The North Caucasus as an image in collaborationist press of the occupied soviet territories (1942-1943)

Abstract

The paper examines data from pro-German newspapers in the occupied Soviet territories reflecting military operations, historical and economic issues in the context of the North Caucasus. In the summer and fall of 1942, the idea of the Wehrmacht capturing a resource-rich region in a south part of the USSR served as a powerful tool for Nazi propaganda to convince Soviet citizens of the inevitability of Germany’s victory. Newspapers reported on the capture of cities and positions, losses of Soviet troops, natural and economic resources, the Wehrmacht’s liberation mission for the peoples of the Caucasus, and the beginning of a new stage in its history. However, in the winter of 1943, the hasty retreat of the Germans from the North Caucasus went virtually unnoticed in reports. Consequently, Nazi propaganda ignored this sector of the front