POISONOUS WORDS: LORD HAW HAW THE NAZI PROPAGANDA TOOL

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During World War II, a new medium gave people on the homefront the kind of insight into the frontlines they had lacked during World War I: Radio. This relatively new technology enabled political figures such as Winston Churchill to warn of the dangers on Nazism even before the war.

But radiowaves are not confined by national boundaries and the British were not the only ones to see the usefulness of this technology during war time. In 1939, listeners in the UK began hearing seemingly British yet unwelcome messages over the radio.

In this episode I explore, Lord Haw Haw and the Nazi’s radio propaganda machine.

Related episodes:

The Göring Brothers: Albert and Hermann
The Hindenburg Disaster
East Germany
This episode is sponsored by World History Encyclopedia, one of top history websites on the internet. I love the fact that they’re not a Wiki: Every article they publish is reviewed by their editorial team, not only for being accurate, but also for being interesting to read. The website is run as a non-profit organization, so you won’t be bombarded by annoying ads and it’s completely free. It’s a great site; and don’t just take my word for it they’ve been recommended by many academic institutions including Oxford University. Go check them out at WorldHistory.org or follow this link: World History Encyclopedia

Music: Pixabay

Sound: Public domain speeches from Winston Churchill, King Edward VIII and William Joyce AKA Lord Haw Haw

Während des Zweiten Weltkriegs gab ein neues Medium den Menschen an der Heimatfront den Einblick in die Frontlinien, der ihnen während des Ersten Weltkriegs gefehlt hatte: das Radio. Diese relativ neue Technologie ermöglichte es Politikern wie Winston Churchill, bereits vor dem Krieg vor den Gefahren des Nationalsozialismus zu warnen.

Aber Radiowellen sind nicht an nationale Grenzen gebunden und die Briten waren nicht die Einzigen, die den Nutzen dieser Technologie während des Krieges erkannten. Im Jahr 1939 begannen Hörer im Vereinigten Königreich, scheinbar britische, aber unwillkommene Botschaften über das Radio zu hören.