NOSTRADAMUS, ASTROLOGY AND THE BIBLE
SUBSTUDY "WORLD WAR II"
Information on the Informations-Schriften 
(a national-socialist series of propaganda brochures, Berlin, 1940-1941)
- T.W.M. van Berkel -

  Index WORLD WAR II

Description 
The national-socialist propaganda series Informations-Schriften was a series of propaganda brochures, produced and published in 1940-'41by the Deutsche Informationsstelle, a department of the Auswärtige Amt, the Foreign Office, who held her office at 27 Rauchstraße, Berlin W35. As far as can be ascertained by the Gesamtverzeichnis des deutschsprachigen Schrifttums 1911-1965 and the online-catalogues of the Deutsche Bibliothek and the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, these series contained 46 volumes, translated in ten languages. The German series was entitled Informations-Schriften. A number of Berlin printers were involved in the production of the volumes, such as Erich Zander Druck- und Verlagshaus, the Deutsche Zentraldruckerei and Rotadruck Wilhelm Meyer KG. Its publisher's name Europa-Verlag was fictitious, as was the mentioning that this company had branches in Berlin, London and Paris. In the translated versions, the series title and the fictitious publisher's name were also translated. The English series for example was entitled "The 20th Century Series", published by "The European Publishers". The Dutch series had two subsequent series titles: Brochures ter Informatie and Informatieboekjes.
The volumes of the Informations-Schriften did not contain the names of the author. Over the years, the names of some could be traced. Some of the authors, such as Häfner, Meyer-Erlach, Nikolajew, Sonolewic and Winsch also wrote other propaganda material. In some cases, it could be traced which previously published material was used. Recently, Ulrich Maichle discovered that volume 38, which dealt with the Centuries and in which 16 quatrains were discussed from a national-socialist perspective, was written by dr. H.-H. Kritzinger, a former astronomer/meteorologist, later astrologer/PSI-scholar.[1] In World War II, Kritzinger worked as a ballistic expert at the German War Department. Almost from the beginning, he was involved in the production of national-socialist propaganda writings, based upon the Centuries.
In 1940-'41, the main themes of the national-socialist propaganda were hostility against England and England's exclusion of the European continent.[2] These themes frequently occurred in the Informations-Schriften. In the volumes 18 (Die Prophezeiungen des Nostradamus), 38 (Der Seher von Salon) and 39 (Hungersnot in England?), it was pointed out that England's perspectives were hopeless. In the volumes 5 (Englisches Selbstbildnis), 19 (Dichtung und Wahrheit), 27 (Wie werde ich M.P.? [Member of Parliament]) and 33 (Die Männer um Churchill), the authors made fun of British politicians. In volume 34 (Der Baralong-Fall), the British army was discredited. 
The Informations-Schriften also contained propaganda against other countries and communities. In the volumes 11 (Das Fest von Ambiky) and 12 (24 Kilometer in 60 Jahren) for example, the authors made fun of the French colonization policy. Agitation against the Jews can be traced in a.o. the volumes 20 (Juden in England) and 25 (Die Sassoons). Agitation against bolshevism can be traced in volume 46 (Die Stimme des Bolschewismus). 
A number of volumes were based upon material which was published previously. Volume 4 for example (Opium in Indien) was originally published as volume 3 in the series England ohne Maske, a series, produced in several languages and published by the Deutsche Informationsstelle. In that series, Opium in Indien was entitled Englands Herrschaft in Indien. Volume 6 (Vier Millionen suchen eine Wohnung) was based upon Conquest's The naked truth (London, 1933). Volume 16 (England und das europäischen Festland) is was based upon Scarfoglio's L'Inghilterra e il continente (Rome, 1938). Volume 45 (Zwiegespräch mit der GPU) was based upon Rachmanova's Die Fabrik der neuen Menschen (1936).
The Informations-Schriften were meant to be spread abroad, especially among prisoners in German prisoner's camps.[3]
The volumes 18 (Die Prophezeiungen des Nostradamus) and 38 (Der Seher von Salon) dealt with the Centuries. In these volumes, England's decline was announced.
In France, volume 18 was not only published as a part of the series Information Universelle, but also as an independent, slightly edited brochure, entitled Les prophéties de Nostradamus, printed by F. Beroud, 25 Rue Michel-le-Comte, Paris-8.[4]

Tables [5]

De Meern, the Netherlands, March 11, 2006
T.W.M. van Berkel
actualized on October 2, 2006

Notes

1. Maichle to Van Berkel, August 6, 2005 and February 27, 2006. [text] 

2. Zeman, p.165. [text]

3. Maichle to Van Berkel, February 27, 2006. [text]

4. See: Van Berkel: Les prophéties de Nostradamus (F. Beroud, printer, Paris, 1940). [text]

5. Tables  -1- and -2- are mostly compiled with data from the Gesamtverzeichnis des deutschsprachigen Schrifttums 1911-1965 and the online-catalogues of the Deutsche Bibliothek and the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. [text]