DEATH & DISFIGUREMENT
AS A PSYOP THEME

by Herbert A. Friedman

Note: The Weekly Pegasus, The newsletter of professional readings of the U.S. Air Force Military Information Support Operations Working Group recommended this article in their 28 October 2017 issue.

In recent months, I have written a number of articles that explored various psychological operations (PSYOP) themes. We have illustrated and translated aerial propaganda leaflets that featured safe conduct passes, rewards, sex, and even banknotes in an attempt to convince the enemy to follow the instructions of the PSYOP originator. In this article I will discuss a theme that I have arbitrarily designated "death and disfigurement" PSYOP. These leaflets show terrible scenes of dead or mutilated bodies in an attempt to terrorize the enemy and fill him with fear. It was hoped that the sight of such horror would cause the enemy to surrender, desert, or simply hide deep in his dugout or fighting hole and refuse to put himself in jeopardy.

You will notice that there are almost no American leaflets depicting scenes of mutilated or disfigured enemy soldiers. The official American policy for "white" propaganda of the Office of War Information was generally against showing such scenes. However, the "black" propaganda of the WWII Office of Strategic Services encouraged it. In a declassified 1943 secret document The OSS says in part:

SAMPLE CAMPAIGN THAT MAY BE USED BY A COMBAT PROPAGANDA COMPANY

Devices designed to undermine an enemy's will to resist by developing in him feelings of fear, distrust of his motives for combat, war weariness, futility of further struggle, and willingness to surrender, (Though each of these aims may be pursued separately, far more effective results may be achieved by saturating the enemy with the greatest amount of material possible, preferably in the order suggested below).

Fear. A continual series of pictures should be dropped over enemy lines, each showing the horrible fashion in which their soldiers met death. One batch of pictures a day should be dropped on them. Each picture might be entitled as follows; "Why?", "The New Order," "His children will miss him," and "More than he bargained for."

The same might be done with pictures of horribly mutilated soldiers who have been removed from the front and sent home. They may also be entitled as follows; "He escaped death," "An Iron Cross and a wooden crutch," and a picture of a blinded soldier entitled, "He never saw the fatherland again."

WORLD WAR II

Germany

9802 45/91

Perhaps the most powerful example of such a leaflet was used by Germany and later Great Britain during WWII. In February of 1945, the Germans dropped a leaflet on the American troops on the Western front coded "9802 45/91," that showed the profile of a face with everything missing from just below the eyes to the lower lip. A first glance one assumes that this is a photograph of a dead body. However, the text on the leaflet states:

This picture is taken from LIFE. It shows how excellent medics can work. Maj. Gen. Norman T. Kirk, Surgeon General of the Army, reported to the annual meeting of the Association of Military Surgeons that 60,000 World War II American soldiers live today, although, had they received the same type of injury in the last war, they would have died.

The soldier on the picture probably is one of those 60,000 'lucky ones.' But take one more look at the picture. We don't want to belittle the skill of modern medics, but what good is it for this unfortunate human being?

And what happened to him and 59,999 others may happen to you. Then people will read 'one more wounded' and will perhaps think of six weeks in a hospital, a furlough, and a Purple Heart. But they will not know of some broken hearts.

Of course, the Germans were lying. The photograph had originally appeared in a 1924 German anti-war book Krieg dem Kriege! ("War Against War!"). The photograph is identified as "Das ganze Gesicht weggeschossen" ("The entire face shot away").

Curiously, the photograph was reprinted after the war in Great Britain with acknowledgement to the original book. The Germans liked the photograph so much that they designed the above leaflet around it in WWII.

The story doesn't end there. The British then decided that they would use the image too. In fact, they used it twice. The Psychological Warfare Executive (PWE) produced a series of stickers in late 1942. They were in the form of "Winterhilfswerk" (WHW). This German organization supported the poor during the cold German winters. The WHW sold various items to raise money to be used for charity. The British produced five gummed stickers in the form of a WHW labels. One of these labels used the image of the soldier with his face shot off. Another label showed Himmler holding a pistol and demanding money for the charity. People assumed that the man with no face (or perhaps with a gigantic open mouth) was Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and the image became popularly known as "Goebbels talking his face off." The code number of this item is H-235, the "H" represents the name of the head forger, Ellic Howe. The code does not appear on the label, it is found in declassified British wartime records.

H-292 Stamps

Howe used the image a second time when he designed a pair of very realistic looking postage stamps in late 1942 and early 1943. These were coded H-292. The stamps were prepared in booklets of two sheets of 10 stamps, twenty stamps in all.

Once again, one stamp showed Himmler, the other stamp showed the man with no face. Behind him are the caricatures of two happy Nazi Party officials. The first has often been described as Julius Streicher (editor of the anti-Semitic newspaper Der Sturmer), but there has been conjecture that he might be Robert Ley, Reichorganisationsleiter (Reich Organization Leader), a favorite target of the British propagandists. The second is clearly Hermann Goering (Reichsmarschall of the Luftwaffe). They are smiling and holding champagne glasses. The message is clear. The Party bosses drink and have a good time while the frontline soldier is killed or mutilated.

Envelope with H-292 Winter Help stamps

A report in the British Public Record Office dated 7 January 1943 states, "H-292 Winter Help stamps. To be delivered today and tomorrow. 10,000 booklets." These stamps seem to have been used by the Polish forces that fought on in England. Several envelopes have been found bearing the stamps with Polish addresses.

This has to be one of the strangest propaganda campaigns of all times. It started as an anti-war photograph in book, seems to have been reproduced in both a British book and perhaps Life magazine, then was used as anti-British propaganda, then returned as anti-Nazi propaganda. There is nothing else in PSYOP history like this particular operation.

9802 45 90

Another German leaflet from the “98” series is folded so as to depict an American officer and his girl on the front and a severed hand on the back. The inside is all text, with some odd grammar which I leave untouched, and says in part:

These two pictures, a pair of lovers and a lifeless hand lost in battle, are taken from the same magazine, from LIFE.

The touching picture of the loving couple is taken from a love story, the other from a thrilling serie about war veterans arranged in a objective, superior, almost uninterested way with the only ambition to bring out a real scoop.

We German soldiers who saw these pictures have thought about the meaning of this strange contrast of “horror” and “longing.”…We believe that among you Yanks, there is also many a man who asks himself the same and – whether it really pays to risk everything.

981144/4 - Said F.D.R. in 1940

This German leaflet depicts President Roosevelt on the front and the text explains in great detail that he was a liar. It mentions the old FDR quote that, "no American boys will be sacrificed on foreign battlefields," and implies that the war will go on endlessly. Of course, as always, it does not bother to mention that Hitler declared war on the USA and did exactly what Roosevelt wanted him to do, allow the United States to help Great Britain fight its war against the Nazi hoards.

The back of the leaflet depicts Allied troops dead in the water and on the land. It implies that they are dead due to Roosevelt’s lies.

