Propaganda as a weapon and a tool of totalitarian power: The image of the concept in the common discourse of the war and occupation years 1939–1945

Abstract

Propaganda as a weapon and a tool of totalitarian power: The image of the concept in the common discourse of the war and occupation years 1939–1945The author of the article describes the ways of conceptualizing Nazi totalitarian propaganda during the Second World War 1939–1945 in occupied Poland. This totalitarian discourse created many defense mechanisms on the level of colloquial knowledge, humor directed against the occupant, and was the object of counter-propaganda activities conducted by Polish underground organizations. This article describes a fragment of the “anti-totalitarian discourse” that emerges from the diaries and journals of the period described.