the smell of total krieg

head like a hole 
black as your soul.
you're going to get what you deserve

Paul Joseph Goebbels was a small man but his voice was mesmerizing.

Goebbels' speech was never wavering from its carefully crafted message of German superiority and rabid anti-Semitism. As Hitler's Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Goebbels masterminded the Nazi propaganda machine and executed its murderous agenda. And no one believed his message more than Goebbels himself.

18 February 1943

The battle of Stalingrad had ended, and the true seriousness of the war was evident to everyone. Goebbels wanted the speech to build popular enthusiasm for the war, and also to convince Hitler to give him greater powers in running the war economy.

Nation, Rise Up, and Let the Storm Break Loose

by Joseph Goebbels

Albert Speer reports talking with Goebbels afterwards:

"Except for Hitler's most successful public meetings, I had never seen an audience so effectively roused to fanaticism. Back in his home, Goebbels astonished me by analyzing what had seemed to be a purely emotional outburst in terms of its psychological effect — much as an experienced actor might have done. He was also satisfied with his audience that evening. "Did you notice? They reacted to the smallest nuance and applauded at just the right moments. It was the politically best-trained audience you can find in Germany."












July 27, 1943

Of the four raids visited on Hamburg the deadliest was the second, the "firestorm" of July 27 1943, with more planes (722) and greater tonnage (over 2,313 tons of bombs in 55 minutes) than in the first, and tragically coinciding with an unstable warm-air pocket, itself part-consequence of the previous attack.

One flight engineer in a 7 Squadron Lancaster noted at 17,000 feet a cloud of smoke rising from the city to engulf them: "We could definitely smell... Well, it was like burning flesh. It's not a thing I like talking about.

May 1, 1945

Late evening: In the bunker Magda Goebbels poisons her six children. At about 22:00, eventually earlier, she leaves the bunker together with her husband who shoots her down firstly - and then himself, in the garden of the Reich Chancellery.

One tactic used by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force was the creation of firestorms. This was achieved by dropping incendiary bombs, filled with highly combustible chemicals such as magnesium, phosphorus or petroleum jelly (napalm), in clusters over a specific target. After the area caught fire, the air above the bombed area, become extremely hot and rose rapidly. Cold air then rushed in at ground level from the outside and people were sucked into the fire.

So bloody Hot...

In 1945, Arthur Harris decided to create a firestorm in the medieval city of Dresden. The population of the city was now far greater than the normal 650,000 due to the large numbers of refugees fleeing from the advancing Red Army. After the bombings, Winston Churchill — who authorized the Dresden air raids — distanced himself from them. But the US Military pressed home the argument in favor of the bombing and denied that it was a war crime.

The Americans concluded that: 1. the raid was legitimate because of the military ends achieved, 2. there was nothing extraordinary about the bombings as the methods used were comparable to previous raids, and 3. the raid was legitimized by the normal chain of command.

I know that the destruction of so large and splendid a city at this late stage of the war was considered unnecessary ... Here I will only say that the attack on Dresden was at the time considered a military necessity by much more important people than myself, and that if their judgment was right the same arguments must apply ... about the ethics of bombing as a whole.

Air Marshall Arthur Harris




Napalm, son. Nothing in the world smells like that. [kneels] . I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill.

Smelled like... victory.

Não não cheira a vitória. Cheira a carne humana queimada e derivados do petróleo. Cheira a morte: a fósseis e a carne queimados. Não é preciso cheirar a mais nada. É suficiente.

Well done Paul Joseph, well done...