“Der Massenmord im Walde von Katyn. Ein Tatsachenbericht" – NSDAP on the trail of the truth about the Katyn massacre. An analysis of a propaganda brochure Cover Image

„Der Massenmord im Walde von Katyn. Ein Tatsachenbericht” – NSDAP na tropie prawdy o mordzie katyńskim. Analiza broszury propagandowej
“Der Massenmord im Walde von Katyn. Ein Tatsachenbericht" – NSDAP on the trail of the truth about the Katyn massacre. An analysis of a propaganda brochure

Author(s): Iwona Bartoszewicz
Subject(s): History, Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Polskie Towarzystwo Retoryczne
Keywords: Katyn Massacre;NKVD; NSDAP; World War II;propaganda;propaganda text; rhetoric; sophistry;crisis;

Summary/Abstract: This article analyzes a German propaganda brochure, entitled “Massacre in the Katyn Forest. Fact-based Report,” edited in 1943 by the Central Nationalist-Socialist Publishing House of the German Workers Party.” The aim of the analysis is to determine whether the brochure follows propaganda guidelines defined by the Ministry of National Enlightenment and Reich Propaganda (PROMI), with particular attention paid to the manner of presentation and use of the discovery of mass graves in the Katyn Forest where Polish officers and Soviet prisoners, imprisoned in the Starobielsk camp, were murdered and buried by the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKWD). The analysis is set in a historical context. It focuses on the themes and language of the brochure. It finds that the brochure shows all the qualities of a propaganda text typical of PROMI. The analyzed parts of the brochure were translated into Polish.

  • Issue Year: 7/2020
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 22-44
  • Page Count: 23
  • Language: Polish