Background: This page is part of a larger project to trace the history of World War II as reflected in the headlines of the Völkischer Beobachter, the Nazi Party’s daily newspaper.
July 1944 was a bad month for Germany. The Allied invasion of France kept making progress. On July 20 an attempt was made on Hitler. At the end of the month Soviet troops were entering what once was Poland. The only good news was the V-1, which got lots of headlines. But the reader could not help but notice that the news was bad.
Völkischer Beobachter: July 1944
1 July 1944
The V-1 Rattles English Phlegmaticism
Will London Have to Be Evacuated?
Residents Victims of Unscrupulous Agitation — Labor Productivity Significantly Reduced — Insufficient Air Raid Shelters
2 July 1944
General Dietl Dies in Accident
The Führer’s Order of the Day
3 July 1944
With the Full Fanaticism of the Nation
The Führer: Absolute Confidence in Our Strength is the Foundation to Overcoming All Difficulties
4 July 1944
Despite Fighters, Bombers, Flak:
The V-1 Strikes Military Staging Areas in England’s South
This issue has a lead article titled “Zionism and Its Dangers” that objects to sending Jews to Palestine, without providing an alternative. Of course, by July 1944 most Jews had already been killed, something the press carefully avoided suggesting most of the time.
5 July 1944
The Rage of the Trapped Criminals
Effects of the V-1: British Outbreaks of Fear and Hatred
6 July 1944
The Führer Speaks to Leading Men in Armaments
“We Will Survive This Age and Will in the End Win This War!”
“Each Individual Has but a Single Duty, to Fight and Work Unceasingly for Victory!”
7 July 1944
Revenge Makes Churchill Hated
Still No Defense against the V-1
Helpless Anger from the Inventors of Air Terror
8 July 1944
Reich Minister Funk on Currency Policy
“A World Currency is Utopian”
Our Most Important Task is in the Social Realm
The Bretton Woods conference had just met. It discussed the future international financial order.
9 July 1944
Dr. Goebbels Spoke to over 200,000 Germans
“It is a Matter of Life or Death for the Nation”
The Demand of the Hour: Mobilizing All Reserves
Goebbels concluded the speech: “We National Socialists have been through so many crises and tests over the history of our movement and the Reich, and overcome them. We never for a moment doubt our success, and the best guarantee of that is offered by the Führer himself. We look to him with faithful trust. He will lead the nation with a sure hand through all dangers and challenges. His affirmation is also ours, that a battle supported by the whole fanaticism of the nation cannot end other than with a victory.”
10 July 1944
Interim Balance of the Battle in Italy
The Front South of Florence
About 500 Kilometers of Coastal Defense Spared
11 July 1944
London between Illusions and Disillusionment
English V-1 Admissions
Most Strikes in Greater London — Significant Damage — Government Fails
12 July 1944
German-Finnish Military Cooperation Proves Itself
Soviet Offensive in Finland Stopped
13 July 1944
“Buffer State Canada”
The End of the Empire
England Should Leave the USA’s Area of Control
14 July 1944
Witnesses of German Fighting Strength
Fanaticism against Material
The Causes of Heavy Losses by the Invaders in Normandy
15 July 1944
The Big Spender in the White House
What is Roosevelt’s War Costing the USA?
16 July 1944
The Movement’s Capital Is Tested
The Crime of Munich
New Devastation and Destruction of Housing and World Famous Cultural Landmarks
17 July 1944
Normandy Report for England “Highly Depressing”
Enormous Losses, but No Progress
18 July 1944
New British Trick:
French to Bleed Again for England
Because the Invasion Strategy Has Failed
19 July 1944
Morrison’s Speech “Superfluous”
“V-1 Still Cannot Be Stopped”
Morrison was the English Home Secretary. He had said that there was still no way of stopping the V-1, and one should assume they would continue for a long time. The article cites a British newspaper that wrote if that was all he had to say, he should have kept silent.
20 July 1944
Under Fire in the Battle of Normandy
The German Soldier Holds Firm
The article quotes Allied journalists about the effectiveness of German defensive ability.
21 July 1944
The New Battle in the West:
Beginning of the Invasion’s Second Phase
General Enemy Offensive on All Fronts
The item to the upper left reports the first details on the assassination attempt on Hitler the day before. It asserts that his injuries were minor and he had a long conversation with Mussolini.
22 July 1944
We Heard Our Führer’s Voice
Providence Confirms Adolf Hitler’s Mission
The editorial to the right begins: “We need only imagine that the attack on the Führer had succeeded to understand the historic meaning of his wonderful rescue from great and imminent danger. Our fate is in his hands. His faith steels our resistance, his will overcomes all difficulty, his wisdom shows the way to a change in things. Perhaps we could win this war without him, but with him our victory is certain.”
23 July 1944
“Adolf Hitler is Everything to Us!”
The Nation Pledges Him Loyalty to the End
Dr. Ley Expressed the Thoughts of All Germans at a Great Mass Meeting
24 July 1944
General Guderian Reads on the Radio:
The Führer’s Order of the Day to the Army
Discussion of the assassination attempt fills the front page
25 July 1944
The Enemy Camp Deeply Disappointed
Normandy Offensive Collapses
Embarrassed Excuses from the Anglo-Americans
26 July 1944
Why Does the USA Have No Quinine?
Roosevelt Profits from the Death of His Soldiers
The only source of quinine at the beginning of the war was Java, which the Japanese captured in January 1942. Malaria was a major problem for the U.S. in the Pacific. The article claims the shortage was the result of efforts by members of the Roosevelt administration to profit from the lack of the drug
27 July 1944
The Will of the Entire Nation:
Unlimited, Total Use of All Resources and Strengths for Victory
Dr. Goebbels Spoke to the German People
28 July 1944
The Battle in the East Unimaginably Violent
Soldiers and Weapons are the Order of the Day
The article begins: “The battle in the East has reached a level beyond all civilian conceptions.”
29 July 1944
The Soviet Attack on the Generalgouvernement
The Battle for Time
The Generalgouvernment was the German term for occupied Poland. The article states that the enemy attack is too strong for the German army to stop. The goal is to gain time to train new troops and manufacture new equipment that will permit counterattacks. This is one of the more pessimistic reports.
30 July 1944
Desperate Efforts Using Outdated Military Technology
V-1 Defense Fails Three Ways
The article states that England is using coastal guns, fighter planes, and barrier balloons to stop V-1s, but with limited success.
31 July 1944