  

In Trust for Tomorrow

In this leaflet the Germans pull out all the stops. This veteran home from the war has not lost just an arm or a leg; he has lost both arms, both legs and both eyes. His wife and children, obviously starving, wonder how they will survive. The German code is BWK-09-39. That would seem to imply that this is a very early leaflet, prepared for the British troops in France during the “Phoney War,” 3 September 1939 to 10 May 1940, while the Germans and the Allies just threw propaganda at each other before the actual start of the shooting war.

 

49 A 9

This is a leaflet with an odd code that I have never seen before. The Germans did sometimes use numbers in their codes, for instance the number 4 was used on leaflets to Norway and Denmark, and 98 for Western Europe. 49 is unknown as far as I know. The theme is also interesting. The Soviets printed many leaflets for the German talking about the cold of the Russian winter. Here the Germans use the same kind of threat against the Allies. The text on the front is:

WINTER AHEAD

The back has a long message stating that both Churchill and Eisenhower have warned of a long winter campaign. The Germans tell the Allies that long winters are terrible for the health and there are long-term illnesses that can linger. How to avoid them? Come over to the Germans and be warn, fit and healthy in a nice POW camp.

The Horror of It

Although we do not know who took the original picture of the hand on the ground, I note that the British used the same image on the cover of a book titled The Horror of it - Camera Records of War's Gruesome Glories.

* 1310-2-45

Still another gruesome leaflet was produced by the Südstern (Southern Star) section of the Scorpion South Propaganda Organization of the German 10th Army. They were responsible for producing a number of leaflets during the war. These leaflets all have codes that start with a five-pointed star. The leaflet above coded * 1310-2-45 was distributed near the end of the war on Allied troops in Italy. The photo on the front of a leaflet shows a wounded allied soldier receiving first aid at a German dressing (first aid) station. The soldier is missing an eye and half of his face is severely burned. The text on the back of the leaflet is:

World War No. 2 is almost over! Does it still pay?

The Südstern organization produced several series of death and disfigurement leaflets for Allied troops in Italy. One series was produced and dropped in November 1944. The codes run from 306-11-44 to 314-11-44. Each leaflet shows a murdered German baby, woman, or elder who had been raped or murdered by the Russians.

* 309/11 44

Leaflet * 309/11 44 depicts a young child with a bullet hole in the head. The text on the back is:

This is what your ally has done!

How long will England keep silent?

The inhabitants of the village of Nemmersdorf in East Prussia were taken by surprise in a thrust by Soviet tanks. When two days later our grenadiers had driven back the Bolsheviks, they found the village completely devastated and all inhabitants massacred in the most appalling way.

This picture shows a baby, only nine months old, brutally murdered by a shot through the head.

The second series of Südstern leaflets were produced in March of 1945 and the codes run from 1340-3-45 to 1343-3-45. In this series the Germans depict small groups of murdered Germans.

* 1343-3-45

Leaflet * 1343-3-45 depicts four German babies dead on the ground. Some of the text is:

"SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN TO COME UNTO ME"

But Doolittle and Harris went to the little children!

We don’t know exactly how many little children Doolittle and Harris burned to death in their cowardly attack. For five years of war, Dresden has remained untouched, because it contained no objective of military or economic interest. But once it was filled with thousands of mothers and children of all the nationalities of Eastern Europe, fleeing from Asiatic savagery, Harris found it worth attacking. On the other side of this leaflet you see four of the more than thirty thousand of charred little bodies we dug out of the ruins. Over thirty thousand children and babies burned to death, not counting the mothers and old men.

 

AI-046-8-44

The German Propaganda-Abschnitts-Offizier Italien organization printed the “AI” leaflets for use in Italy. Some were printed in Berlin, others in Italy. Leaflet coded AI-046-8-44 depicted a smiling naked British girl rolling up her stocking while a U.S. Army Staff-sergeant fixes his tie nearby. Text on the front is "While you are away." The back depicts a disfigured British soldier dead on the battlefield. The text is:

The Yanks are 'lend-leasing' your women. Their pockets full of cash and no work to do, the boys from overseas are having the time of their lives in Merry Old England. And what young woman, single or married, could resist such "handsome brute from the wide open spaces" to have dinner with, a cocktail at some nightclub, and afterwards.... Anyway, so numerous have become the scandals that all England is talking about them now. Most of you are convinced that the war will be over in four months. Too bad if it should hit you in the last minute.

This leaflet is actually rather clever. It mentions "Lend-lease," a program where the United States sent weapons and materiel to Great Britain to be paid for after the war. It talks about pockets full of money, which would remind the British of their saying about the Yanks, "overpaid. oversexed, and over here." Finally, the term “wide open spaces” reminds us that many Europeans believed that America was still the land where the “Cowboys and Indians” rode the open plains.

AI-172-12-44

Another Propaganda-Abschnitts-Offizier  leaflet coded AI-172-12-44 depicts a dead soldier that has been so brutalized and desecrated that all that remains is a skull on an emaciated body.  This leaflet claims that the body is that of a dead German that was tortured and mutilated by the Russian Bolshevik Army. The goal of this leaflet was to cast doubt on the choice of having the Russians as allies. The text on the front of the leaflet is: "What would your mother say if this dead soldier were you?" The text on the back of the leaflet reads:

Send this picture home to your mother! Ask her if she would like to see you scalped, your eyes gouged out, your nose cut off and your tongue cut out. When reconquering the town of Schirwindt at the eastern frontier of Germany, German soldiers found this pal of theirs mutilated by Bolshevik savages. Those fiends that have done this are your allies, the bestial godless Bolsheviks! Stalin has successfully duped the world by claiming the Bolshevik system has changed. But in reality, nothing has changed in Soviet Russia. The churches have not been reopened with the exception of a few for propaganda purposes. The same despotism, the same terror and cruelty, the same slavery and wholesale murder still rule the country and the proclamation of "democratic ideals" is a farce. The Bolshevik Moloch has just devoured seven European countries. Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Rumania, and Bulgaria, are now facing a fate worth than death. The death of millions of civilized Europeans in these countries is sanctioned by your government and you are fighting to help the Bolshevik murderers! They will always be the same: Enemies of civilization and liberty a leopard cannot change its spots.

[Author’s note: Warning. In 2018, reproductions of this leaflet were offered on EBay for $9.99. Several other German leaflets to the Allies with a sexual theme were also offered].

Eastward Bound

It seems that propagandists from every country like the images of skulls and skeletons. This uncoded leaflet depicts a figure I assume is DEATH on the front looking at all the dead bodies of the Allies heading eastward into the Third Reich. That would make in about late 1944 after the invasion of France and the return of the Allies to Europe. The back is all text:

THAT’S WHERE IT GETS YOU

Winter: Death in the Vosges

Snow: Death in the Vosges

Mud: Death in the Vosges

Cold: Death in the Vosges

Darling wife? - Dear mother?: Death in the Vosges

The Kids: Death in the Vosges

All your sufferings: Death in the Vosges

THAT’S YOUR WAY!

The Vosges are a range of low mountains in eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and low mountain range of around 3,100 square miles in area. During the Second World War, in autumn 1944, they were the site of brief but sharp fighting between Franco-American and German forces.

