Les Hommes verts nouvelle collection histoires et témoignages de notre époque – “The Green Men – Stories and Testimonies: A New Contemporary Collection” By Roland Lennad, Published and Photographed by Raymond Schall, Paris, 1945. How Nazi Ideology Was Implemented in Practice, Committing the Greatest Crimes in History in the Name of the New German Culture – A Description of Roland Lennad’s Journey Through Nazi Germany (including in the Jewish ghettos) Where He Was Directly Exposed to the Devastating Effects of Racial Doctrine. Accompanied by numerous photographs taken by Roger Schall during his assignments in Germany before the war in 1939. French.
A description of Roland Lennad’s visit to Nazi Germany in 1939, where he was first exposed to the totality of the Führer’s worship among the German people. The book, published at the end of the war, presents a shocking historical conclusion, exposing the impossible hypocrisy between the “cultured Germany” he encountered in the late 1930s and the ultimate consequences of Nazi ideology—death camps and human corpses murdered in the name of that same so-called ‘civilized’ ideology. The booklet is accompanied by numerous photographs taken by Raymond Schall, who accompanied Lennad on his journey and documented Nazi propaganda in action while Lennad described events as they unfolded. Among the photographs: Goebbels as a “loving father” with his children, German citizens dancing in the streets, contrasted with images of prisoners’ corpses at Dachau concentration camp. Another striking juxtaposition shows SS soldiers marching in formation, referred to as “robot men, ” while the next page features a hanging execution, captioned: “This is their work.” Further images depict German children being indoctrinated through Nazi propaganda books aimed at young audiences, with a chilling remark: “Ribbentrop’s son is a lovely baby—who could guess that evil has already seeped into that small head?”
Lennad also details how Hitler became an almost superhuman figure among Germans and the fanatical worship of the Führer:
“They believe in him as one believes in God… I was told that in Munich, they are building a shrine—a temple dedicated to Hitler, where people will come to pray to their Führer. For those who know Germany well, there is no longer any doubt: National Socialism is no longer a political party—it is a religion… Germany looks at Adolf Hitler just as the early Christians looked at Jesus Christ… To the ‘new German, ‘ Hitler is not a general, not an emperor, not even a warrior. No—Hitler is God. At the end of the last Nuremberg Congress, I saw men and women kissing the stage on which ‘He’ had walked.”
He also visited the Jewish ghetto, describing the deep fear under which the Jews lived:
“In the quiet and sorrowful street… all the shutters are closed. The shops no longer open to the street. Behind these joyless walls, the people of Israel hide… Many Jews in Vienna find escape only in suicide. One month after the Anschluss, I was told, there were 1,800 Jewish suicides! I do not know if this number is accurate, but what is certain is that on April 13, an unconnected phone call revealed to me that 23 Jews had taken their own lives the previous day…”.
He also describes how the Nazis faced an operational difficulty in their efforts to “cleanse” Austria of Jews—as the majority of Austrian Jews were of mixed blood, complicating their racial classification under Nazi ideology.
In his sharp descriptions, the author repeatedly demonstrates the deceptive nature of Nazi propaganda as he personally witnessed it. For instance, before the referendum held in Austria following its annexation, loudspeakers across the country announced: “Silence, please. Our Führer is engaged in very important work. The gatherings beneath his windows disturb him.” The author, who was present near the Imperial Palace where Hitler was staying at the time, testifies that in reality, only a small group of people stood quietly, without making any noise. “One might say that these people knew the loudspeaker’s voice was lying, but what about the hundreds of thousands across Austria who heard it and had no way of knowing the truth?”
The author extensively describes how Nazi ideology controlled every aspect of life, particularly through personality tests administered to young Germans applying for SS training institutions. In Berlin, January 1939, he met a German mother who lamented the distortion of young minds under Nazi education:
“Their souls are being twisted before our eyes. They forget their families; they despise the past. Often, they go to live in camps we do not recognize. When they return, they speak of things we do not know; they have ideas that are foreign to us. So where is the joy in bringing children into the world? Do you still think being a mother is worth it?”
Lennad also visited Austria after the Anschluss, where he witnessed firsthand how German propaganda poisoned people’s minds:
“An entire nation follows Hitler; an entire nation embraces the idea of war. The humble and the powerful, the weak and the strong, the ignorant and the educated alike. Where does this come from? From the Gestapo? From fear? From madness? From collective apathy? No. It comes from a new weapon: propaganda… Propaganda.”
At the beginning of the booklet, a quotation from Hitler’s Mein Kampf states that nothing will stop him from defeating the French enemy, alongside a printed dedication to French soldiers who fell on the battlefield, to the prisoners of Stalag, to grieving mothers, and to orphaned children of war. Additionally, a note clarifies: “Except for those credited to their respective authors, all photographs were taken by Raymond Schall during his reporting in Nazi Germany before 1939 and reflect an exacting degree of authenticity.” Cover design by Jean-Louis Babelay.
78 [1] pages. Minor wear to the cover. Good condition.
