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Paul Carell
Paul Carell was the post-war pen name of Paul Karl Schmidt (2 November 1911 – 20 June 1997), who was a writer and German propagandist. During the Nazi era, Schmidt served as the chief press spokesman for Joachim von Ribbentrop's Foreign Ministry. In this capacity during World War II, he maintained close ties with the Wehrmacht while serving in the Allgemeine-SS (General SS). One of his specialities was the "Jewish question". After the war, Carell became a successful author, mostly of revisionist books that romanticized and whitewashed the Wehrmacht.
Born in Kelbra, Paul Karl Schmidt became a member of the Nazi Party in 1931 and a member of the SS in 1938. He graduated from university in 1934 and became an assistant at the Institute of Psychology of the University of Kiel in Germany. He held several positions in the Nazi Student Association.
In the SS, Schmidt was promoted to the rank of Obersturmbannführer in 1940. During the same year, he became the chief press spokesman for the foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. In this position, he was responsible for the German Foreign Ministry's news and press division.
Schmidt chaired the daily press conferences of the ministry and was thus one of the most important and influential propagandists for Nazism during World War II. Recent studies confirm that his influence was at least on the same level as that of Otto Dietrich (Reichspressechef of Adolf Hitler) and of Hans Fritzsche (Pressechef of the Reichspropagandaministerium). Schmidt was also responsible [clarification needed] for the German propaganda magazine Signal, which was published in several languages to tell the German side of the story in neutral and occupied countries during the war.
Schmidt justified the Holocaust through his propaganda efforts. In May 1944, he advised on how to justify the deportation and murder of Hungarian Jews, to counter the potential accusation of mass murder:
The planned undertaking (against the Jews of Budapest) will create significant attention and lead to a strong reaction because of its scope. Those who are against us will scream and talk of a hunt on humans, and will try to use terror propaganda to increase feelings against us in neutral states. I would therefore like to suggest that it would not be possible to prevent these things by creating reasons and events justifying the undertaking, e.g. finding explosives in Jewish association buildings and Synagogues, plans for sabotage attacks, for a coup d’etat, attacks on policemen, and smuggling of currency in significant amounts to destroy the fabric of the Hungarian currency. The final piece of this should be a particularly heinous case, which can then be used to justify the dragnet.
Schmidt was arrested on 6 May 1945 and interned for 30 months. It was left open for a long time whether he would appear as one of those indicted or as a witness for the prosecution during the war crimes trials. During the Ministries Trial, part of the Nuremberg Trials, he finally appeared as a witness for the prosecution, and portrayed himself as a fighter for democratic freedom of the press.
After World War II, Schmidt became a writer. Aided by the network of 'old comrades' working in the publishing industry, he was able to secure assignments. Starting in the 1950s, he wrote for the popular magazine Kristall. He first used the pseudonym Paul Karell, and later Paul Carell. Carell was a member of the Naumann Circle, a group of Neo-Nazis who sought to infiltrate the Free Democratic Party.
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Paul Carell
Paul Carell was the post-war pen name of Paul Karl Schmidt (2 November 1911 – 20 June 1997), who was a writer and German propagandist. During the Nazi era, Schmidt served as the chief press spokesman for Joachim von Ribbentrop's Foreign Ministry. In this capacity during World War II, he maintained close ties with the Wehrmacht while serving in the Allgemeine-SS (General SS). One of his specialities was the "Jewish question". After the war, Carell became a successful author, mostly of revisionist books that romanticized and whitewashed the Wehrmacht.
Born in Kelbra, Paul Karl Schmidt became a member of the Nazi Party in 1931 and a member of the SS in 1938. He graduated from university in 1934 and became an assistant at the Institute of Psychology of the University of Kiel in Germany. He held several positions in the Nazi Student Association.
In the SS, Schmidt was promoted to the rank of Obersturmbannführer in 1940. During the same year, he became the chief press spokesman for the foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. In this position, he was responsible for the German Foreign Ministry's news and press division.
Schmidt chaired the daily press conferences of the ministry and was thus one of the most important and influential propagandists for Nazism during World War II. Recent studies confirm that his influence was at least on the same level as that of Otto Dietrich (Reichspressechef of Adolf Hitler) and of Hans Fritzsche (Pressechef of the Reichspropagandaministerium). Schmidt was also responsible [clarification needed] for the German propaganda magazine Signal, which was published in several languages to tell the German side of the story in neutral and occupied countries during the war.
Schmidt justified the Holocaust through his propaganda efforts. In May 1944, he advised on how to justify the deportation and murder of Hungarian Jews, to counter the potential accusation of mass murder:
The planned undertaking (against the Jews of Budapest) will create significant attention and lead to a strong reaction because of its scope. Those who are against us will scream and talk of a hunt on humans, and will try to use terror propaganda to increase feelings against us in neutral states. I would therefore like to suggest that it would not be possible to prevent these things by creating reasons and events justifying the undertaking, e.g. finding explosives in Jewish association buildings and Synagogues, plans for sabotage attacks, for a coup d’etat, attacks on policemen, and smuggling of currency in significant amounts to destroy the fabric of the Hungarian currency. The final piece of this should be a particularly heinous case, which can then be used to justify the dragnet.
Schmidt was arrested on 6 May 1945 and interned for 30 months. It was left open for a long time whether he would appear as one of those indicted or as a witness for the prosecution during the war crimes trials. During the Ministries Trial, part of the Nuremberg Trials, he finally appeared as a witness for the prosecution, and portrayed himself as a fighter for democratic freedom of the press.
After World War II, Schmidt became a writer. Aided by the network of 'old comrades' working in the publishing industry, he was able to secure assignments. Starting in the 1950s, he wrote for the popular magazine Kristall. He first used the pseudonym Paul Karell, and later Paul Carell. Carell was a member of the Naumann Circle, a group of Neo-Nazis who sought to infiltrate the Free Democratic Party.