The German propaganda machine produced a number of leaflets for American and British soldiers fighting in Italy and Western Europe that depicted women that had been raped and murdered by the Soviets. This was an attempt to drive a wedge between the Allies and their Soviet compatriots. They are quite awful. I depict just two of them and warn the reader that they are not pleasant. I don’t know if Allied soldiers finding these leaflets would be more disgusted by the Russians committing these atrocities or the Germans for photographing and disseminating them.

In the Name of Democracy
Klaus Kirchner: Erotic Leaflets in Europe in the 20th Century 

The first leaflet is uncoded and was produced by the German Skorpion West organization for Allied troops in Western Europe. It depicts a dead child at the left and a partially naked woman on the right. Some of the text is:

IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY

Little Heidi just turned 4 when the Bolsheviks brought her young life to an end.

Her mother was ravaged and then horribly stabbed…

Leaflet *1344/4-45
Klaus Kirchner: Erotic Leaflets in Europe in the 20th Century

Leaflet *1344/4-45 was produced by the Sudstern organization for American and British troops fighting in Italy. It depicts a dead spread-legged woman on the front along with a bright red hammer and sickle. The text is:

Red Tracks

Here Soviet soldiers were living before they were driven out of Lauban by the Germans. In this small town alone 148 women, victims of the red blood lust, were raped and murdered.

 

Leaflet A-119

A July, 1994 German leaflet aimed at American troops in Northwestern Europe coded A-119 is much milder in its psychological attack. It depicts an American soldier (clearly identified by his helmet) looking into a mirror and seeing a crippled civilian as his reflection. The leaflet was printed in Berlin and disseminated in American soldiers fighting in France.  The text on the front is, "LATER." The back is all text:

Five questions for the American soldier:

1. Are you certain of finding a job if you have the good luck to get back to the States safe and sound from the war? 

2. Won't the best jobs be held by those who were wiser than you and avoided taking part in the war?

3. What security have you for your existence if you come back from the war sick, wounded, minus a limb or even blinded? 

4. Is your family sufficiently provided for if you are one of the many who will never see America again? 

5. Are your savings secure against the inflation which is threatening the USA as a result of the absurdly high war loans, or will you and your family be reduced to beggars after the war?

The Germans seem to like the image of an American veteran on crutches. Their full-color leaflet coded “AEC” dropped starting October 1944 depicted a cripple looking at a healthy young man and woman with the title “Gentlemen prefer blondes but…” A similar image and the same text were used on their uncoded leaflet disseminated in December 1944. Leaflet A-127, disseminated in December 1944, shows a crippled veteran asking for a job and being told “It’s your job to fight.”

Leaflet A-130

I always was ready to die for my country and never feared death, but I did fear being disfigured or horrible injured. I think most soldiers would tell you the same thing. The same German unit that prepared leaflet A-119 prepared and disseminated leaflet A- 130 starting in December 1944. It depicts a blind American soldier and his two children and the text:

It’s your job to fight!

The Germans make an interesting argument on the back of the leaflet. They talk about WWI and how the veterans were treated. We, who know our American history, remember the “bonus march” and the charge led by Douglas MacArthur against the veterans. The “Bonus Army” was an assemblage of some 43,000 marchers, 17,000 U.S. World War I veterans and their families and friends, who gathered in Washington, D.C. in the summer of 1932 to demand cash-payment redemption of their service certificates. Many of the war veterans had been out of work since the beginning of the Great Depression. Washington police tried to move them out, met with resistance, and two veterans were wounded and later died. President Herbert Hoover then ordered the Army to clear the veterans' campsite. Army Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur commanded the infantry and cavalry supported by six tanks. The Bonus Army marchers with their wives and children were driven out, and their shelters and belongings burned. Some of the propaganda text on the leaflet is:

Remember the 1917/18 boys’ tragedy?

They finally walked up to the White House only asking for a chance to make a living.

Did they get their chance?

They were kicked out and treated like tramps, you know.

Under this Helmet...

I selected this last German leaflet because of the very subtle image. Notice that instead of dead bodies or horribly disfigured soldiers it simply depicts an American helmet. There is a dent in the side so it has been hit by German fire, and underneath we see a growing puddle of blood. I believe this leaflet had a strong message and would cause the finder to stop and think, if just for a few seconds. Beneath the helmet is the text:

Under this helmet crimson with blood was a man – walking forward into hell – risking death – loving life as much as yuo (sic).

The back is all text:

Who is going to launch out into the new battle?

Statesmen? Politicians? Big bankers? Munition manufacturers?

Business leaders who made a fortune during wartime? Editors whose papers stirred up hate?

No – NOT ONE!

Just you and the men of the 8th, 29th,102nd and 104th Division, average young Americans with their lives ahead.

We know you have to do it. Stalin, too, expects it. And we are well prepared!

And keep in mind that up to now every fifth man of the US Forces in Europe is wounded, dead, or in captivity.

We can trace this leaflet to the Western Front late in the war since we know that the 102nd Division entered Germany 29 November 1944 and the 104th entered Germany 7 November 1944.

The same image was used on a German leaflet dropped on American soldiers in Western Europe in December 1944. The text on the front of that leaflet is:

GONE!

Do you want to share his fate?

Helmets are interesting. My first helmet was the classic “Steel Pot.” You could wash your face, shave, cook coffee or eggs and warm your C-rations in it. It had a lot of uses. I never thought for a moment it would stop a carefully aimed bullet, but I did believe it might protect you against small pieces of shrapnel. And, if a bullet came in at an angle you had a chance it would be deflected and you would live.

A Survivor’s Helmet

This steel helmet took two hits in Vietnam and the bullets were slightly deflected and the wearer survived with little more than a headache. He was a very lucky soldier.

When the steel pot was replaced by the German-style “Fritz” helmet about 1985 the Army wanted to build up our faith and belief in the Kevlar helmet so they sent a soldier around to talk about it. He had gone into Grenada wearing the Kevlar helmet and suffered a broken leg. As he lay on the ground two enemy soldiers found him and fired two AK47 rounds in his head at very close range. He was wearing the new Fritz and somehow the bullets were slightly deflected and went around his head, wounding him badly but not getting to the brain. He stood in front of us with some ugly scars and told this story about how he survived and I am thinking, “He broke his leg, and then took two in the head...what do they call him. Lucky?”

  

Korean War Leaflet 7203 – No Steel Pot for the Chinese

Leaflet coded 7203 was produced by the 1st Radio Broadcasting and Leaflet Group on 15 October 1952 and entitled “The Communist Cap of Death.” It targeted Chinese communist forces in Korea. One side shows a skull wearing a Communist soft cap with shrapnel passing through it. The other side shows a United Nations soldier with shrapnel bouncing off his helmet. The text argues that the Communist leadership doesn't care about the lives of its soldiers, while “The United Nations protects its men.” The importance of having a helmet becomes painfully obvious on this two-sided leaflet.

The blue side with the United Nations soldier reads:

The United Nations helmets save their soldiers. The United Nations always takes care of their soldiers. The United Nations has the most sophisticated weapons for their soldiers. There is no United Nations soldier without a helmet. The United Nations General is not like the Communist boss who has prepared only for his own personal safety. The United Nations Commander doesn't waste his soldiers for his own personal benefit. Why do you waste your life for a horrible boss who won't even give you a helmet? Save your life. It is well known that the Communist troops are on the run.

