The Deutsche Zeitung in den Niederlanden (DZN, German Newspaper in the Netherlands) was a German-language nationwide newspaper based in Amsterdam, which was published during almost the entire Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in World War II from June 5, 1940 to May 5, 1945, the day of the German capitulation in the "Fortress Holland".Newspaper catalogue of the National Library of the Netherlands (Dutch), retrieved on 2008-04-07. Plasse states June 2, 1945, which is apparently wrong (p. 76) Its objective was to influence public opinion in the Netherlands, especially the opinion of the Germans in the country (residents, staff working for the occupying power, soldiers).Sauer, p. 198
The DZN was part of a group of German occupation newspapers published by the Europa-Verlag. This group was established systematically during the German campaigns and later collapsed gradually due to the recaptures of the Allied Forces. At their peak, these papers exceeded a total circulation of more than a million copies.Hale, S. 280. This quantity was achieved in January 1943.
History and profile
Start-up Phase The DZN replaced the Reichsdeutsche Nachrichten in den Niederlanden (Imperial German News in the Netherlands), which had been published since March 4, 1939 by the Dutch part of the NSDAP/AO.Vos, p. 63 At that time there was also the Deutsche Wochenzeitung für die Niederlande (German Weekly Newspaper for the Netherlands), a paper that had been published since the end of the 19th century and was finally discontinued in spring of 1942.Vos, p. 62 and 468. Happe writes that the DZN emerged from a merger of the Reichsdeutsche Nachrichten in den Niederlanden and the Deutsche Wochenzeitung für die Niederlande, which can't be the case according to Vos, the merger is only stated in her paper and nowhere else (Happe, p. 112) It was initially planned that the DZN should replace the Reichsdeutsche Nachrichten in den Niederlanden immediately after its last edition of May 31, but since the DZN was unable to find a printer in time the first edition had to be delayed until June 5.
The DZN and all other occupation newspapersSauer, p. 199. The new German-language newspapers of the annexed Greater Poland, which were not published by the Europa-Verlag and no occupation papers in the true sense of the word from the German point of view, are explicitly left out here were published by the Europa-Verlag, a subsidiary of the Franz-Eher-Verlag headed by Max Amann.Paul Hoser, Franz Eher Nachf. Verlag (Zentralverlag der NSDAP), in: Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, retrieved on 2008-04-07 Unlike its predecessor, a paper of marginal importance, the DZN was set out to compete with the Dutch press from the very beginning.Hoffmann, p. 80 The recently founded Deutsche Zeitung in Norwegen (German Newspaper in Norway) served as a model. As early as July 1940 a stock corporation was founded to publish books, illustrations, magazines and other print products next to the DZN. Details about these activities are hardly known.Hoffmann, p. 89
Similar to its sister papers, the DZN brought German editors from the Cologne-based Westdeutscher Beobachter and other Nazi papersSauer, p. 199 into its editorial staff, which amounted to a total of approximately ten people.Hoffmann, p. 87 The paper also had offices in Berlin, The Hague and Rotterdam.Hoffmann, p. 84 The editorial staff was generally unacquainted with the situation in the Netherlands and had to learn the Dutch language first. The lack of knowledge of the latter also led to communication problems with the technical staff, which was brought in from Dutch print shops.
The publishing house, editorial staff and typesetting were initially located in different buildings at the Voorburgwal, which accommodated almost all important nationwide newspapers of Amsterdam for several decades. In the first weeks the editorial staff lacked even a telephone or teleprinter, only a two-way radio and a dispatch rider were available. In the fall of 1942 the editorial staff finally moved to the premises of De Telegraaf, owned by the Holdert group, where the publishing house was already based. The typesetting was moved there later, too, so all departments of the paper were finally united in a single building. Earlier that year, in spring, there had also been talks about a purchase of De Telegraaf, which had been canceled though due to the price.Vos, p. 238 et sqq. The Holdert group took also care of the printing of the DZN, which was one of the reasons to forbid the De Telegraaf and its sister newspaper Het Nieuws van den Dag after the war from 1945 to 1949 as collaboration papers.Wijfjes, p. 246 et sqq.
