Abstract

When in 1941 Nazi Germany invaded the USSR, Soviet authorities, aware of the Wehrmacht’s initial superiority, hoped they could weaken the enemy by convincing some of their soldiers to defect and surrender. That idea resulted in a large propaganda campaign, whereby the frontlines were flooded with propaganda leaflets, most notably the series titled the ‘Front-Illustrierte für den Deutschen Soldaten.’ For the Soviets, however, defection was not intended to provide a chance for German soldiers to fight alongside the Red Army. Instead, as will be outlined in my analysis of the leaflets in this collection, the Soviets hoped to convince the German forces that Hitler had betrayed them and Germany, and that the best thing they could do to protect their homeland was to voluntarily surrender to the Red Army. To convey these ideas, Soviet propagandists sought to open a rift between the members of the Wehrmacht and the Nazis by pointing out the multiple grievances German soldiers should have had against the Nazi government. Simultaneously, soldiers were told that they could spend the rest of the war, if only they surrendered, in a cozy prisoner of war camp where they might engage in an array of leisure activities, which included everything from playing games to reading books, and partake of services that they would have enjoyed while back home in Germany, such as haircuts and warm baths. The Soviets then hoped that, combined, the grievances pointed out to German soldiers and the appealing alternatives they were offered might convince enough of them to defect and surrender, and that the outcome of the war might be affected positively.