Pact With The Devil: The Associated Press’s Secret Arrangement With The Nazis
Adolf Hitler records a speech. Image by getty images
The Associated Press had a secret deal with Nazi Germany to receive thousands of propaganda photos that were later run in American newspapers, the AP confirmed Wednesday.
The arrangement also led the AP to provide Germany with photos of American war operations that had been cleared by U.S. censors.
AP officials defended the deal, claiming that these pictures had crucial news value and that the photos’ captions made clear that they were taken by Nazi propagandists.
“The Associated Press is committed to gathering the news even in the most heinous environments because so much of the world depends on the AP for objective information,” said Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Sally Buzbee. “It is essential to cover tyrannical regimes and other undemocratic movements, when possible from within the borders they control, in order to accurately relay what is happening inside. That is what we do, without compromising AP’s independence or standards.”
However, some scholars have contested this narrative. “It was extremely cynical of the AP to use these photos,” University of London professor Nicholas O’Shaughnessy told The Washington Post. “One tries to justify these things by saying the camera doesn’t lie. But Nazi cameras always lied. They were a colossal kind of fairy tale. None of these images are real. This is how Hitler wanted to be seen.”
Contact Daniel Hoffman at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielHoffman__
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
