As of this week, the propaganda films of the NSB are public and can be viewed online for everyone. They are not very inflammatory:the films mainly show the zeitgeist and the ideals of the NSB.
Before the Second World War, the National Socialist Movement (NSB) already had its own film department. This Filmdienst was given more possibilities from 1940 through extra financing from the Germans, but their plans were bigger than the budget. Due to this lack of money, the 171 NSB propaganda films that have survived are mainly short films.
Patriotic propaganda film with NSB songs on gramophone record, 1941
Time frame
The propaganda films are in the possession of the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision. She digitized it and now made it public. The predecessor of Sound and Vision, the RVD Film Archive, came into the possession of the collection of the NSB Filmdienst after the war. As a result of the Decree on the dissolution of treasonous organizations (BOLO, 1944), all organizations accused of treason were dissolved. This also applied to the NSB and related services, with which their property reverted to the Dutch State.
The question of whether we should make these kinds of 'wrong' films public is not very relevant when you look at the content. “The films mainly reflect the times and are made a bit clumsily. Watching them doesn't make you spontaneously right-wing or anti-Semitic. Anti-Semitism is only marginally discussed in the films”, according to René Kok. He is an image researcher at the NIOD, the institute for war, holocaust and genocide studies. Ideals of the NSB, such as patriotism, discipline and togetherness, were more important ingredients of the films.
Idealistic NSB propaganda film Keep your city clean, 1940
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The NSB and its Film Service looked to the Nazis for their propaganda strategies. The anti-Semitic film The Eternal Jew for example, didn't seem to work. The film, which extensively portrays negative stereotypes about Jews, was too intense and direct. Kok:“Even NSB members thought this was too bad. German soldiers even called it "propagandascheisse". Propaganda only works if you present it inconspicuously and combine it with something fun, such as a popular movie.”
Film was one of the most effective propaganda tools and the NSB attached great importance to persuasiveness. With its own film news Mirror of the Movement the Dutch cinema audience had to be won. Kok:“People could easily throw away folders and they turned off the radio. But they took a propaganda film in the cinema before the main film started.” Cinemas were required to run the newsreels. Since going to the movies was a popular pastime, many Dutch people got to see this propaganda.
Rumbling in the bios
The NSB wanted to know what the effect of the films was and sent inspectors to the cinemas. Their outraged reports show that many moviegoers were not interested in propaganda. “The NSB was also tipped off when there were unrest in certain film houses. Outraged reactions, yelling, massive key searches with a lot of rattling, it's all been reported. At one point the light was left on when the propaganda films were running to see who was doing this. It was also forbidden to only enter during the break.”
Despite these kinds of protests, visitors also marveled at the NSB films. “People were amazed at the new techniques such as rapid image editing that the Filmdienst used.” The NSB also cleverly responded to people's fears, for example the fear of communism. The Third Reich was always a better alternative than the end of Christianity under a communist regime.
Types of movies
The NSB Filmdienst divided its films into three categories, expressed in its own words:
- (D.P.) Direct propaganda films. This species calls the animal by its name. It does not matter to us (the Film Service) that people are shocked by the harsh word National Socialism, in which the real political conflicts are dealt with.
- (I.P.) Indirect propaganda films. These films are entirely in the cultural and cultural-historical field.
- (V.) Extensive reports of the very important events of the Movement.
Most films fall into the third category. The most famous propaganda film of the NSB, so from the first category, is A new era breaks new ground from 1941. With this the NSB tried to win over the common man and woman. In the first part, the viewer sees images of crisis and severe poverty from the 1930s. The second part provides the solution:National Socialism.
NSB propaganda film A new age breaks track, part 1, 1941
Kok:“These crisis images of, among other things, the Jordanian riot are from the NSB film Houzee from 1935. Especially this pre-war material is cleverly made. Considering that the creators were well-meaning amateurs, it looks professional. Now when we show images of the Jordan riot, they come from this film. It's the only usable thing from that time. The claim that the Filmdienst only started making great films because of German money is therefore incorrect.”
NSB propaganda film A new age breaks track, 1941
Professionalization
The clumsiness is mainly in the subjects of the films, for example 'A day full of bad luck'. A conservative Dutchman, Mr. Roddelaere Verroest, misses the boat in this because he does not want to keep up with the times. “He sees around him how others have opted for National Socialism. He is the one who is lagging behind and is being ridiculed, that is clever propaganda," says Kok.
NSB propaganda film A day full of bad luck, 1942
From 1940, the Filmdienst professionalized with the arrival of the experienced director G.J. Teunissen. “He made it look good. When you're filming a gathering that few people have attended, it's a lot harder to hide on film than in a photo. That required experience.”
In 1943 the Germans turned off the money tap and the making of films was quickly over. Most of the Filmdienst's material therefore comes from the years 1941 to 1943. After that, it was also done with the regular film. Film production stopped in the course of 1944 due to the lack of electricity. The lights went out in the cinemas for the rest of the war.