After German doctors became the first to identify the relationship between smoking and lung cancer, Germany initiated a strong anti-tobacco movement and led the first public anti-smoking campaign in modern history. The anti-tobacco movement has grown in many countries since the mid-19th century; campaigns in Germany, supported by the government after the Nazis came to power, perhaps the most famous, despite the fact that stronger laws were passed in several US states between 1890 and 1930. The German movement was the most powerful anti-smoking movement. in the world during the 1930s and early 1940s. National Socialist leaders condemned smoking and some of them openly criticized tobacco consumption. Research on smoking and its effects on health developed under Nazi rule and was the most important of its kind at that time. Adolf Hitler's personal hatred of tobacco and Nazi reproductive policies was among the driving forces behind their campaign against smoking.
The Nazi anti-tobacco campaign included banning smoking on trams, buses and city trains, promoting health education, restricting cigarette rations in the Wehrmacht, arranging medical lectures for soldiers, and raising tobacco taxes. The National Socialists also imposed restrictions on tobacco advertising and smoking in public spaces, as well as arranging restaurants and coffee shops. The anti-tobacco movement did not have much effect in the early years of the Nazi regime and the use of tobacco increased between 1933 and 1939, but smoking by military personnel declined from 1939 to 1945. Even in the late 20th century, anti-smoking movement in postwar Germany had not reached the influence of the Nazi anti-smoking campaign.
Video Anti-tobacco movement in Nazi Germany
Prelude
Anti-tobacco sentiments existed in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Smoking criticism organizes the first anti-tobacco group in a country called Deutscher Tabakgegnerverein zum Schutze der Nichtraucher (German Tobacco Opposition Association for Non-Smokers Protection). Founded in 1904, this organization exists only for short periods. The next anti-tobacco organization, Bund Deutscher Tabakgegner (German Tobacco Counter Federation), was founded in 1910 in Trautenau, Bohemia. Another anti-smoking organization was founded in 1912 in the cities of Hanover and Dresden. In 1920, a Bund Deutscher Tabakgegner in der Tschechoslowakei (German Tobacco Counter Federation in Czechoslovakia) was formed in Prague, after Czechoslovakia was separated from Austria at the end of World War I. A Bund Deutscher Tabakgegner in DeutschÃÆ'Â ¶sterreich (German Tobacco Counter Federation in Austria Austria) was founded in Graz in 1920.
These groups publish journals that advocate not smoking. The first German-language journal was Der Tabakgegner (The Tobacco Opponent), published by the Bohemian organization between 1912 and 1932. Deutscher Tabakgegner (German Tobacco Shooters) was published in Dresden from 1919 until 1935, and is the second journal on this subject. The anti-tobacco organization also opposes consumption of alcoholic beverages.
Maps Anti-tobacco movement in Nazi Germany
Reason
Hitler.27s_attitude_towards_smoking "> Hitler's attitude toward smokingAdolf Hitler was a heavy smoker early in life - he used to smoke 25 to 40 cigarettes a day - but stopped the habit, concluding that it was a "waste of money". In the following years, Hitler viewed smoking as "decadent" and "the wrath of the Red Man against Whites, retribution for liquor," laments that "so many extraordinary people have been lost by tobacco poisoning". He is unhappy because both Eva Braun and Martin Bormann are smokers and are concerned over the continued smoking of Hermann Göring in public places. He was angry when the statue depicting cigarette smoking GÃÆ'¶ring commissioned. Hitler is often regarded as the first national leader to advocate not smoking; However, James VI and I, the kings of Scotland and England, openly opposed smoking 330 years earlier.
Hitler disapproved of the freedom of military personnel to smoke, and during World War II he said on March 2, 1942, "it was a mistake, traceable to the leadership of the army at the time, at the beginning of the war." He also said that "it is not right to say that a soldier can not live without smoking". He promised to end tobacco use in the military after the end of the war. Hitler personally encourages close friends not to smoke. He even started offering gold watches to one of his inner circles that could stop. However, Hitler's personal dislike of tobacco is just one of the few catalysts behind anti-smoking campaigns.
Reproduction policy
The Nazi reproductive policy is an important factor behind their anti-tobacco campaign. Women who smoke are considered vulnerable to premature aging and loss of physical attractiveness; they are seen as unworthy to be wives and mothers in German families. Werner Huttig of the Nazi Party Rassenpolitisches Amt (Racial Political Office) says that breastmilk a mother who smokes contains nicotine, a claim that modern research has proved true. Martin Staemmler, a prominent physician during the Third Reich, argues that smoking by pregnant women results in higher birth rates and higher miscarriages. This opinion is also supported by the famous female hygiene expert, Agnes Bluhm, whose book published in 1936 expressed the same view. The Nazi leaders are concerned over this because they want German women to be as reproductive as possible. An article published in the German gynecology journal in 1943 states that women who smoke three or more cigarettes a day are more likely to remain childrenless than women who do not smoke.
