| Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels (October 29, 1897 – May 1, 1945) is particularly animated about the Saar plebiscite at a rally at Zweibrücken on May 6, 1934. A 100,000 people came together in Zweibrücken to start the campaign to reunify the Saar with Germany. “There can be no compromise on the Saar question.” He declared. “Come what may, the Reich will stick to you. The Germany of dishonor and disgrace is a thing of the past, and the new Reich is resting on honor and power.” Attendees decried League of Nations Commissioner Geoffrey George Knox (March 11, 1884 – April 6, 1958), shouting down his anti-Nazi police. As for German emigrees to the Saar, they cried, “To the stake with these traitors!” Goebbels answered, “it would be a matter of national prestige for the Nazi government immediately after the plebiscite to secure jobs for 40,000 Saarlanders now unemployed.” He promised new coal mines and to aid farmers. Goebbels attacked Catholic clergy, who he charged with anti-Nazi bias. Zweibrücken was chosen for its proximity to the Saar. The Nazi Party, their newspapers, the Swastika and the Brown Shirts were banned there. Packed trains from Berlin arrived to cheers from stormtroopers and serenades from Nazi musicians, believing that Goebbels was arriving by rail, but he flew by air. The German government was determined to score a landslide victory in the referendum for propaganda purposes, and created the Deutsche Front for this purpose in July 1933, which became a formidable force in the Saar thanks to generous financial support from Germany and its brutal methods, such as threats and voter intimidation. The Catholic Centre Party of the Saar was merged into the new pro-German front, “yielding to threats of what would happen after the day of reckoning in 1935.” According to historian Guenter Lewy (born August 22, 1923), the people of the Saar initially preferred to stay in France because of the suppression and harassment of the Catholic Church in Germany by Nazi authorities. In November 1934, fearing an armed intervention by France, which the German armed forces of the time would have been in no position to resist, the German government changed its tactics and reduced its belligerency. Josef Bürckel (March 30, 1895 – September 28, 1944), Hitler’s Gauleiter (“Party Leader”) for the Saar, banned the wearing of uniforms within a 40-kilometer (25-mile) zone along the Saar frontier between January 10 – February 10, 1935. Burckel also banned meetings, parades, and processions in this area. Jakob Pirro (June 23, 1899 – October 14, 1962), the Nazi leader of the German Front in the Saar, told his followers to obey the strictest discipline and implemented harsh penalties for any infractions. A referendum on territorial status was held in the Territory of the Saar Basin on January 13, 1935. Over 90 percent of voters opted for reunification with Germany, with 9 percent voting for the status quo as a League of Nations mandate territory and less than half a percent opting for unification with France. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0504.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.41 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 2797 x 3831 |
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| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | May 6, 1934 |
| Location | |
| City | Zweibrücken |
| State or Province | Rhineland-Palatinate |
| Country | Germany |
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| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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