Background: Neues Volk was a monthly publication of the Nazi Party’s Racial Policy Office. It was aimed at a wide audience, having a circulation of 300,000 by 1938. It included material promoting the virtues of the “Aryan Race,” and explaining the deficiencies of Jews, Poles, and other groups. The material here is the start of a page. There is a lot of interesting material in the magazine, and I intend to add more as time permits. Neues Volk was aimed at a broader audience than Volk und Rasse, a monthly published by the J. F. Lehmanns Verlag that also covered racial matters. See also some school charts on Nazi racial theory.
Throughout the GPA, I consistently translate Volk as “people,” though there is no really good English equivalent. By the term, the Nazis meant those of ethnic German stock, wherever they happened to live, who were bound together by ties of biology, culture, history, and territory.
Neues Volk
This is the cover from the December 1934 issue. One two-page article denies that Jews are being persecuted in Germany. It includes a variety of unflattering pictures of prosperous Jews, claiming: “One of the worst of the scandalous lies being spread by the foreign emigrant papers, but also by large foreign-language papers (with a few honorable exceptions) concerns the misery of Jews remaining in Germany. Jewish persecution in Germany? These pictures show something quite different, and many more such pictures could be provided.” Another article titled “Dying Races” discusses races that are disappearing around the planet.
This is the cover from the April 1935 issue. The lead article, titled “Nature’s Laws in the Lives of Peoples,” notes that Germany will perish unless its birthrate increases. An article notes that the number of Jews in Germany has declined only slightly since the Nazi takeover. The next article notes the spread of racial thinking around the world. Yet another article provides examples of modern art, usually by Jewish artists, that the Nazis found revolting. A particularly interesting article discusses the requirements for Hitler to become the godfather for a child.There is the usual column of brief news items. Two examples: “The English House of Commons is considering a law that would prohibit colored sailors from being laid off while in English harbors,” and “The Chinese government has ruled that Chinese civil servants may only marry Chinese wives.”
This is the cover from the September 1938 issue. A boy reads up on Germanic history. There are other articles on village genealogy, the genetic causes of criminality, Fascist Italy’s African territories, Gypsies in Austria, and the joys of family life.
This is the cover of the October 1938 issue. There are articles on the importance of giving children German names, Bolshevist domination of Prague, Hitler on how art is determined by racial worldviews, and complaints about the Pope’s antipathy toward National Socialism. The cover notes that the circulation has reached 300,000.
This May 1939 cover has Hitler receiving the greetings of a crowd. There are articles on the medal awarded to German mothers with numerous children, May Day celebrations, anti-Semitism, and the oldest German farm. A particularly interesting article is titled “Women Who May Not Be Allowed to become Mothers.” It promotes eugenics.
The cover of the June 1940 issue shows a Hitler Youth drummer. Interior items include a poem praising families with many children, and articles on race and achievement, the spread of Neues Volk in the Netherlands, and Japanese scientific thinking on mixed marriages.”
The cover for March 1941. There is an article about marriage between relatives, pictures of Germanic babies, a piece on British crimes in South Africa, and an article claiming that Germans farming on one side of the West Wall were much better than French farmers on the other side. Another article discusses the importance of a high birthrate, despite the war. There are two pages of questions on racial matters from readers. One question is from a woman whose mother wished her to marry a Chinese man, with whose child she is pregnant. The answer: “Since you had such little resistance to your mother, who has forgotten her racial nature, you have no right to play the disappointed girl. You will have to bear the consequences of your shameful behavior..... You gave in to the Chinaman, who has shamefully abused our hospitality and grossly violated our land’s morality.... We have seen to it that his residence permit has been revoked. Marriage between a German and a Chinese is out of the question.”
The cover of the May 1941 issue shows happy children strolling in the countryside. There are interior articles on armaments production, the Jewish question, girls and careers, Romania, family coats of arms, and some anti-Semitic cartoons. There are also questions from readers about racial issues. A reader asks if he may marry a Dutch girl. “Racial policy considerations would prohibit marrying a Dutch girl only if she had foreign [i.e., non-Dutch] blood. In Holland, this might not only be Jewish blood, but also the colored influence from Dutch colonies, which is not uncommon in some circles. Assuming the racial background of the girl is acceptable, you should not expect any occupational difficulties from the planned marriage.”
The cover of the July 1941 issue has a submariner home on leave, telling his children of his exploits. There are articles on the racial foundations of military life, foreigners working in Germany (they are welcome, but sexual relations are prohibited), and the joys of family life. There are more answers to questions from readers about racial issues. For example, An infertile woman of 21 asks if she may marry a half-Jew. The answer: “Marriage with a half-Jew is impossible for you, even if you are infertile. It offends the honor of the German people when a German woman marries a half-Jew. For this reason, you will not receive permission to marry. We strongly urge you to break your relationship with the half-Jew, since you are in danger of violating the law.”