Research
Overall, Nazi research on the dangers of tobacco is limited and only marginal scientific significance and reputation, although his research and studies on the effects of tobacco on the health of the population are more advanced in Germany than in any other country at the time of the Nazis in power.. Some say that the link between lung cancer and tobacco was first proven in Nazi Germany, and contradicts the popular belief that American and British scientists first discovered it in the 1950s. The term "passive smoker" (" Passivrauchen ") was created in Nazi Germany. The Nazi funded research project reveals some of the bad effects of smoking on health. Nazi Germany supports epidemiological research on the harmful effects of tobacco use. Hitler personally provided financial support to the Wissenschaftliches Institut zur Erforschung der Tabakgefahren (Research Institute for Tobacco Hazards) at the University of Jena, led by Karl Astel. Founded in 1941, it is the most significant anti-tobacco institute in Nazi Germany.
Franz H. MÃÆ'¼ller in 1939 and Dietrich Eberhard Schairer in 1943 first used a case-control epidemiological method to study lung cancer among smokers. In 1939, MÃÆ'¼ller published a research report in the famous German cancer journal claiming that the prevalence of lung cancer is higher among smokers. MÃÆ'¼ller, described as "a forgotten father of experimental epidemiology", is a member of the National Socialist Motor Corp (NSKK) and the Nazi Party (NSDAP). Medical dissertation 1939 MÃÆ'¼ller is the world's first controlled epidemiological study of the relationship between tobacco and lung cancer. In addition to mentioning the increasing incidence of lung cancer and many of the causes behind it such as dust, exhaust from cars, tuberculosis, X-rays and emitted pollutants from factories, MÃÆ'¼ller paper shows that "the significance of tobacco smoke has pushed more and more into the foreground ".
Doctors in the Third Reich are aware that smoking is responsible for heart disease, which is considered the most serious disease caused by smoking. The use of nicotine is sometimes thought to be responsible for an increase in reports of myocardial infarction in the country. In subsequent years of World War II, researchers regarded nicotine as a factor behind the coronary heart failure suffered by a large number of military personnel on the Eastern Front. A pathologist from Heer examined thirty-two young soldiers who died from myocardial infarction up front, and it was documented in a 1944 report that they were all "enthusiastic smokers". He cites the opinion of pathologist Franz Buchner that cigarettes are "coronary toxins from the first order".
Size
It was never a coherent Nazi policy to hinder smoking. For the most part, it is based on pre-existing policies. Although in some places some firm action is taken, there are inconsistencies in tobacco control policies. Generally, these controls are often not enforced.
The Nazis used some public relations tactics to convince Germans not to smoke. Well-known health magazines such as Gesundes Volk (Healthy People), Volksgesundheit (Public Health) and Gesundes Leben (Healthy Living) issue warnings about the health consequences of smoking and posters showing the harmful effects of tobacco are displayed. Anti-smoking messages are sent to people at their workplace, often with the help of Hitler-Jugend (HJ) and Bund Deutscher MÃÆ'¤del (BDM). Anti-smoking campaigns conducted by the Nazis also include health education. In June 1939, the Bureau against the Dangers of Alcohol and Tobacco was formed and the Reichsstelle fÃÆ'¼r RauschgiftbekÃÆ'¤mpfung (Reich Office for Drug Control) also assisted in the anti-tobacco campaign. Articles advocating not smoking are published in Die Genussgifte (The Recreational Stimulant), Auf der Wacht (In Guard) and Reine Luft (Clean) ) Air). From these magazines, Reine Luft is the main journal of the anti-tobacco movement. The Karl Astel Tobacco Research Institute at the University of Jena purchased and distributed hundreds of reprints from Reine Luft .
After recognizing the harmful effects of smoking on health, some items of anti-smoking laws are enforced. The 1930s then increasingly looked at the anti-tobacco laws imposed by the Nazis. In 1938, the Luftwaffe and Reichspost imposed a ban on smoking. Smoking is also prohibited not only in health care institutions, but also in some public offices and in vacation homes. Midwives are prohibited from smoking while on duty. In 1939, the Nazi Party banned smoking in all of its offices, and Heinrich Himmler, head of Schutzstaffel (SS), restricted police personnel and SS officers from smoking while they were on duty. Smoking is also prohibited in schools.
