Figure 1.-- We note a kind of marble shooting pinball game with a bombing England theme (figure 1). Players in the bombing game 'Bomber über England' (Bombers over England) game are given points for hitting British cities. It is a form of bagatelle or primitive pinball. The players score points for bombing British cities, shipping, or lighthouses. The consisted of a map of Britain and the North Sea The map board had holes in the location of major cities such as London, Liverpool and Newcastle, and shipping targets in the North Sea. There wer also target holes in the occupied Netherlands and Belgium as well as one German city--we think Hamburg. Ironically Hamburg would be the first German city to be largely destoyed by the Allies. Players earn points hitting the enemy targets meaning that the marbel landed in onne of the holes. Just as Hitler saw it, the real prize was London -- and the most points were awarded for Hit100 points were earned for hitting London. We wonder how many German families suffering from the Allied strategic bombing campaign recalled the fun thaey had playing the 'Bombers over England' game in 1940.

We have found quite a few different games with a variety of war themes during the NAZI era. Most appeared in 1940 The ones we have found are about the U-boat campaign in the North Atlantic and bombing Britain. There was another about German paratroopers. The one that especially struck us was the one about bombing English cities. The Germans began bombing cities from the first day of the War. Of course when the Allies began bombing German cities, the NAZIs labeled bombing cities a war crime. Notice that there are no games about the Eastern Front. Now we do not know for a fact that there were no such games, but we have not yet found any. It may be that this was a surprise move and the campaign began to go wrong after only 5 months and German parents did no want to be reminded of the unfolding disaster. Perhaps readers will know more about this. Incredibly, there was also a Holocaust-themed game--'Out with the Jews'. This one came out 3 years before the War. This was before the killing phase of the Holocaust when the NAZI emphasis was on stealing Jewish property, preventing any ability to make a living, forcing the children out of schools, and driving all Jews out of the Reich. These are easily identifiable games. We are not sure how popular they were or what other board games children were playing. Parents must have approved of the games a they would have been who purchased them. Don't fo get, it was not just children playing these games, but parents surely played the games with their children.

Individual Games

We have found quite a number of games marketed in Germany, during the NAZI era, most associated with World War II. We believe there are more which we will add as we aquire more information. They include perrhaps the most horific board gane in history, 'Out with the Jews, although when it cam out in 1936 was was before the killing phase of the Holocaut began. Most of the games are simple dice rolling games, basically just on different boards. You would not think nthey would hold a child's attention very long. Little or no skill or thought was involved.

Bombers Over England (1940)

We note a kind of marble shooting pinball game with a bombing England theme (figure 1). Players in the bombing game 'Bomber über England' (Bombers over England) game are given points for hitting British cities. It is a form of bagatelle or primitive pinball. The players score points for bombing British cities, shipping, or lighthouses. The consisted of a map of Britain and the North Sea The map board had holes in the location of major cities such as London, Liverpool and Newcastle, and shipping targets in the North Sea. There were also target holes in the occupied Netherlands and Belgium as well as one German city--we think Hamburg. Ironically Hamburg would be the first German city to be largely destroyed by the Allies. Game players used a spring action to shoot the marbles which represented bombs. Players earned points hitting the enemy targets meaning that the marble landed in one of the holes. Just as Hitler saw it, the real prize was London -- 100 points were earned for landing a bomb on London. Liverpool was only worth 40 points. Points were deducted it the bombs landed in German controlled areas, either occupied countries or a German city. Ironically the game accurately reflects the German view of the air war, at least at the beginning. Air British Air Marshall Harris best explained it, "The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everybody else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw, and half a hundred other places, they put that rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now, they are going to reap the whirlwind." This game is particularly notable in that here the targets were civilians and not not military forces. There was also a popular song which played in German movie theaters with dramatic film footage--'Bombers over England' during 1940-41. As the Luftwaffe failed and the British expanded their bombing campaign, the song and footage disappeared from German cinemas and we suspect the popularity of the game changed. We wonder how many German families suffering from the Allied strategic bombing campaign recalled the fun they had playing the Bombers over England game in 1940.