The red side reads:

Save your life, desert! The Communists don't even give you a helmet. They only give you a "bunk hat". It cannot protect you from a bullet. Your boss doesn't care if you die. He doesn't have to worry; he isn't fighting in the field. Your bosses just reap the benefits of your sacrifice. Don't waste your life for the son of a bitch. Why do you waste your life for your boss? Save your skin.

Leaflet 7203 was written in Chinese for the members of the Chinese “Volunteer” Army. The same leaflet was written for the North Korean troops in the Korean Language coded 1227.

The Allies

G10

The American and British psywarriors were also dropping leaflets that showed German soldiers dead and disfigured. British Leaflet G10 pictures a number of dead Germans on the ground before a wall filled with the death notices of German soldiers. The text at the top is "For Fuehrer and Fatherland" and below the bodies, "Why?" The back is all text, "Hitler can no longer win the war," and lists four reasons why. The leaflets ends, "New millions will die for Hitler!" This leaflet was first dropped on the night of 25/26 March and last dropped on the night of 23/24 April 1942.

I.9

This 1942 British Political Warfare Executive leaflet photograph is hard to identify since the body is in such poor condition. It could be a man face down in the dirt with his pants removed, or it could be a woman. The title La guerra come ve la spacciavano, (“The war in Reality”) shows the Italians clearly that war is not about glory and medals; instead it can be about horrible death.

G12

British leaflet G12 was dropped from 8 March 1942 to 13 April 1942. It depicts Adolf Hitler smiling as he looks around at a snowy Russian field covered with the bodies of dead German soldiers. A Hitler quote from 24 February 1941 is in bright red, "I feel so fresh. Spring is coming." The back of the leaflet is all text. It is entitled, "To the soldiers of the German armed forces!" The text tells of the terrible disasters that have befallen the German military in the USSR and ends, "A just peace!

G18

This British leaflet coded G18/1942, dropped over Germany from 17 April until 10 August 1942, was called “His First Campaign.”

The front is divided into two pictures. In the left picture we see a young Hitlerjungen (Hitler Youth), and at the right we see him a bit older as a Stosstruppführer (Storm Troop Leader). The second picture to the right of the front depicts dead bodies on the Eastern Front. The text is:

From Hitler Youth to Storm Trooper

And His Last

What THE WEEK tells – and what it conceals

The back of the leaflet depicts a “The Week” newspaper obituary page filled with notices of the deaths of German soldiers. The text is:

Hitler can no longer win the war, he can only prolong it.

Note: The British dropped almost the same leaflet as G.21, from 4 May until 29 August 1942, now called “What THE WEEK says.” The major difference is that no instead of the pictures being horizontal on the front; they appear in a vertical format.

G21

The Nazi Party deducted a small amount from the paycheck of the German worker who signed up to receive what would eventually become the "People's Car" (Volkswagen). British leaflet G21 was dropped from 20 April 1943 to 5 May 1943. A photograph at the top of the leaflet depicts Hitler being shown a model of the car that was to be eventually owned by every German. The text is "Hitler sees the model, Berlin 1938." Ferdinand Porsche was commissioned to design a car for the Nazi Kraft Durch Freude organization - the slogan meaning strength, or power through joy.

The picture below shows two dead German soldiers contorted in the North African desert heat next to the military version of the automobile. The text is, "The finished vehicle in Africa 1943." The KDF-Wagen was produced in military versions such as the Type 82 and amphibious Type 166, but it wasn't until after the Second World War that it became available to civilians as the Volkswagen.

The leaflet title is, "Power through Joy!" There is a Hitler quote from 30 January 1941. "I allowed for each possibility ahead of time." The back of the leaflet is all text and entitled "Hitler Strategy." It ends with a discussion of German military disasters in the Soviet Union and North Africa, "After Stalingrad and Tunis?"

G69

Curiously, an almost identical leaflet was prepared a year earlier. British leaflet G69 (1942) showed the exact same image on the front, except that it was not as sharp and the faces were less clear. The only difference is the text at the bottom which now reads "The finished vehicle in Libya 1942." The message on the back compares the military situations in 1939, 1940, and 1941.

G.56

British leaflet G.56 was dropped from 17 August 1943 to 7 September 1943. The front of the leaflet depicts a dead German soldier on the ground in Italy. He appears to have taken a bullet in the face. The back of the leaflet is all text. The title is, "German women! Rescue your men!" The text tells of the horrible death awaiting the German soldier at the front. It discusses Mussolini and the fact that German soldiers die in Italy while Italians no longer fight. Some of the text is:

GERMAN WOMEN! RESCUE YOUR MEN

The plain of Catania had become a German mass grave. Thousands of young German men were sacrificed there in the last week of July and the first week of August, senselessly and uselessly for a cause that was settled and decided long ago. Mussolini has resigned, Italian soldiers are going home everywhere. Italian war industries are out of standstill. And people all over Italy are already celebrating peace and their liberation. In the olive groves and in the Rocky rubble of Sicily, your men, your sons, senselessly and uselessly sacrificed by a man who cannot stop. Who does not understand that the Bell has tolled.

A lot of these young men were still alive and well when Mussolini fell, and it became clear that there was nothing left to defend in Italy. Afterwards, senselessly and criminally Hitler had them slaughtered, just as he had early slaughtered the men of the six army at Stalingrad.

In the same days, mass parades took place in the cities of Italy in a front with the entire People and women demonstrating for an end to the hopeless war.

Give us back our men! Give us back our sons! This is the voice of nature, clear and courageous, irrepressible. No woman will voluntarily let her husband and her children die in agony just because a few high-ranking gentlemen do not want to admit that their game is lost.

Mussolini has been chased away. His loudmouth bullies have had their mouths shut, and the Italian people have found their voice again. They want peace, and they will have it. Millions of Italian women we’ll see their husband again, and then when they return safe and secure, they will be able to say to them proudly, "I also contributed to you being back." 

But thousands of young German men are still bleeding to death every hour for Hitler. German women! Take the Italians as an example. Save your husbands and sons! there is nothing they can do to change the fact that Germany has lost the war. But you can prevent them from dying senselessly in the last hour after the decision has been made.

G72

British leaflet G72 is a four page folded sheet entitled "Stalingrad - February 1943." It depicts a number of photographs of dead German soldiers after military defeats. Besides Stalingrad (February 1943), the leaflet also shows bodies from Tunis (May 1943) and Italy (September 1943). Each of the photos is accompanied by the ever larger text Um Zeit zu gewinnen ("A time to win"). The back of the leaflet depicts an aerial photograph of what is left of Hamburg after Allied bombing raids. The text is "Hamburg July 1943 - Time for the destruction of Germany." This leaflet was dropped over Germany from 22 September 1943 until 6 January 1944.

