Background: This is the beginning of what may become a larger project: Tracing the history of World War II from the German perspective, using the front pages of the Völkischer Beobachter, the Nazi Party’s daily newspaper. The full newspapers are available on ANNO, the Austrian project to digitize the country’s newspapers.
September 1939 was the first month of the war, and the tone of the VB throughout is unrelentingly optimistic.
Völkischer Beobachter: September 1939
Germany’s 16 Points
Poland Refuses Negotiations
Our Demand:
The Return of Danzig
Plebiscite in the Corridor
The German Counterattack Has Begun
Our Troops Advancing Successfully
The Powerful Führer Speech to the Reichstag
Further Rapid Successes on All Fronts
Polish Army Units Cut Off in the North of the Corridor
New Powerful Blows by the German Luftwaffe — German Navy Bombards Military Harbor at Hela
The Führer Appeals to the Nation
British War Criminals Face a Determined Greater Germany
The Führer calls to the People, Party, Western Front, and the Eastern Army
The Führer Is with the Troops on the Front Line
Weichsel Crossed at Kulm as the Führer Observes
Tumultuous Applause as Adolf Hitler Visits the Front and the West Prussians
Total Failure in the First Action:
10 English Bombers Destroyed in an Attack on the North Sea Coast
Polish Corridor Army in a Hopeless Situation
Order of the day to Soldiers on the Eastern Front:
“Keep on the Enemy’s Heels!”
Krakau, Bromberg, and Kielce captured by German Troops
Chamberlain’s Allies:
Inhuman Crimes by Polish Partisans
Many Germans Kidnapped and Slaughtered
Successful Advances on the Eastern Front
German Troops Reach Warsaw
Shattering Report by a Foreign Correspondent on Bloody Sunday in Bromberg
Hermann Göring’s Passionate Speech to the German People
“We Will Accept Any Privation, But Never Again Will We Be Dictated To!”
Note: Göring’s reference is to the Treaty of Versailles, which the Germans called the “Diktat of Versailles.”
Chaos in Lublin
Polish Government Flees to Lemberg
The Warmongers Decline Responsibility
Stocks and Gold Bars More Important Than Honor
The Führer Observes the Decisive Battle
The Führer Present for the Encirclement
All German Military Units Fighting Successfully
Encirclement Operation Ends Successfully
Polish Army Captured near Radom
Huge Number of Prisoners and Vast Quantities of Captured Matériel
Rapid Advance toward Lemberg
England Declares Hunger War on the Women and Children of Europe
Immediate German Revenge Measures
The Responsible Men Leave the Front in the Lurch
Polish Government Fleeing to Romania
66,000 Prisoners and 173 Artillery Pieces Captured by Rodon and Ostrow
Splendid Achievements by Ostmark [Austrian] Regiments
The Führer is with the Ostmarkers in Galicia
Advance across the San River — German Troops Enter the Forts at Brest-Litovsk
Millions of Leaflets Inform the Population
Last Demand to Surrender Warsaw
Evacuation of Civilian Population Rejected
City Commandant Refuses to Meet an Emissary
The War Criminals Give Up
Polish Government Flees to Romania
190,000 BRT of English Shipping Sunk by German U-Boats
The World Press Evaluates the Consequences for the Western Powers
“More than a Lost War”
German-Soviet Cooperation Has Fundamentally Changed the World Situation
The Führer Spoke in Danzig, Which Has Returned Home
“Poland Will Never Again Take the Form of Versailles!”
No One Gives an Ultimatum to Today’s Germany — Thanks to the Wehrmacht and People — The Whole Nation is Determined to Make No Compromises
General von Brauchitsch to the Soldiers
The War in the East is Over
The Battle of Kutno — The Greatest Battle of Annihilation in History
Mussolini Warns:
“Negus, Bensch, Negrin — Beck is the Last of the Series”
“VB” Conversation with Rescued Diplomats
Criminal Regiment in Warsaw
Spread throughout the City — Food Supplies Exhausted
450,000 Prisoners, 1200 Artillery, 800 Aircraft:
Poland’s Fate was Sealed after Eight Days
Wehrmacht Report on the Background, Plan, Course, and Conclusion of the Polish Campaign
A Great Day for our Troops
The Führer at the Warsaw Front
Adolf Hitler Observes the Effects of German Artillery
Churchill’s Lies Revealed
Proof of the “Athenia” Crime
German U-Boat Sinks English Destroyer
A German submarine torpedoed the Athenia on 2 September. Since it was a passenger ship, that was against the laws of war. The Germans, initially in good faith, denied their involvement and accused the British of staging the event. It wasn't until 27 September when the submarine returned to base, that the Germans realized the facts, which they covered up.
For a Discussion of the Situation
Ribbentrop Travels to Moscow Today
62 Members of the Soviet-Russian Embassy in Warsaw Freed
After Successful German Attacks
Warsaw Capitulates Unconditionally
Successful Air Attack on the British High Seas Fleet — Aircraft Carrier Destroyed Battleship Severely Damaged
Ribbentrop’s Several Hour Discussion with Stalin and Molotov
Ceremonial Reception in the Kremlin —Exchange of Toasts
