Better Know a Noble

The "Big Lie"

Unfortunately, the one topic that Jews of all backgrounds can discuss together is the Holocaust. In any exploration of the development of the Nazi Party, the effective use of propaganda figures prominently. Though government propaganda was commonly used in both authoritarian and democratic regimes alike, the Nazis had elevated the craft to new, frightening heights. They not only perfected existing propaganda methods, they also devised wholly new means of persuasion.

One example is the use of the “Big Lie”. Hitler wrote in his 1925 autobiography, Mein Kampf that Germany’s loss in World War One was actually a big lie propagated by Winston Churchill with the help of the Jewish owned press. If it was indeed a colossal lie, asked Hitler, how were the German people so badly duped? He explains that sometimes a huge lie is more believable than a small white lie. People reasoned that the press would never willfully destroy its reputation by printing such an overt lie, so it must be true. Ironically, Hitler employs the very same tactic by instead blaming the war on the greedy Jews.

When you think about it, Hitler was on to something. The New York Times has a greater capacity to fabricate lies than, say, the New York Post, because they assume airs of credibility. Our most trusted news sources and government officials could also be the most egregious liars (think Bush and the Iraq-9/11 connection).