The Associated Press has published a new biography about a German newspaper that exposed Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Germany during the 1930s despite persistent attempts to silence any paper that strove to report the truth.
Written by former AP reporter Terrence Petty, “Enemy of the People: The Munich Post and the Journalists Who Opposed Hitler” examines how the newspaper covered Hitler and the Nazi party, including telling readers how the country would change if he and the Nazis were to assume power.
Often a lone but loud voice, the Munich Post’s reporting on the actions of Hitler and his regime was met with intense resistance. The Nazis decried the Post as the “Poison Kitchen” and as “enemies of the state and of the people” for its probing and critical coverage.
Ultimately Nazi forces would ransack and shut down the Munich Post in March 1933; a front-page headline published days before its shuttering read: “We Will Not Be Intimidated!”
“This important and timely biography serves as a reminder that the freedom of the press is at the core of any democracy,” said Peter Costanzo, AP’s digital publishing specialist.
Petty, the author, was an AP journalist for 35 years. He covered German and European affairs and traveled between East and West Germany throughout the Cold War.
“Enemy of the People: The Munich Post and the Journalists Who Opposed Hitler” is available exclusively as part of Amazon’s “Original Stories” for Kindle and in paperback featuring expanded chapters and more than 30 photographs from the AP archives.
Contact
Patrick Maks
Senior Communications Associate
The Associated Press
212-621-7536
pmaks@ap.org
