This Is Our Enemy (1942-43) broadcast “Race and Education in Germany” on July 26, 1942. By way of introduction and background on this wartime news program, I quote freely from the following notes directly from its otr.com page, as it contains all of the pertinent information about this educational program:
“Under the sponsorship of the Office of War Information (OWI), the Mutual Network flagship station WOR produced This Is Our Enemy in 1942 and 1943. The program is unbridled, unapologetic anti-Nazi propaganda using guidelines developed by the OWI.
“In the spring of 1942, Mutual began broadcasting This Is Our Enemy. The War Production Board, and later the Office of War Information, cooperated in the production. The writing, acting, and music were the same high quality of any other Mutual production. The message, however, was even clearer than it would have been if it was sponsored by a household cleaner.
“These guidelines read, in part: “explaining Nazism [to the American public] is no easy assignment… the importance of such a campaign must never be underestimated. This is no simple facet of the war. Instead, it’s one of the main themes–the thing we’re fighting against, the reason for all of our war effort, the menace that can transform our future into horror if not destroyed in time.”
“A popular theme for This Is Our Enemy was how the Nazis would take advantage of youth to further their aims. According to the program, the Nazis most insidious plan is to turn the youth in the occupied countries against their parents.”
In one of the few surviving episodes, in all but name, it describes the story we present here: “…the occupying Nazis take over a school, and try to teach a boy to hate his French father. This story is based on the supposed Nazi notion that racial superiority could outweigh familial ties.”
“This Is Our Enemy called upon the best radio writing and acting talent available in the New York area, and the production values are equal to any commercially sponsored broadcast. Rather than focusing strictly on the abominable actions of the enemy, the program was a showcase of resistance efforts by the regular people in occupied nations. This would include Norwegian teachers refusing to teach Nazi propaganda, French villagers pushing German soldiers over a seaside cliff in the dark, and Polish Jews leading soldiers on a merry chase through the Warsaw ghettos.”
Robert Trout (photo top right, 1909-2000) was the show’s host and announcer. Trout “…was regarded by some as the “Iron Man of Radio” for his ability to ad lib while on the air, as well as for his stamina, composure, and elocution.” His radio legacy was incalculable, a part of which, from his wikipedia page is recounted here: “On Sunday night, March 13, 1938, after Adolf Hitler’s Germany had annexed Austria in the Anschluss, Trout hosted a shortwave “roundup” of reaction from multiple cities in Europe—the first such multi-point live broadcast on network radio. The broadcast included reports from correspondent William L. Shirer in London (on the annexation, which he had witnessed firsthand in Vienna) and Murrow, who filled in for Shirer in Vienna so that Shirer could report without Austrian censorship. The special gave Trout the distinction of being one of broadcasting’s first true “anchormen” (in the sense of handing off the air to someone else as if it were a baton). It became the inspiration for the CBS World News Roundup, a forerunner of television’s CBS Evening News.”
With the 2023 school year close upon us (it is slated to begin in the United States around the first of September) it is appropriate as a reminder to offer this episode devoted to the horrors of Nazi propaganda aimed at children—always the most vulnerable and impressionable among us—to show that experts in the use of propaganda are still with us, and our continual vigilance is a necessary predicate if our democracy is not to be superseded with an authoritarian, dictatorial government—those elements hiding in the belly of the Trojan Horse of diversity, equity, and inclusion, so temptingly dangled in front of those unaware of the harsh realities behind these seemingly innocent words. Therefore a brief recounting of what propaganda is and how it is used is in order, for knowledge is the most lethal weapon against propaganda of the evil stripe, but especially and specifically that targeted toward children.
What Is Propaganda?
Propaganda is biased information designed to shape public opinion and behavior.
Its power depends on the following:
- message
- technique
- means of communication
- environment
- audience receptivity
How Does Propaganda Work?
Propaganda involves one or a combination of the following activities:
- uses truths, half-truths, or lies
- omits information selectively
- simplifies complex issues or ideas
- plays on emotions
- advertises a cause
- attacks opponents
- targets desired audiences
As mentioned above, this episode shows how “…occupying Nazis take over a school, and try to teach a boy to hate his French father. This story is based on the supposed Nazi notion that racial superiority could outweigh familial ties.” It is chilling to listen to and highly recommended. It is also worth noting that this radio play aired in 1942, six years before the publication of George Orwell’s 1984, though both accurately portray the evil of the same destructive ideology.
{Below Left: Joseph Goebbels, Chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 1945. He was known for his skills in public speaking and was responsible for many Nazi propaganda posters and campaigns geared toward the indoctrination of German children as well as the malleable young minds of other European nationalities. Below Right: Randi Weingarten (from wikipedia): “…is an American labor leader, attorney, and educator. She is president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and a member of the AFL–CIO. She is the former president of the United Federation of Teachers.” She is an acknowledged proponent of Critical Race Theory (CRT) much as Goebbels enthusiastically endorsed the theory of the Aryan race as the Master Race. Both theories, similar in propagandist methodology, overlap in their belief in the indoctrination of a nation’s youth, and in so doing, turn them away from their parents, dividing the family unit in service to a new society where the new order, the state, is one’s family–and ultimate authority.}
{Below: German propagandist poster (translated into English) circa 1930.}
Play Time: 30:44
{“Race and Education in Germany” aired on a Sunday, and while their parents listened attentively, the neighborhood gang had more important things on their mind, such as heading for the nearby newsstand the next day after school to pick up some of their favorite reading; stories guaranteed to take their minds from the serious war situation they and the rest of the nation found themselves in. Astounding Science Fiction (1930-present, now Analog) was always a favorite and this issue did not disappoint, with, among other stories, work by A. E. van Vogt, L. Sprague de Camp, L. Ron Hubbard, Jack Williamson, Wilson Tucker, Ray Bradbury, and Clifford D. Simak. A star-studded issue to be sure, and how editor John W. Campbell, Jr. managed to fit all of them in (along with a few other pieces) lends one to think some of them must have been quite short. ASF was a monthly in 1942. Astonishing Stories (1940-43) managed only 16 issues in its brief existence but nevertheless was able to attract some quality name talent the likes of Leigh Brackett, Henry Kuttner, Alfred Bester, Fred Pohl (under a pseudonym), Robert Bloch, and Isaac Asimov, among others. It saw 4 irregularly published issues in 1942. Weird Tales (1923-54) was home to the supernatural and other horrors and evils as graphically depicted by many masters of the form, and portrayed the kind of evil with which a youngster could relate, far from the evil of the reality war had brought to his family and country. WT was known as “the unique magazine” and proved that appellation time and time again, with stories from Robert Bloch, Manly Wade Wellman, Fritz Leiber, H. P. Lovecraft, Seabury Quinn, Clark Ashton Smith, Henry Kuttner, Nelson S. Bond, August Derleth, and many others. WT was a bi-monthly in 1942.}
[Left: Astounding, July ’42 – Center: Astonishing, June ’42 – Right: Weird Tales, July ’42]
To view the entire list of weekly Old Time Radio episodes at Tangent Online, click here.