Figure 2.-- The last NAZI World War II game we know of appeared late in the War (1943). Jagd auf Kohlenklau (Hunt on Coal Theft) was not a military game. The time of German military victories had long since passed. We suspect that parents did not want to be reminded about the War or to interest their children--especially as the NAZIs had begun to involve their children in the fighting. Rather this was a natural resource game -- 'Jagd auf Kohlenklau' (Fight the coal thief). This is the iconic Coal Thief image that appeared throughout Germany. 'Da ist er Wieder!' means, There he is again!

Fight the Coal Thief (1943-44)

Germany had almost none of the critical natural resources needed to wage an extended world war--one of the major reasons it lost World War II. Which might have given a normal person pause about waging a world war against countries that had those resources and which dominated the sea lanes. For Hitler it was one of the reasons he chose to wage a world war. And his solution was to invade and conquer the Soviet Union which possed everything that he needed to wage war. The Soviet Union was attractive because it was close to Germany. And because a large navy was not needed to invade and conquer. And because the Allied navies could not interdict shipments as they could maritime shipments. Hitler discuses the cornucopia of resources that existed in the East. He does not mention the Soviet Union and war, but inevitability of war is inescapable to any one reading Mein Kampf. The one vital resource that Germany did possess in quantity was coal. The last NAZI World War II game we know of appeared late in the War (1944). Jagd auf Kohlenklau (Hunt on Coal Theft) was not a military game. The time of German military victories had long since passed. Parents did not want to be reminded about the War or to interest their children--especially as the NAZIs had begun to involve their children in the fighting. Rather this was a natural resource game -- 'Jagd auf Kohlenklau' (Fight the coal thief). Natural resources were a vital part of World War II. The lack of natural resources was one of the factors driving the Germany and Japan to aggression and war. And the most serious German weakness was the lack of oil and other natural resources. The only major resource Germany had was coal which was needed to powered German war industry, the railroads, home heating, and was used in the synfuel plants. But even Germany's large coal resources were inadequate for war needs. Unlike other resources, the situation got worse as a result of German victories. Britain had been supplying many European countries with coal. After the German invasion and occupation, these economies would have ground to a halt with out coal, meaning the Germans could no longer use the occupied economies in the NAZI Grossraum to support War economy. If the economies of the occupied countries ground to a halt, they could not be exploited. Thus the NAZIs had to provide some of their all ready stretched coal supply to the industry of occupied countries. As a result, Propaganda Minister Goebbels began a campaign 'Kampf dem Kohlenklau' (Fight the coal thief) to conserve coal (1942). NAZI courts dealt severely with actual coal thieves. ["NAZIs doom ...."] This campaign promoted energy conservation as a means to maintain Germany's coal resources for the War effort. The campaign created the cartoon image of the Kohlenklau (coal thief). He became an iconic NAZI propaganda image. He appeared in newspapers, magazines, posters, and films. The Allied Strategic Bombing campaign was also beginning to impact the Reich's coal supply. Not because it was hitting coal mines, but because by 1943 it was begging to impact the German transport system, especially the Reichbahn, further impairing the coal supply and shortages. The game which appeared in 1943 was a standard board game where players moved by rolling dice. It was created by Lepthian-Schiffers. Some 4 million game sets were produced which suggests NAZI government support. Reflecting the deteriorating economy, it was produced on flimsy cardboard. There were 50 spaces on the board and you has to pass all 50 to win. The youngest player goes first, rolling the dice. There were 12 red spaces. Players landing there were assessed a penalty for committing an energy wasting action/ They lose a turn or were set back a number of spaces. If the player lands on one of the 15 black spaces they are rewarded for helping to conserve coal. There were also white 'neutral' space. Players take turns rolling the dice until one finally reaches the end and is declared the winner.

Figure 3.-- Like most board games, the 'Out with the Jews' game included a playing board, a pair of dice, and game pieces. The Jewish pieces had pointed Medieval Jewish hats with ugly faces painted on the hats. These are the Jewish game pieces, notice the cartoonish ugly faces.

