Death Notices

As WWII progressed, so too did the death toll. Whereas in normal times all families would be able to place death notices in the local paper, with the increase in demand for notices, it became more difficult to obtain a mention. At the beginning of the war, the wording of the notices was chosen by the bereaving family, and usually mentioned overt support of Hitler and the Nazi state. As conditions in the mid-1940s worsened, and the war effort became rougher, this support began to falter and families began to draw back on it because more and more notices were placed, more and more family members and friends died, and the progress of the Nazi army seemed to stagnate. Typically, the Nazi government wanted to control this slipping of support for the regime. As it did with almost every other sector of civilian life, the government began to restrict the wording allowed on death notices and even mandate what was said. To avoid having a version of “for the Fatherland” written, disregarding any mention of the Furher, in 1944 the phrase “Für Fürher, Volk und Reich” was mandatory to anyone wishing to place a death notice. I’m sure that this mandated saying also frustrated those wishing to place a death notice, as they would have wanted their memorial to be personalized. From the death notice regulations you can see the true circumstances leading into the last year of the war: The death toll was rising, and Nazi support was slipping.