G.21

The Index of Allied Airborne Leaflets and Magazines tells us that British leaflet G.21, “What Die Woche says,” was dropped from about 4 May 1942 to 29 August 1942. On the front at the top it depicts Hitler Youth who graduate to German Storm Troopers, and below the bodies of dead German soldiers on the Eastern Front.

Die Woche (“The Week”) was an illustrated weekly newspaper published in Berlin from 1899 to 1944. Some of the text on the front is:

What ‘The Week’ shows, and what it does not show

His first campaign - and his last

The back of the leaflet depicts death notices, probably as seen in a German newspaper, and the text:

Hitler can no longer win the war, he can only prolong it

CPH-2

This leaflet does not show dead or mutilated bodies but it threatens same and therefore I think it is worth adding to this article. It is a tactical leaflet produced by the United States Ninth Army for German soldiers in Northwest Europe in October 1944. The leaflet depicts a tank plough. Some of the text is:

Our tank-plough is no secret weapon. We Americans freely show you our weapons. Our strongly armored tank-ploughs bury many of you alive in your fox holes. Lieutenant Schneps ordered the men of the First and Third detachments (6/343 Infantry Regiment) to let the ploughs pass and then attack the following American infantry. Thus, about 60 defenseless men were covered over while standing in their fox holes.

Almost 50 years later, United States armor using the same weapon buried Iraqi soldiers during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

Leaflet ZG 57

I have debated putting this leaflet into the story. It does show a destroyed German Panther tank near St. Pois, but does not show dead bodies. But, it does talk of dead bodies, perhaps thousands of them. As a result, I think we can make a case for adding this leaflet. 4,280,000 copies of leaflet ZG 57 were dropped on the Germans from 30 August to 16 September 1944.

During WWII, as the Allies quickly advanced from their D-Day landings, a large number of German troops were trapped in what became known as the Falaise Gap. Allegedly, the Allies did not want them trapped to an extent where they would fight to the death so left a small opening where the Germans could make their escape. The plan apparently worked and the trapped Germans moved toward the Gap in great numbers. According to this leaflet they were slaughtered to such an extent that it was little more than murder. The front of the leaflet has a statement from an American reporter, the back a similar statement from a British artillery officer. I will translate a brief portion of each side:

It has been the greatest slaughter of German soldiers, the greatest destruction of their equipment, since the war began. Through the naked eye, one can see the shells hit the vehicles which go up in flame and smoke, with little marionettes, which are the German soldiers, run around like ants in a field…The carnage became something altogether fantastic. There arose the sickening atmosphere of something resembling a slaughter house. Somebody – someone high up – was sacrificing thousands of German lives and an army’s equipment for the sake of prestige. Our men lost all desire to fire into this helpless amorphous mass without even aiming…but the destruction had to go on.

We received our targets and fired into them but it was no longer a fair battle. It was mass murder. It was a mass suicide of the German 7th Army. Over 50,000 German soldiers lost their lives in the battle of encirclement within a matter of 10 days…A German officer declared: “That could no longer be called war…No wonder that our Generals rebelled against such insanity…One cannot stop a steamroller with one’s naked hands.”

The USSR

O Tannenbaum

During WWII the USSR produced thousands of different leaflets and dropped them in the millions over the German troops invading their homeland. Many of the leaflets used the fear of death and disfigurement as their main focus. This was especially true during and after Stalingrad, where thousands of Germans froze to death during the terrible winter of 1942.

The leaflet we illustrate is one of a set of six that was prepared in the form of a postcard. The picture side depicts a German soldier frozen to death beneath a decorated fir tree. The text is, "O Tannenbaum, O tannenbaum" ("Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree"), a well known German Christmas song.

Each of these cards bears an imitation express label Des Führers Weihnachtsbescherung ("The Leader's Christmas Present") on the back. This comment is satiric in nature because the "present" is death in the Russian snow. 500,000 of the postcards were printed in Moscow on 10 December 1941. They were used all across the Eastern Front. Notice that the card we show has two punch holes at the left. That indicates that it was turned in to German Intelligence where it was filed and kept until the end of the war. In later years these files were opened and the leaflets sold.

The text on the back is, "On Christmas eve the entire family is gathered around the festively decorated Christmas tree. Only, he, the soldier, is missing. He now lies thousands of miles away from his homeland, dead under a snow-covered Russian fir tree. Hitler sent him and millions of other Germans to their death. German soldier, you who are still alive on Christmas eve are consumed with longing for your loved ones. Finish with Hitler! Finish with this senseless war!

German prisoners stated that these leaflets, dropped at a time when the German soldiers had given up all hope of a furlough for the holidays, and when the German people had been warned against celebrating Christmas, had a great effect on them.

Front Illustrated – February 1943

The Russian 4-page propaganda leaflet newspaper Front Illustrierte fur den Deutschen Soldaten (Front Illustrated for the German Soldiers)was published on a weekly basis from July 1941 to April 1945, 93 issues in all, and then airdropped over German troops. The newspapers were about 90% illustrations with many photographs and photomontages of a defeatist nature showing dead or wounded German troops and destroyed German war weapons and materials. Occasionally special issues would be produced with more than the usual four pages. Hardly an issue can be found that does not show rotting German corpses or burning German tanks on Russian soil. Hitler is often ridiculed, sometimes depicted with Napoleon’s hat, sometimes as a drunk, sometimes as a vulture on a mountain of corpses or sometimes leading an army of skeletons. Other Nazi leaders such as Göring, Goebbels and Himmler appear in various poses as rats, monkeys, money-grubbers and other strange creatures. Many of the illustrations were designed by the Russian artist Alexander Zhitomirsky. Besides German language editions, there were some copies of the newspaper printed in Italian, Romanian and Finnish.

Almost any edition of the newspaper leaflet could be used to show the theme of death and disfigurement. The issue of February 1943 depicts dead Germans piled up in the snow around Stalingrad.

Daddy where are you?

The Russian leaflet depicts a child looking for her father at the top and below dead German soldiers on the frozen battlefield. This leaflet was dropped by Soviet Aircraft during January of 1942, Code number 697. The text on the front is:

Daddy, we're waiting for you, Daddy, where are you?

The back is the usual surrender message that Hitler is to blame for the war and will make your children orphans. Stay alive to embrace your wife and children. Surrender to the Soviets and survive. The Commander of the Red Army will guarantee your life, good food, mail home and a safe return home when the war is over.

Daddy is dead!

This very professional Russian leaflet shows a child who has just learned that her father was killed on the Eastern Front. The text on the front is:

Daddy is dead!

Call Hitler! He did it!

Do you want to return home SO?

This amazing full-color Russian leaflet depicts a German soldier who has returned from the war. He has lost both legs and is rolling on a wheeled platform across the floor. He wife and daughter are in shock and cannot bear to look at him. This is a very emotional image. Most soldiers do not mind dying for their country. What they fear is being horribly crippled or disfigured. The text on the front is:

Do you want to return home SO?

The back says in part:

To hundreds and thousands, Hitler awards Iron Crosses, promises you eternal glory and honor for the subjugation and destruction of millions of people living in the countries of Europe. Hundreds and thousands of you are intoxicated by the bloody victories and hope that the war will bring you and your family happiness…

In vain! Millions of German soldiers have already left their lives on the boundless expanse of the Soviet Union. The iron crosses are a poor consolation for your widows and orphans, and the lofty speeches do not replace the dead bodies.

