October 9, 1933

For this blog I chose the announcement from Joseph Goebbels on 9 October 1933 in which the head propagandist said, “We National Socialists have no great desire to watch Storm Troopers march on stages or cinema screens. They belong on the street.” I found this to be very interesting because less than two years later in March of 1935, Leni Riefenstahl released “Triumph of the Will” where Storm Troopers marched on cinema screens to propagate the glory and honor of Germany’s soldiers. After doing some research on the matter, I discovered that there were many disputes between Riefenstahl and her work with the Propaganda Ministry. Riefenstahl was reluctant to do “Triumph of the Will” after infighting with Joseph Goebbels and other Nazi officials following her 1933 film “Victory of Faith” on the Fifth Party Rally at Nuremberg. Less than one month before the release of “Victory of Faith” on December 1, Goebbels made the statement concerning Storm Troopers on film. Clearly this was the start of the disagreements between Riefenstahl and Goebbels. In the film, Ernst Rohm, the second most powerful man within the Nazi Party in 1933, was followed closely along with his lieutenants. Political struggles mounted between Rohm and Joseph Goebbels, as well as other powerful Nazi leaders, which may have added to Goebbel’s issues with Riefenstahl. Additionally, Riefenstahl discussed in her memoir how Goebbels was angered by him not accepting his advances and also saw her as an internal threat due to her influence on Hitler. In June of 1934, Hitler ordered Rohm and other official’s execution after continued issues with Himmler and Goebbels. Goebbels then banned the film and destroyed all copies due to fear of the Nazi’s embarrassment over the entire situation. This caused Riefenstahl to be reluctant to make “Triumph of the Will.” Hitler insisted she make the movie and guaranteed his personal support as well as the promise of keeping the Propaganda Ministry from interfering with her film. Therefore, I’ve concluded that Goebbels statement was over personal issues with Riefenstahl and that her released of “Triumph of the Will” superceded his statement due to her close relationship with Hitler.