Frequency, volume and sections The DZN came out in the afternoon on Weekdays and in the morning on Sundays at a price of nine cent (20 Reichspfennig in Germany). The six-column newspaper consisted initially of eight pages on Weekdays and twelve to fourteen pages on Sundays. The increasing lack of paper later reduced the number of pages of the Dutch press drastically,Vos, p. 323 less so for the DZN, which was privileged considerably in terms of rationing of paper.Vos, p. 295. Starting with the September 1, 1941 the Dutch Newspaper Association NDP granted 30 tons monthly to the Dutch Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Arts, 300 tons to the magazines, 100 tons to the DZN and about 1,250 tons to all other Dutch newspapers. This regulation was tightened already in December so far as the grants were given on a basis of a minimum volume of only four pages
Since the DZN had a reputable self-image, it oriented itself to the high standards of the German papers Das Reich and Frankfurter Zeitung regarding layout and variety of columns.Sauer, p. 200 The latter were divided into the usual sections politics, economy, feuilleton, sports and advertisements, but adjusted to the local competitors. According to the first editor-in-chief Emil Frotscher the paper emphasized on a "clean layout, stringent organization, good mixture of news and opinion section [and] a very extensive amount of illustration." In the case that no current photos were available the DZN adopted the Dutch method of illustrating the paper with archived ones. This concept was completed by the frequent use of map sketches.Emil Frotscher: Bilanz einer jungen Zeitung. Vier Monate „Deutsche Zeitung in den Niederlanden“, in: Zeitungs-Verlag, volume 41, No. 42 from October 19, 1940, p. 361 et sqq., quoted by Hoffmann p. 85 et sqq. Another concession was made by the use of Antiqua instead of a "German" font.
Content and surveillance of the DZN The content of the DZN consisted primary of news and reports, the situation in the Netherlands was covered rather sparsely, with the exception of notifications from the Reichskommissariat.Happe, p. 112 The paper saw its "Seite des Tages" (featured page) as its show-piece, which contained an exceptional amount of pictures and an emphasis on article series and reports. The DZN remained especially faithful to its concept to adapt itself to the rich illustration of the Dutch press with its page "Bilder vom Tage" (pictures of the day). The local news served as a "serialized tourist guide" (Gabriele Hoffmann) and featured places of interest.Hoffmann, p. 84 et sqq. The maritime shipping was another recurring subject due to its great interest to the Germans.Nijkeuter, p. 65 The rest of the content consisted of serial novels, short stories, reviews and cultural essays. The DZN also borrowed articles from other newspapers, sometimes translated ones. The obligatory speeches from Hitler and Goebbels were not missing as well as appeals from Göring to the publicSauer, p. 200. The serial novels and short stories are summed up by Sauer under the general term novels. Appeals from Göring appear for example in the editions of April 20th 1943 and 1944 to mark Hitler's birthday and, for example, an interview with Reichskommissar Seyss-Inquart.Donker, p. 16 Columnists included, apart from Goebbels and Seyss-Inquart, other high-ranking officials or well-known contributors like Otto Dietrich, Walter Gross, Karl Haushofer, Erich Hilgenfeldt, Fritz Hippler, Curt Hotzel, Otto Marrenbach, Giselher Wirsing and Hans Friedrich Blunck,Hoffmann, p. 88 but it is likely that many of these columns were not published exclusively in the DZN.
Amann claimed after his arrest that, for his papers, it was not enough to contain just Nazi propaganda, since they were destined for foreign countries, but in fact they did not differ much in "phrasemongering and clichés" (Oron J. Hale) from the German papers.Hale, p. 281. Hale spoke personally with Amann after the war, who had been previously captured. The latter claimed that his occupation papers had more freedom than the local German press, and that they often got in trouble with Goebbels and Dietrich. The general news consisted accordingly often of front propaganda and other well known elements of the Nazi propaganda like agitations against Bolshevism and alleged World Jewry. To the Dutch people the DZN took up the opposite stance and presented itself in an advertising tone. Its aim was to suggest a return to normality under the new order. In such fields as culture and economic relations the DZN pointed at real connections or those invoked by propaganda between the Netherlands and Germany. In doing so, the newspaper twisted "typical Dutch" as to make it seem analogous to "typical German". On the other hand, the editorial staff inserted Dutch phrases in their articles to show that they finally settled at their place of activity.
The DZN was surveiled by several authorities: the press department of the Reichskommissariat in The Hague under Willi Janke, the Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda under Joseph Goebbels and the Pressepolitisches Amt under Otto Dietrich. This surveillance did not always work smoothly. The Ministry complained from time to time about a neglect of demands. An example for this is the confiscation of an edition which featured the "treason" of Rudolf Hess. Hans Fritzsche, an official of the Ministry who had ordered the confiscation, questioned afterwards in a ministerial conference the loyalty of the DZN.Hoffman, p. 90 et sqq. Editor-in-chief Ginzel was replaced at October 1, 1941. Whether the criticism of the paper was the motive for this is not stated in the sources Mistakes in the news coverage frequently drew criticism, too.By whom (Nazi Party or SS) is according to Hoffmann unclear (p. 90). Two from five fines issued to Dutch newspapers in the first eight months of 1942 had to be paid by the DZN.Vos, p. 218 The pretense to be as convincing as possible led once in a while to a point when articles had to be sent in several times until all objections were cleared up. In such matters the advertising character of the DZN played again the decisive role.Hoffmann, p. 86
Circulation and readership