Hitler’s Last Chance Kolberg: The Propaganda Movie and the Rise and
Fall of a German City written by Kevin Prenger and published by Frontline
Books - £22 - Hardback - Pages 192
Apologies but I couldn't get the book description to format properly on this post
but you can read it at the Pen & Sword Website.
Hitler’s Last Chance is a book/story of the city of Kolberg in Poland that was attempted to be
taken by Germany during the Second World War. The story can be split into three like most
wartime cities, you went from the city just being Kolberg, to be taken or attempted, to be taken
by Germany during the war and then the city fell to the Russians. But during this process, or at
least the part about Kolberg being taken over by Germany Goebbels saw this as a chance to
sell this story to Germany as a good or a ‘saviour’ type event as a propaganda film. Eventually,
this film would not see general publication due to the events. But the fascinating thing I
found about this story was the fact that you could see parallels with the conflict currently
going on in the Russia/Ukraine conflict, in which you have one country trying to take one city
because they believe they are doing the right thing or making the citizens free. The book is a
really nice look at propaganda, how it could be done or put into place and the reasons for it.
I think the book is more for those interested in how propaganda works and how it can be used
to influence rather than those into the wider story of the war. A book that made me think, and
one I would happily recommend to others.
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