The message goes on to say that the soldiers will not win honor and glory and happiness, but just death and disfigurement as depicted on the picture on the front of the leaflet. The message ends “Down with Hitler! Down with the Nazis!”

It wasn't only the Soviets that used frozen soldiers as propaganda. Here the Finnish troops have propped up a frozen Russian soldier in an attempt to intimidate the Soviet troops.

The Korean War

We should start this section by saying that the United States was slowly coming to understand that showing dead and disfigured bodies was having the opposite effect of what was desired. Instead of the enemy losing hope, they seem to have become insulted and agitated and more willing to fight. We find that from the Korean War to the present, the U.S. tried to prohibit the depiction of enemy dead on leaflets, but just like the prohibited use of “Death Cards” in Vietnam, the troops loved leaflets covered with dead bodies and they just kept appearing. Major Albert C. Brauer, served in the Eighth U.S. Army Korea as Chief of the Projects Branch, Psychological Warfare Division, G3 Section (February 1951 to January 1952). He prepared a paper for Georgetown University in 1953 entitled Psychological Warfare Korea 1951. He said in regard to the leaflets depicted dead bodies:

The anti-morale, material superiority (especially photos of dead Communist soldiers) were least effective. The general feeling seemed to be: We know this only too well, but what can we do?” This fatalistic attitude, together with a lack of individual initiative was, I believe, the psychological factors most difficult to combat.

Leaflet 1058

Since we are discussing death, it is only apt that the first leaflet we depicts has a North Korean soldier blindly following death who is beating a war drum while the soldier’s child weeps behind him. The leaflet was prepared by the Military Intelligence Section, General Staff, Psychological Warfare Branch of the Far East Command. The text on the front is:

The Next Attack – Why Must I be led to my Death?

Some of the text on the back is:

Why have the Communist leaders tried to blind me to the truth about the overwhelming numbers of the United Nations planes, tanks and artillery units?

Why have they tried to deafen me with the hollow pounding of war drums and political indoctrination…deafened me to the anguished cries of my family?

Leaflet 1074

This Far East Command Psychological Warfare Section leaflet depicts North Korean leader Kim Il Sung addressing a rally of Communist soldiers, most of whom are shown as skeletons. Some of the text is:

First Anniversary of the Korean War

Victory Celebration

This month marks the first anniversary of the Communist assault upon South Korea.

Net results of one year’s fighting in Korea

June 1970 – June 1951

Casualties: 1, 176,750 – Prisoners of War: 162,398 – Material Losses; Incalculable.

 

Leaflet 1127

Leaflet 1127 was prepared by the First Radio Broadcasting and Leaflet Group of General Headquarters, Far East Command, Psychological Warfare Section, on 1 December 1951. It is designed to frighten the enemy soldier and make him consider surrendering to the United Nations forces. The front of the leaflet depicts dead and dying North Korean soldiers in an artillery barrage with bright red flames. Text on the front of the leaflet is:

7500 Infantry Companies Destroyed.

The back of the leaflet has a long propaganda message and depicts a line of North Korean soldiers turning into skeletons as they march forward and piling up on the ground. The text is:

When your political officers give you the latest war news they probably distort what should interest you the most - the number of your comrades killed, wounded, or safe behind the United Nations lines.

Since the Korean Army began the war, 681,421 of your countrymen have been killed or wounded. This is equivalent to more than 3,000 full strength Korean infantry companies. 118,486 Korean soldiers have avoided death and wounds by going over the United Nations lines where they are now safe.

Since the beginning of the war the total number of Korean and Chinese soldiers killed or wounded is 1,5000,000! This is equivalent to 7,500 Korean infantry companies!

These figures should prove to you that your leaders have little regard for human life, and that they are putting your life in constant danger.

Leaflet 6004

The United Nations attempted to destroy the morale of the Chinese “volunteers” and drive a wedge between the enlisted men and the officers fighting in North Korea by disseminating leaflet 6004. It depicted a mass of dead and dying Chinese soldiers under air attack. The text to the right of the vignette is:

Where Are Your Officers?

The back is all text:

Chinese soldiers, Your fighting friends, who have been wounded or captured, ask one question over and over again:

Where are our officers? Whenever planes bomb and strafe us, our officers disappear and our enlisted men are abandoned.

Why should we carry out the orders of invisible men? Why should we serve with ghosts for leaders? Why should Chinese soldiers be slaughtered through the cowardly desertion of their own officers?

 

7079

Leaflet 7079 was prepared by the 1st Radio Broadcast and Leaflet Group and ready for dissemination on 24 August 1951.

The black and red leaflet is targeted at the Chinese Army and the theme is to accentuate the enemy's fear of U.N. artillery. The front depicts a single Chinese soldier in the center of a giant target. The text is:

DEATH IS COMING!

The back depicts a large hole in the ground caused by an artillery explosion:

Death that comes at you continually. It comes with the sun. It comes with the rain. It seeks you out in the night.

THE SWIFT AND DEADLY ARTILLERY SHELL.

It will soon find you with its purr of death and will kill you as it has killed so many of your comrades. How many artillery shells did you hear yesterday? Will you live to hear them again tomorrow? Death is coming, soldier.

Death is coming - UNLESS YOU COME OVER TO THE UN FORCES WHO ASSURE YOU OF GOOD TREATMENT, GOOD FOOD AND SWIFT MEDICAL ATTENTION.

7080

This U.N. leaflet to the Chinese above features a skeleton rotting on top of two pieces of paper, one a letter from home, and the other a newspaper. The title of the leaflet is “Communist prolongation of the war” a campaign the U.N. waged as the North Koreans and Chinese stalled at the peace meetings trying to gain more ground before the eventual armistice. The leaflet was printed on 29 August 1951 by the General Headquarters, Far East Command, Psychological Warfare Bureau. The text on the paper (a family letter) beneath the skull is:

I hope the peace talk is successful. My son can come home safely…Mother

The newspaper he's touching with his hand:

NEWS EXPRESS: Chinese Communists halt Peace Talks, Sending Chinese Soldier to Death.

8261

The previous three leaflets all used the threat of artillery and air attack to demoralize the enemy. This leaflet depicts a Communist soldier burning to death covered by napalm (jellied gasoline). There cannot be a more horrible death than this. The leaflet was requested from the G3, Eighth U.S. Army (Korea) by the U.S. Army X Corps for use against the 90th Regiment of the 45th North Korean Division, known for its poor morale. The text on the front is:

Warriors of the 90th North Korean People’s Army Regiment!

For whom do you face a fiery death?

Some of the text on the back is:

Again you have tasted the power and destruction of United Nations aircraft and fire bombs! Again fire rains from the sky and may soon kill you!

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For whom must you face this horrible death without defense against it? Your leaders fill the air with false promises while the United Nations fills the skies with aircraft and fire bombs….

