The aim of this diploma thesis is to introduce Vimperk between the years 1938 and 1945. The work is based on the study of the archival documents in the relevant archives in the Czech Republic and on the articles in the regional volumes. The first part of this work contains the literature and archival sources used in this work. The introduction of the history of the town until 1938 and the World War II follows. These are supplemented with the basic pieces of information about the history of World War II. Without that it would not be possible to set this small town into a wider context. The main part of this work is to elaborate the way of life in Vimperk during these years, which is mostly based on the study of the archival documents. The majority of people in this area were Germans. In 1938 was the area called "Sudetenland" anexed to the Hitler's Germany. Then followed the World War II and the men from this region had to join the German army, many of them didn't survive until the end of the war. The conditions of life of the civilians got worse with the time. In the end of the war there were also thousands of refugees, who also needed help. Public affairs in the town reduced more and more on keeping the state, everything was controlled by the Nazi organisations. As the front line was getting...

This paper is an in-depth study on the role of Home Front Volunteerism in California during World War II. It argues that Volunteerism was integral to America’s eventual victory. This paper fills a gap in historical writings on World War II and shows that Volunteerism is a topic worthy of study. Volunteerism played a major role in California. It helped to keep morale high even when the war was progressing poorly. Volunteerism also helped to create new communities out of those shattered by the upheaval of the Great Depression. It provided a patriotic outlet for Americans desperate to aid the war effort. Minority groups took part in volunteer activities in order to show that they too were Americans and in doing so raised their status in society. Throughout the war, volunteers collected scrap metal which was melted down into weaponry. “Radishy victory gardens” sprung up throughout California. The Red Cross experienced an unprecedented surge in volunteerism and new methods in preservation and transportation of donated blood saved thousands of lives. The USO, created during the war, provided entertainment to soldiers both on the home front and overseas. Celebrities and civilians volunteered with the USO. This paper discusses many other ways in which Californian’s volunteered. Each volunteer activity provided an outlet for Americans desperate to aid the war effort in any way that they could.

Identity after Historical Change. Anti-Hitler Emigration of Fine Artists from Germany and Czechoslovakia to Great Britain (1933-1945). Mgr. Zuzana Duchková This dissertation thesis deals with a group of German and Czechoslovak fine artists (Erich A. Bischof, Kurt Lade, John Heartfield, Ludwig Meidner, Heinz Worner, Bedřich Feigl and Karel Vogel) who decided or were forced to exile from their home countries to Great Britain after Hitler came to power and stayed there during the Second World War. Research methods adopted from historical anthropology, approaches used in exile research and identity theory have been used to examine the impact of the extensive historical change on their personality as well as "artistic identity". A key area of the research is the period of 1933-1945, however, the lives of the artists before emigration have been outlined too.

The thesis offers semiotic analysis of the World War II poster. It examines the fundamental rhetorical and visual examples based on specific ideological context. The thesis presents the representative war posters of the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, United States of America and Nazi Germany. Selected samples of the Czechoslovak posters are also included.

Vergleich der Nachkriegsverhältnisse nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg in (West-)Deutschland und Italien am Beispiel von vier Mittelstädten

This article suggests that the formal elements of Elizabeth Bowen's novel The Heat of the Day underscore both the changing practice of propaganda and the extant tension about Irish neutrality during World War II. Bowen has often been cited as an author who embraces opacity in her fiction, and often this practice is connected in her work to political tensions that she first experienced in Ireland as a result of colonial conflict. The article suggests that a similar strategy, at use in this London-based World War II novel about espionage, highlights this history of tension. Bowen's own position as an intermediary between the Ministry of Information and Irish public opinion provided her a keen insight into British strategy towards Ireland's neutrality. Her Blitz novel, The Heat of the Day, mirrors much of Bowen's formal techniques in her letters to the Ministry of Information, and this article suggests that this reflects the impact of modern propaganda techniques on her war-time novel.

This article suggests that the formal elements of Elizabeth Bowen's novel The Heat of the Day underscore both the changing practice of propaganda and the extant tension about Irish neutrality during World War II. Bowen has often been cited as an author who embraces opacity in her fiction, and often this practice is connected in her work to political tensions that she first experienced in Ireland as a result of colonial conflict. The article suggests that a similar strategy, at use in this London-based World War II novel about espionage, highlights this history of tension. Bowen's own position as an intermediary between the Ministry of Information and Irish public opinion provided her a keen insight into British strategy towards Ireland's neutrality. Her Blitz novel, The Heat of the Day, mirrors much of Bowen's formal techniques in her letters to the Ministry of Information, and this article suggests that this reflects the impact of modern propaganda techniques on her war-time novel.

This thesis examines the Utah Nippo, its messages to Salt Lake City's Nikkei population, and draws out the paper's editorial themes intended for resident Utah Nikkei. The Utah Nippo was one of three Japanese-language newspapers that published during World War II and it was a voice for community leaders and editors who urged Salt Lake Nikkei to behave in certain ways that (they believed) would prove a certain loyal American identity. Such an identity was comprised of prescribed behaviors: supporting the government and war effort, attending patriotic activities, keeping a low social profile, and quietly enduring the fear and discrimination directed at them as Nikkei in the midst of a national war against Japan. The Utah Nippo painted the model minority stereotype during World War II, although scholars view it as a postwar concept imposed on Asian Americans. Although not entirely dictated by the Japanese American Citizens League, the newspaper content was influenced by the League's wartime campaigns for working with the U.S. government and behaving loyally. Nikkei in community leadership roles actively encouraged this image because it meant safety by assurance of Americanism. Individuals and editorials highlighted behaviors that helped or hurt the group image. The newspaper also focused on ending racism in the U.S. within Nikkei communities and as they resettled throughout the nation. While the Utah Nippo printed such sentiments, not all residents necessarily agreed with or did as the newspaper suggested, yet the articles indicated the identity that editors and leaders hoped to create. In light of the tenuous situation that Salt Lake Nikkei felt they lived in, it made sense for individuals to outwardly conform and incorporate the paper's behavioral guidelines in order to deflect suspicions over loyalty away from the group.

The presented thesis examines lexical and pragmatic instruments used by the leading newspaper in Germany during the Second World War, the Völkischer Beobachter. The objective is to determine the importance of the choice of lexical and pragmatic instruments and the communication strategy applied to influence readers. The targeting of readers by the press is illustrated by descriptions of the political climate and specific historical events. The thesis links language, history and wartime politics. By drawing on academic literature, the author describes the historical context preceding the Second World War, focusing on political events and press bans. Selected key wartime events are linked to linguistic analysis. The National Socialist ideology, led by Adolf Hitler, assists in demonstrating the origins of the typical features of National Socialist language. The newspapers themselves, Völkischer Beobachter, and selected linguistic and pragmatic phenomena are also described. The selected examples were chosen on the basis of a search in the Völkischer Beobachter and subsequent analysis. The linguistic analysis consists of a lexicological classification into linguistic devices of emotionality, expressivity, metaphor, metonymy and idiomatic expressions. The pragmatic devices as communication strategies and...

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