Der Landser

{{Infobox book|

| name = Der Landser

| title_orig =

| image = Der_Landser_by_Franz_Kurowski.jpg

| caption = Der Landser work by Franz Kurowski. His narratives in this series appeared under his own name and under pseudonyms Karl Kollatz and Karl Alman.

| editor = {{illm|Bertold K. Jochim|de|Bertold K. Jochim}}

| authors = Paul Carell
{{illm|Günther Fraschka|de|Günter Fraschka}}
Franz Kurowski

| cover_artist =

| country = Germany

| language = German

| series =

| genre = War story—fiction

| publisher = {{illm|Pabel Moewig|de|Pabel-Moewig_Verlag}}, a subsidiary of Bauer Media Group

| release_date = 1954 to 2013

| media_type = Print

| pages =

| isbn =

| oclc = 313406814

| preceded_by =

| followed_by =

}}

Der Landser (literally private, common soldier) was a German pulp magazine published by Pabel-Moewig and featuring mostly stories in World War II settings. The magazine was founded in 1954 by writer and former Luftwaffe officer {{illm|Bertold K. Jochim|de|Bertold K. Jochim}} (1921–2002), who worked as its editor-in-chief until 1999. In September 2013 the Bauer Media Group, its last owner, ceased publishing the magazine.{{cite news|author=Jack Ewing|title=German Magazine Said to Glorify Nazis Will End|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/14/world/europe/german-magazine-said-to-glorify-nazis-will-cease-publication.html?_r=0|accessdate=10 August 2014|work=The New York Times|date=13 September 2013}}

History and profile

The magazine asserted that its war stories were true and that their underlying message was one of peace. In fact many of their stories came with disclaimer reminding the reader of the horrors of war. Critics, however, dismissed such claims as pure lip service to avoid getting indexed by West Germany's Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons which started to index several of their editions in the 1950s.Corinna Bochmann: [http://www.bundespruefstelle.de/bmfsfj/generator/bpjm/redaktion/PDF-Anlagen/bpjm-aktuell-jugendgefaehrdende-medien-im-rechtsextremismus-aus-sicht-der-bpjm-aus-02-06,property=pdf,bereich=bpjm,sprache=de,rwb=true.pdf Jugendgefährdende Medien im Rechtsextremismus aus Sicht der BPJM (PDF)]. S.1. Jahrestagung 2006.

From its founding, the magazine was criticized for glorifying war and delivering a distorted image of the Wehrmacht and Nazi Germany during World War II. The content of novels was accurate regarding minor technical details, but its descriptions were often not authentic and withheld important contextual information from the reader. Antisemitism, German war crimes, the repressive nature of the German government, and the causes of the war were not mentioned.Torben Fischer, Matthias N. Lorenz: Lexikon der "Vergangenheitsbewältigung" in Deutschland: Debatten- und Diskursgeschichte des Nationalsozialismus nach 1945. transcript Verlag 2007, {{ISBN|978-3-89942-773-8}}, p. 116 ({{Google books|1-nQ4CzC95YC|online copy|page=116}}) (German) Germany's leading news magazine Der Spiegel described Der Landser once as the expert journal for the whitewashing of the Wehrmacht ("Fachorgan für die Verklärung der Wehrmacht").[http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-7955989.html?name=Kampferprobte+Verb%26auml%3Bnde Kampferprobte Verbände]. In DER SPIEGEL 32/1998 3 August 1998, p. 28

The publisher of the magazine was Pabel Moewig, a subsidiary of Bauer Media Group. In September 2013, Bauer Media Group said it would cease publication of Der Landser following complaints from the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The magazine was closed down on 13 September 2013.{{cite news|author=Carla Bleiker|title=Publishing house terminates German pulp mag 'Der Landser'|url=http://www.dw.de/publishing-house-terminates-german-pulp-mag-der-landser/a-16989362|accessdate=14 April 2015|work=Deutsche Welle|date=16 September 2013}}