All They Like Sheep – an important wartime publication exposing the propaganda methods of the German Reich. The German people are likened to a flock of sheep (as Hitler himself described them) – obedient, lacking independent thought, blindly following ideology without question. By Howard Spring, published by The Sun Engraving Co., London, [1941] – first edition.
A scathing pamphlet published in London during the early months following the outbreak of World War II, aiming to expose to the British public the propaganda methods of the German Reich. The pamphlet illustrates how the German people behave with complete herd mentality, showing blind obedience to the whims and lies of the Führer. The title of the pamphlet is taken from Hitler’s own words in Mein Kampf, where he described his people as “a large, stupid flock of sheep, easy to lead, ” who “believe and obey because they are too stupid to understand.” The author, with biting irony, adds: “Here is Hitler’s view of the people’s role. This is his inner and essential perception of the ‘Aryan’ race—for whose advancement cities must be bombed, women and children crushed beneath tanks, and homes smashed to dust. All for the sake of the sheep – ‘too stupid to understand.’ Remember Hitler’s estimation of the ‘masters of the world’ the next time you hear Germans boasting of that title.”
Harvard describes in detail how Hitler took control of all media and press outlets in Germany in order to produce a unified voice, emphasizing the strategic choice to appoint Goebbels at the head of the propaganda apparatus. He highlights the exclusive and powerful role Hitler assigned to Goebbels in shaping public opinion: “From Goebbels’s mouth flowed the daily directives: what to write, how to write it, what must not be mentioned, what is or isn’t appropriate to say on the radio, what will or will not appear on cinema screens — so that what would be heard and seen would be the voice of the Führer, not the voice of the nation.” In doing so, Hitler turned the lie into the foundation of his governing policy.
The author presents a series of examples of lies spread widely by Goebbels — claims that would make any Briton laugh, yet in Germany were regarded as absolute truth, such as: “The Boy Scouts movement is a network of young spies”; “In England, children rummage through garbage bins to find food”; “The Polish army did not receive weapons from England because the Jews of London didn’t profit from the deal.”
The writer also cites Hitler’s own words to illustrate how he viewed the role of lies in influencing the masses: “Here is Hitler’s recipe for leading a great nation: ‘Make the propaganda lies big enough – and they will believe them.’ And: ‘Through constant and skillful use of propaganda, it is possible to make people see even the most miserable life as a paradise.’”
Harvard goes on to describe how Germany also succeeded in infiltrating and influencing the global press network prior to the outbreak of the war:
“Germany’s journalistic representation abroad was often entirely disproportionate to the actual news value of the locations they were stationed in. In the summer of 1938, for example, there were 83 official Nazi journalists in London, at least three times the number legitimately required for their work.” After laying out the system, Harvard concludes with a clear warning: “Today, when we read such nonsense, we tend to shake our heads and smile. But we mustn’t be so quick to mock. We are not expected to believe these things, but there are millions of listeners, in Germany and in other countries, who have no way of knowing that they are lies. We, to a great extent, can still look into Germany, hear what is said there, and know the truth. But the Germans are trapped in an airtight cell of propaganda. They have no way to peek outside. For simply reading a pamphlet like this they could be interrogated; for listening to a foreign broadcast, sent to a concentration camp, and there experience more than just ‘concentration’…”.
The stark message is amplified by the group of photographs on the pamphlet’s cover, faces of sheep alongside German soldiers in identical helmets. The visual resemblance between the soldiers’ faces and those of the sheep powerfully conveys the idea of blind obedience and the complete absence of independent thought, like a flock of sheep following their blind leader, wherever he may go.
30 pages. Minor loss at the lower right corner of the cover. Good condition.
