An assumed Polish attack -faked by Germany- on the Gleiwitz transmitter in Silesia is supposed to be one of the reasons leading to the outbreak of World War II. The battle over the sovereignty of the radio air has become a vital war effort.
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To keep one's own population in good spirits, to bridge the distance between home and front, to strengthen the will to hold out: An internal matter corresponding with the aim to demoralise the population of the enemy. With the outbreak of war, listening to foreign radio stations is prohibited. Long-term imprisonment or even the death penalty are threats awaiting members of families and friends talking about news received through enemy stations. |
All states send out interference signals to fight off enemy broadcasts, install secret transmitters or transmitters specially for soldiers.
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The production of radio sets experiences a rapid down-turn, high-quality radio sets are build in Germany practically only for export reasons to bring in foreign currency. Small and handy sets replace the large units. From 1942 onwards, nearly all the sets produced are the small receivers DKE38. Popular broadcasts such as the »Request Concerts for the German Armed Forces« seem to bridge the distances between Narvik and Palermo, Stalingrad and Bordeaux, Nuremberg, Königsberg and Berlin without any effort. |
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Once it became clear that the course of the war had changed, exhortations to hold out lose their credibility - even on the air! »Davon geht die Welt nicht unter« (»This will not make the world go under«), sings Zarah Leander as day after day and night after night bombings increase.
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From 1944 onwards, radio stations broadcast enemy positions to warn of imminent bombing attacks. Most radio sets are therefore always switched on. Stations broadcast around the clock. However, towards the end of the war, the Nazis have lost a lot of their credibility: As from 1944, BBC London is one of the most listened to radio stations in Germany-although listened to in secret. People believe the enemy England more than their own government. The capitulation in May 1945 can be broadcast by only one transmitter in Germany: the auxiliary Flensburg. All others are either destroyed or in the hands of the Allied Forces. |
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