 

7095

Leaflet 7095 was prepared by the 1st Radio Broadcast and Leaflet Group. The black and white leaflet is targeted at the Chinese Army and the front depicts the hand of death grimly counting his army on an abacus. Skulls, similar in size to abacus beads, form the background. The number shown on the abacus is 1,262,335. The back is all text:

Communist Leaders Celebrate Year in Korea.

While Chairman Mao and his henchmen gaily celebrate at home, Chinese soldiers continue to die uselessly in a foreign war. To date, 1,262,335 communist soldiers have died or been wounded in Korea.

As Mao celebrates the event, Death has his own celebration. Each click of the abacus means another communist soldier has died or is suffering. Each day the total climbs higher, higher, higher. Unless you escape, you too, will be killed or wounded.

Don't die for the communists. Save your life. Escape.

  

7096

Leaflet 7096 was prepared by the 1st Radio Broadcast and Leaflet Group and ready for dissemination on 24 October 1951.

The black and white leaflet is targeted at the Chinese Army and the text is a parody of a famous Chinese war poem. The front depicts a sleeping woman dreaming of the return of her soldier husband. The text is:

While their forms in dreams arise to fair ones far away...

Her dead husband is depicted on the back of the leaflet with the text:

...but along the river bank their bones lie scattered where they may. Her husband will not return home because he lies dead by a river bank. But, you can escape.

7225

The First Radio Broadcasting and Leaflet Group leaflet 7225 dated 5 January 1953 depicts a skull wearing a Chinese Army cap. The data sheet explains that this leaflet was designed to show that the Sino-Soviet friendship is a one-way bargain for China and means the ultimate death of the Chinese Communist forces. The text is in Chinese, "This is what the Sino-Soviet friendship means to you, soldier. Escape to the rear or the United Nations now!" There is also an added note in Korean, "This is a United Nations message to the Communist Chinese forces. Post it for them to read."

7256

Leaflet 7256 depicts a group of Chinese soldiers looking at the dead bodies of Chinese women and children on the ground. The First Radio Broadcasting and Leaflet Group produced this leaflet on 11 June 1953 for Chinese troops in Korea. It is part of a series entitled “Think” meant to cause Chinese soldiers to resent their Russian allies. The photograph was taken from the cover of Life Magazine, 19 January 1953. The back of the leaflet is all text with three large Chinese characters:

THINK – THINK – THINK

The text beneath the photograph says in part:

A GHOSTLY SCENE – THINK!

Is this how the Soviet-modeled Communists liberate the people of China?

Why did they have to kill these poor and innocent people to accomplish their “false liberation?”

THINK! Are these “false liberators” helping you, or helping Soviet Russia?

YOU, YOUR FRIEND, OR YOUR FAMILY MAY BE NEXT!

8265

A United Nations Korean War leaflet coded 8265 depicts a dead Communist soldier on the ground. The text is "Will you soon be like this?" The leaflet is for the 45th North Korean Army Division. The X Corps requested it as part of an intensified PSYOP effort. It is a rebuttal of Communist claims that the Republic of Korea troops have no artillery.

The back is all text:

Warriors of the 45th North Korean Division. Will you soon be like this? Heaven and earth have been rocking with the might of the Republic of Korea Army artillery. Day and night, the Republic of Korea Army artillery seeks you out. Your political officers have told you that you need not fear the Republic of Korea Army artillery. Have they lied to you once again? Have you had enough of their constant falsehoods? Must your comrades continue to die like dogs for Soviet Russia? There is but one way to escape - Come to the safety of the UN lines. Many of your comrades are already here. DO NOT HESITATE! TOMORROW MAY BE TOO LATE!

Leaflet 8518

This leaflet is similar to the one above. It depicts a dead Chinese soldier on the ground with what appears to be his broken weapon. It targets the Chinese human wave attacks. Notice the two punch holes at the top that indicate at some point this leaflet was filed in a military archive. Text on the front is:

Victim of Human Wave Tactics

The back is all text and says in part:

Officers and men of the ________ [This is a tactical leaflet and there is a space for entering a target unit – other such leaflets exist]

In your recent attacks you have made some gains. However, the picture on the other side shows the price of your gains. Remember, the United Nations Forces knew you were going to attack.

Your communist masters adapting "Human sea” tactics care nothing for human life. Thousands and thousands of your comrades are already dead or wounded. Will you be next! A wise man would save his life. Come to UN lines at once….

8271

Leaflet 8721 is a cartoon showing what appear to be three Chinese volunteers. One is bent over in pain. Two others lie on the ground beside him covered with blood. Both the background and the text is bright red. Another obvious threat of death and destruction by the Forces of the United Nations.

 

Front and Back of Communist Korean War Propaganda Booklet

The Communists prepared a six-page booklet for use against the American forces during the Korean War. The front and back pages both depicted scenes of death. One cover depicts a dead American flyer with the text “U.S. Airman writes to his buddies.” The other cover depicts two Korean children with the same text, “U.S. Airman writes to his buddies.” Inside there is a long propaganda message that says in part: 

United States Air Force Sergeant Phillip Aaronson is a prisoner of war in North Korea. Here is a letter from him to his old buddies in the Air Force when he asked us to deliver to you. He also wrote to his folks at home asking them to take every action they could to get the war in Korea ended quickly. He wants everyone to read both of these. 

The first letter is to his parents in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It has the usual propaganda message about the wonderful treatment in a prison camp and asks that the parents work to end the war. 

The second letter is to the B-29 crews that were bombing the communist forces in Korea. Aaronson tells of flying from his airbase in Okinawa and being shot down on 10 November 1950 near the Yalu River. His captors were the most gentlemanly of creatures naturally, and informed him that he was now safe, and gave him a cigarette. They fed him a good meal. He was “pleasantly surprised by the kindness of his captors.” They gave him warm clothes and he suddenly realized that it was the Americans who were the aggressors in Korea. His heart feels “remorse and shame for the tragedy I see each day unfolding before my eyes.” 

The last text page of the booklet is a safe conduct pass. It is not written solely for the American Air Force. British, Philippine, Turks, and other foreign forces in Korea are welcome to come over to the Communist side. The safe conduct pass promises good treatment to all and is signed by “The Korean People’s Army” and “The Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces.”

Leaflet 8597

During WWII the Germans printed numerous leaflets for the Americans, British and French showing soldiers with one leg, returning home to disappointed wives or girlfriends. Apparently the Americans approved of the concept because this leaflet to the Communist enemy uses exactly the same theme. The leaflet depicts a soldier returning home on crutches after losing his left leg in battle. His wife cries. The text asks:

If you return home with one leg, what can you do?

The text on the back says in part:

Under the false leadership of the Communists, numerous comrades have been killed and thousands and thousands more have been crippled in this war of Communist aggression.

The killed are called “Martyrs.” The cripples return home to so-called “Glory.”

BUT, OF WHAT USE IS THIS TITLE OF MARTYRS AND A CERTIFICATE OF HONOR?

If you have just one leg or one arm, can you till your land? When one is crippled his life is doomed.

Friends, be wise! Save your valuable life and limbs. Come to the United Nation lines at your first opportunity. The United Nations gives good treatment regardless of your rank and ideological belief.