Out with the Jews (1936)

The 'Juden Raus!' (Out with the Jews) game came out several years before the War. Hitler for several years pretended that he did not want another war, knowing that the idea was not popular with the German public. Even when he finally launched the War in 1939, he even created the absurd fiction that Poland had attacked Germany. He made no secret, however, about his hatred of the Jews from the very beginning. NAZI actions against Jews began immediately after Hitler seized power (1933). And these actions gradually increased and intensified. This is reflected in the 'Out with the Jews' game. It was part of the beginning of the Holocaust. At this stage the killing phase of the Holocaust had not yet begun in any large numbers. The NAZI actions were primarily stealing Jewish property, preventing them from making a living, excluding and isolating them from the national society, and driving them out of Germany. The game seems to have been popular with the public. Some 1 million sets were sold. After Germany's defeat in World War II, no one wanted to be found with this game. Only two examples of the game are known to have survived the War. The Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City has one. The Institute of Contemporary History and Wiener Library in London has the second copy. 'Juden Raus!' was a board game that was created and distributed by Günther & Co (1936). We know nothing about the firm. The NAZIs issued the Nuremberg Racial Laws, a major step in the Holocaust (1935). The Laws defined precisely who a Jew was so they could be legally targeted. It went beyond religion and based the targeting on ancestry. Jews were deprived of their German citizenship meaning any legal protections. Marriage and sexual relations between Jews and Germans was prohibited. Jews were denied participation in all German civic life. The game came out one year later. Like most board games, the game included a playing board, a pair of dice, and game pieces. The Jewish pieces had pointed Medieval Jewish hats with ugly faces painted on the hats. Players rolled the dice to move on the board. The object of the game was was to land on the Jewish pieces, in effect arresting them so they could be sent through the gates of a walled city to Palestine. The winner was the player who arrested the most Jews. Text on the board read, 'If you manage to see off 6 Jews, you've won a clear victory!' Those familiar with the murderous German killing operations will no doubt recognized how German police and military killing squads would yell 'Juden Raus' to drive Jews out of their ghetto hovels and hiding places.

Figure 4.--The Germans introduced the Fallschirmjåger (paratrooper) to the modem battlefield. They played an important role in the invasion and quick success in both the Netherlands and Belgium (May 1940) The paratrooper games was called "Fallschirmjäger Spiel" Paratrooper Game. Players in this game drop weighted paratroopers onto a board depicting the English countryside. There were holes on the board came with various numbers of points. Interestingly the toy planes used were modern bombers not the outdated Ju-52 (a Ford Tri-motor lookalike) the German paratroopers actually used.

Paratrooper Game (1940)

The Germans introduced the Fallschirmjäger (paratrooper) to the modern battlefield. They played an important role in the invasion and quick success in both the Netherlands and Belgium (May 1940) The paratrooper games was called "Fallschirmjäger Spiel" Paratrooper Game. Players in this game drop weighted paratroopers onto a board depicting the English countryside. There were holes on the board indicating various numbers of points. Interestingly the toy planes used were modern bombers not the outdated Ju-52 (a knock off of the Ford Tri-motor) the German paratroopers actually used. The Germans scored another paratroop victory in Crete (May 1941), but the losses were so great that they horrified Hitler and he hesitated to authorize another drop. Ironically, a month later he launched the Barbariossa invasion of the Soviet Union in which the losses were monumental in which the Crete losses paled ntom insugnificance. The Crete invasion has bee called the 'Wrong Island, Malta being the 'Right Island'. The Germans never used the oparatroops again except as regular infantry. As a result of the 1940 German accomplishments, the British were terrified of a paratroop assault as part of an invasion after the fall of France. And as the Germans ended paratroop drops, both Britain and the United States moved to create their own airborn units which would play key roles in the success of the critical D-Day invasion (1944).