In 1941, tobacco smoking on trams was banned in sixty German cities. Smoking is also prohibited in bomb shelters; However, some shelters have separate rooms for smoking. Special care is taken to prevent women from smoking. President of the Medical Association in Germany announced, "German women do not smoke". Pregnant women and women under the age of 25 and over the age of 55 were not given tobacco ration cards during World War II. Restrictions on selling tobacco products to women are imposed on the hospitality and retail industry. Anti-tobacco films intended for women are publicly displayed. Editorials that address the issue of smoking and its effects are published in newspapers. Strict measures were taken in this and the district department of the National Socialist Plant Organization Organization (NSBO) announced that they would expel female members who smoke in public. The next step in the anti-tobacco campaign took place in July 1943, when smoking in public places for people under the age of 18 was prohibited. The following year, smoking on buses and trains in the city was illegal, on Hitler's personal initiative, which worried that female ticket recipients might become victims of passive smoking.
The restriction applies to tobacco product advertising, which was passed on 7 December 1941 and signed by Heinrich Hunke, President of the Advertising Council. Ads that attempt to describe smoking as harmless or as an expression of masculinity are prohibited. Anti-tobacco activists are also banned, such as the use of advertising posters along railroad tracks, in rural areas, stadiums, and race tracks. Advertisements by loudspeakers and letters are also prohibited.
Smoking restrictions were also introduced at Wehrmacht. Ration of cigarettes in the military is limited to six per troop per day. Extra cigarettes are often sold to soldiers, especially when there is no military advance or retreat on the battlefield, but this is limited to 50 for each person per month. The teenage soldier who served in the 12th SS Panzer Division of Hitlerjugend, consisting of members of Hitler Youth, were given confectionery and not tobacco products. Access to cigarettes is not allowed for Wehrmacht lady assistants. Medical lectures are organized to persuade military personnel to quit smoking. The regulation adopted on 3 November 1941 raised tobacco taxes by 80-95% of the retail price. It will be the highest tax hike in Germany to more than 25 years after the collapse of the Nazi regime.
Effectiveness
The initial anti-smoking campaign was considered a failure, and from 1933 to 1937 there was a rapid increase in tobacco consumption in Germany. Smoking rates in this country are rising faster than in neighboring France, where the anti-tobacco movement is small and far less influential. Between 1932 and 1939, per capita cigarette consumption in Germany increased from 570 to 900 per year, while the corresponding number for France was from 570 to 630.
Cigarette manufacturing companies in Germany made several attempts to weaken the anti-tobacco campaign. They publish new journals and try to describe the anti-tobacco movement as "fanatical" and "unscientific". The tobacco industry is also trying to counter the government's campaign to prevent women from smoking and using the smoking model in their advertising. Despite government regulations, many women in Germany smoke regularly, including the wives of many high-ranking Nazi officials. For example, Magda Goebbels smokes even when she is interviewed by a journalist. Fashion illustrations featuring women with cigarettes are often published in leading publications such as Beyers Mode fÃÆ'¼r Alle (Beyers Fashion For All). The cover of the popular song Lili Marleen features singer Lale Andersen holding a cigarette.
The Nazis implemented more anti-tobacco policies in the late 1930s and in the early years of World War II, the rate of tobacco use declined. As a result of the anti-tobacco measures implemented in the Wehrmacht, total tobacco consumption by soldiers declined between 1939 and 1945. According to a survey conducted in 1944, the number of smokers increased in the Wehrmacht, but the average tobacco consumption per military personnel decreased by 23.4 % compared to the years before World War II. The number of people who smoked 30 cigarettes or more per day decreased from 4.4% to 0.3%.
The Nazi anti-tobacco policy is not free from contradictions. For example, the policy of Volksgesundheit and Health Gesundheitspflicht is enforced in parallel with the active distribution of cigarettes to those whom the Nazis see as "worthy" groups ( eg frontline soldiers, members of Hitler Youth). On the other hand, the "unworthy" and stigmatization groups (Jews, prisoners of war) are denied access to tobacco.
Association with antisemitism and racism
Apart from public health problems, the Nazis were heavily influenced by ideology; in particular, the movement is influenced by the concept of racial hygiene and body purity. The Nazi leaders believe that it is wrong for the race to smoke and that tobacco consumption is similar to "racial degeneration". The Nazis view tobacco as a "genetic poison". Racial hygienists oppose tobacco use, fearing that it would "spoil" the "German germplasm". Nazi anti-tobacco activists often try to portray tobacco as depressed Negro representatives.
The Nazis claimed that the Jews were responsible for including tobacco and its harmful effects. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Germany announced that smoking is an unhealthy disease spread by Jews. Johann von Leers, editor of Nordische Welt (Nordic World), during the opening ceremony of the Wissenschaftliches Institut zur Erforschung der Tabakgefahren in 1941, stated that "Jewish capitalism" is responsible for the spread of tobacco use across Europe. He said that the first tobacco on German soil was brought by the Jews and that they controlled the tobacco industry in Amsterdam, the main entry point of Europe Nicotiana .
After World War II
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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