The Voice of the Nazi Being Eight Broadcast Talks Given between December 1939 and May 1940 – Exposing the Propaganda Methods of the Nazis, by William Angus Sinclair, published by Collins , London, 1940 – First Edition. The copy of Dr. Jacob Robinson – Advisor to the Chief Prosecutor of the United States at the Nuremberg Trials, with his handwritten signature and notes written throughout the book in the body of the text.
“The Nazis use propaganda as a weapon. But if you understand this and see why it is done, and how it is done, then it cannot harm you” – Eight “broadcast talks” delivered on British radio on various dates from December 1939 to May 1940 by the Scottish philosopher William Angus Sinclair – The full transcripts of the talks as broadcast on British radio. Sinclair delivered a series of radio talks on the BBC Home Service entitled “The Voice of the Nazi” in which he explained the Nazi use of propaganda, and the different ways the Nazis used to brainwash the masses. These talks were published verbatim in the book before us in Britain and the US in 1940. In the talks, Sinclair demonstrates Hitler’s lies and how he succeeded in marketing them to the masses, Hitler’s deceptive methods towards Poland and other countries, how Nazi party propagandists make repetitive declarations without commitment to truth, Goebbels’ propaganda methods, how Hitler implemented the methods he formulated in Mein Kampf, Hitler’s exploitation of other countries’ internal politics for Germany’s benefit, how the Nazi propaganda machine presents Hitler as the “savior of Germany”, and more.
The copy before us belonged to Dr. Jacob Robinson – Advisor to the Chief Prosecutor of the United States at the Nuremberg Trials. Several interesting notes appear in his handwriting throughout the pages of the book. For example, in the introductory chapter there is an in-depth explanation of Hitler’s method of repeatedly spreading false statements without any commitment to truth, and making promises without any intention of keeping them. In the radio talk transcript included verbatim here, Sinclair discusses why Hitler believed he could succeed with these methods in public life and points to what Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf about the German masses, where he repeatedly calls on his followers to use these methods precisely because, in Hitler’s opinion, “the German nation is a herd of foolish sheep led astray, believing, obedient and too stupid to understand”. Next to this quote, Robinson wrote: “A guiding principle that Hitler learned from Alfred Rosenberg”. Elsewhere, dealing with Hitler’s many lies, he comments: “All the leaders of the Nazi Party knew that Hitler’s word could not be taken”.
Elsewhere, referring to the deceptive propaganda of German radio, Robinson noted: “All German residents were required to pay a radio fee of 2 Reichsmarks per month. A fact that caused the payers to accept the content of the Nazi radio broadcasts as absolute”. Another note in Robinson’s handwriting refers to the source from which Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels learned propaganda methods, writing “On one occasion, Goebbels stated that he learned the principle of propaganda from Gregor Strasser, Strasser was worse than him”. An additional note refers to the ban imposed in Germany and occupied Poland on anyone who was not German listening to any non-German radio broadcasts, Robinson writing that the punishment was confiscation of the radio or imprisonment, and even the death penalty. And there are additional notes in his handwriting.
Dr. Jacob Robinson (1889-1977) a lawyer, one of the leading attorneys in Lithuania, a Lithuanian politician, diplomat, Zionist activist, educator and lecturer. At the Nuremberg trials (1945-1946) he served as an adviser on Jewish affairs to Judge Robert H. Jackson, who headed the prosecution team on behalf of the United States, and his name is associated with playing a key role in convincing him to accept the new concept of “crimes against humanity” as an indictment of the Nazis for crimes against Jews (the term appeared for the first time in the indictments of the Nuremberg trials). After the main war criminals’ trial, he continued to closely monitor the clarification of the fate and punishment of war criminals in a series of trials known as the “Subsequent Nuremberg Trials”. He advised, for example, the chief prosecutor in the trial of Friedrich Flick, Brigadier General Telford Taylor. When Adolf Eichmann was captured, he was invited to join Gideon Hausner’s prosecution team. His experience at the Nuremberg trials, his knowledge of Germany and Germans, and his expertise in Israeli criminal law made him a central figure on the prosecution team. Following the trial, he published the book “And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight: The Eichmann Trial, the Jewish Catastrophe, and Hannah Arendt’s Narrative”, as a response (criticism) to Hannah Arendt’s book “Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil”.
64 p. 18 cm. Very good condition.