Leaflet 8693

Leaflet 8693 attempts to frighten the Chinese “volunteers” with threat of death due to military action, starvation and the cold. It depicts a long line of dead or wounded Chinese troops. Some of the text is:

Warriors of the Chinese Forces

Hour after hour the number of dead and wounded increase around you. Your unit suffers bitterly from heavy casualties. See, many of your comrades now lie either dead or wounded. Your unit is almost destroyed. Must you, too, join your comrades in useless death?

Your situation is hopeless. You have done all you can. Now you must preserve your life to return to your family.

Leaflet 7117

This United Nations leaflet is actually coded R-7117. That indicates that it was so popular among our forces that it was reprinted and disseminated a second time. The image is one that most soldiers would probably consider worse than death. This Chinese soldier has lost both of his hands. In the background we see happier times when he could hold his son, close to his wife and home. It is a heart-breaking image. The back of the leaflet bears the symbol of the United Nations and text. The message on the front of this leaflet is:

If the Soviet Communist leaders agree soon to end the war, maybe I'll still have both hands to hold my child.

Leaflet 7119

This reprinted UN leaflet (notice the “R” in the code) targeting the Chinese troops depicts a hand holding a slip of paper that says in Chinese:

Give me my life back

A horde of dead and rotting Chinese soldiers killed in Korea look at posters of Mao and Stalin and say:

We dead want our life back too

The most interesting fact about the particular leaflet above is that it was owned by someone who rather overestimated its value. Remember that these leaflet were dropped in their millions and covered the ground for anyone to pick up. Usually one with a nice image might sell for about $25. In this case, the owner placed it in an auction estimated from $8,500 to $18,000, with a starting bid at $3,500 and a 27.5% premium applied to the winning bid. I am going to go out on a limb here and prophesize that this leaflet will receive no bids at this auction.

VIETNAM WAR

Vietnam was one of the longest and most emotional wars that the United States has ever fought. It lasted 10 years and tore the country apart. Although Washington fought a politically correct war and never went on a total war footing, in the front lines the fighting was sometimes ferocious and without quarter. It is no surprise that many American PSYOP leaflets showed scenes of dead and disfigured Viet Cong and North Vietnamese regulars.  

The Joint United States Public Affairs Office (JUSPAO) issued Guidance Number 20 on 11 September 1966. It said in part, "Convince the Viet Cong and their supporters that they are doomed to inevitable military defeat, and that each member faces death for a cause that cannot achieve either the national aspirations of the Vietnamese people or the personal aspiration of any Vietnamese individual."

Robert W. Chandler says in The War of Ideas: The U.S. Propaganda Campaign in Vietnam, Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 1981:

Another attempt to reinforce the enemy's fear of death that went awry was the use of brutally macabre leaflets. Photographs and sketches of a head torn from a body, a mass grave, or a skull roasting in flames were used to scare Communist troops into giving up. Others depicted battlefield dead with flies crawling over them and grotesque corpses with twisted limbs showing advanced stages of rigor mortis. As early as 1967, however, it became evident that these appeals failed to impress the enemy and had little effect on their decision to rally (defect). In fact, a reverse or 'boomerang' effect resulted from the use of such leaflets: Many hoi chanh (Viet Cong who had already defected to the national government) felt that these grisly pictures reflected unfavorably on the Republic because the government seemed to be gloating over the deaths of fellow Vietnamese." Chandler says later, "Death themes were repeated over and over in virtually all enemy-oriented communications."

Harry D. Latimer discusses atrocity photographs in U. S. Psychological Operations in Vietnam - a Monograph on National Security Affairs, Brown University, September, 1973. He is talking about the American use of VC atrocities, but his point about the audience avoiding the propaganda applies to all atrocity propaganda:

Do exercise extreme caution when dealing with the subject of VC atrocities. "Bounds of good taste" may be difficult to determine when presenting photographs of atrocity victims, but in general, it should be remembered that a nauseated audience is not necessarily a receptive audience. Extremes in goriness (e.g. close-ups of decapitated victims, disemboweled women in extreme pregnancy, etc.) may simply induce an avoidance reaction rather that the desired emotional reaction. The most effective use of atrocities is when they can be tailored to appeal to the sentiments, such as depicting an innocent child whose leg was blown off by a VC mine – and the stump should be bandaged. The audience can easily see the point (which also can be made verbally in the text) that here is a young child, who could have harmed no one, but must now go through life minus a limb.

 

Communicating with Vietnamese thru Leaflets

Communicating with Vietnamese thru Leaflets was a 1968 publication on the creation and distribution of propaganda in Vietnam. It was produced by the Field Development Division and the Office of Policy, Plans, and Research of the Joint United States Public Affairs Office (JUSPAO). The 62 page illustrated booklet was written by Monta Osborne with illustrations added by Phil Katz. Monta L. Osborne was the Chief of Field Development Division in Saigon in charge of the Chieu Hoi (Open Arms) program during the Vietnam War. The booklet was issued to Military Assistance Command - Vietnam (MACV) to be issued to field PSYOP personnel. Also offered to Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support (CORDS) and additional copies printed for all new PSYOP officers and civilians assigned to Vietnam. The book says about atrocity leaflets:

Some atrocity leaflets simply reinforce the widespread feeling that the VC are all powerful, that they can strike when and where they please, that there is no escape, and that the people better accept VC rule. Our goal is to provoke anger without contributing to the people's fears.

The subject is mentioned in the PSYOP/POLWAR Newsletter, September 1968:

POWs and ralliers have recommended against the use of scare, threat and death theme leaflets because they have little effect on the men in the field. Returnees feel that this is especially important in conjunction with a pleas for return to the government…“The scene of death brought about by the government did not show the government in a favorable light – we preferred to think of the government as the head of the family of Vietnam, one who is our benefactor and helps us – death scenes show the government as being unsympathetic and, to a degree, gloating over a victory scored against the very ones that are being asked to return.”  Leaflets depicting battle scenes with scattered dead bodies work against our long range strategic PSYOP objectives and should be avoided.

It is clear the Government was not in favor of leaflets that threatened the enemy or showed them dead on the battlefield. We will show in this section that most military people did not agree with that concept and wanted to depict heaps of dead Viet Cong in their leaflets. There was one official that agreed with the stated policy and tried to stop such leaflets.

Harry Wagner mentions threatening leaflets in The Headless Snake, self-published, 2018. Wagner was involved in PSYOP in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968 as the Director of Psychological Operations in II Corps. He says:

In my capacity of controlling PSYOP for the 1st Field Force Vietnam, it required me to approve all leaflet drops as to content of the leaflet text…I rejected one for reason of it being a blatant threat of intimidation. The leaflet had a drawing of a soldier holding a rifle over a Vietnamese family group with the wording, “You must tell us where the Viet Cong are or we will bomb your village.” I rejected the leaflet and then the storm began. Unknown to me, the leaflet was the work of a Division Commander; a Lieutenant General who pushed it through the printing process without my approval…The Division Commanding General printed four million leaflets to be dropped over the total area of his command. I said “destroy them.” It took three months to burn the leaflets.