soldier." Any and all women's groups, be it knitting, book club, etc, were organized through the Nazi party - this was the same for men. Children had to be enrolled in a number of Hitler Youth programs - you actually could not attend a University in Germany without showing your history of participation in Nazi organized programs. There were, in fact, average German citizens who had little to no desire of being involved in politics - however, the second you stepped foot outside your home, you would be met with an overwhelming display of state organized propaganda that made it almost impossible not to believe in it. To put it simply, the more detached or unwillingly you were to engage in the propaganda machine - it would've only been a matter of time until the SS showed up at your door.