We Drive Against England (1940)

'Wir Fahren Gegen Engeland' (We drive against England) was a German board game about the attempred blockade of Germany. The game board extends from Norway south to Britainy. It was publishd by Fritz Westenberger in 1940. It was a kind of tactical board game. A player can choose to be either a submarine commander or a airplane pilot. It was a popular World War I song. Also played during World War II. A flier inside the game box translates as, " A new war game by submarines and airplanes from the "Scholz 'artistic games" collection. All of you are eagerly following the daring deeds of our brave submarine men and aviators, who are inflicting blow upon blow to the British. What you can in reality not be allowed to stand on the command tower of a submarine, or to approach the English coast in a fast flight, you can experience here in the game. With these little submarines and airplanes you are supposed to go 'against England' and you can destroy the whole English fleet if you are all skillful. That’s as much a game as you want it to be! First take the game board, look at it carefully, you will find the British Isles and the British fleet marked on it. How the game works in detail is explained on the following very simple rules of the game. Now see to it that you can have a great deal of English tonnage dumped on the seabed. Whoever reaches the highest number of tons has won; the less successful one will be smarter the next time, because real guys like you are known not to let themselves be shaken. The title picture of the game is based on a photo from Weltbild G.m.b.H.; the colored plan was drawn by Fritz Westenberger. The rules of the game are on the inside!" Like many of these games, there seems to be little skill involved. It seems to be mostly rolling the dice.

Figure 5.--This was a U-boat game--"Mit 'Prien' gegen England" (With Prien against England). It is based on the highly publicized exploits of U-boat captain Gunther Prien. Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels turned U-boat captains into celebrated heroes. They were afforded visits with the Führer in the Reich Chancellery. Prien was the most famous if all who at the outset of the War manage to get into the major Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow and sank the battleship HMS Royal Oak (October 1939). We are not sure who made it, but it would have been begun to be produced in 1940.

With Prien Against England (1940)

The War game "Mit 'Prien' gegen England" (With Prien against England) is a U-boat game. It is based on the highly publicized exploits of U-boat captain Gunther Prien. Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels turned U-boat captains into celebrated heroes. They were afforded visits with the Führer in the Reich Chancellery. Prien was the most famous if all who at the outset of the War manage to get into the major Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow and sank the battleship HMS Royal Oak (October 1939). We are not sure who made it, but it would have been begun to be produced in 1940. The game consists of 6 metal submarines that follow points on a track around the North Sea. Players assume command of a U-boat and roll the dice to move and then follow the instructions in the spots they enter. Players command a U-boats and attack the Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow, sink British warships, and try to make it back to a German port. This is of course just what Prien did early in the War. The game is roughly similar to 'Snakes and ladders'. Players begin in German ports and than sail out into the North Atlantic. They have to deal with obstacles in the North Sea, destroy enemy ships and other targets and finally make it back home to Germany. The game is not about sinking merchant vessels. Unlike bombing England, the U-boats achieved considerable success for nearly 4 years. Prien and U-47 went missing (March 1941). Goebbels kept it a secret for 2 months. But the U-boat threat was no decisively defeated until much alter (mid-1943). And both Hitler and Adm Dönitz had high hopes for the new U-boats German scientists had developed until the final months of the War.

War in the West

The games we have found so far deal withthe War in the West. This is interesting because beginning in 1941, sone 80 percent of German manpower was deployed in the Ostkrieg. Yet we havev not dound a single game focusing on the Ostkrieg even hough this is where the Reich's sons, btothers and fathers were posted. As this is where the demise of the NAZI thousand year Reich began, probably the German parents were not interested in an Ostkrieg game. Perhaps the Government discouraged it. Of course it is in the West that the NAZIs achieved there greatest victories. We suspect that Goebbels' press instructions placed more emphasis on the war in gthe West, but this needs to be confirnmed. It needs to be mentioned that while German manpower was in the East, German industry was focused on the War in the West. The major reason that the Ostheer was so poorly supplied and supported--a major reason why it failed. And one that the Soviets and now the Russians do not like to face.

Sources

"Nazis doom a cial thief: Courts Dealing Severely With Crimes Against Community,"The New York Times," (January 18, 1941), p. 6.

Created: 5:01 PM 7/22/2019
Last updated: 3:39 AM 12/29/2022