Visual Culture and the Holocaust: Nazi Anti-Semitic Propaganda

VISUAL CULTURE AND THE HOLOCAUST
NAZI ANTI-SEMITIC PROPAGANDA
HISTORIC VISUAL SURVEY
John P Corrigan
GD///MFA
AH5622
Visual Culture
and the Holocaust
Jennifer Hirsh
Spring 2007
Fight for Freedom
logo, a British anti-
Nazi campaign,
c. 1941.
1

| NAZI ANTI-SEMITIC PROPAGANDA
INTRODUCTION
anti-semitism leading to
the holocaust
3
The Wandering Jew
(The Eternal Jew)
Der-Ewige-Jude,
Poster design by
Horst Schlüter.1937.
(Aynsley, 197)
Even though the headline text is in
German, the type is stylized into Hebrew
letter forms. The text reads from left to
right, where as Hebrew is written and
reads from right to left. The image of the
Jewish figure is distortingly hunched, and
facial gesture have been exaggerated.
The figure also carries a stone portion
representing a broken fragmented Russia.
The film, The
Wandering Jew,
produced by
Jewsih Zionists,
was twisted by
Nazi propagnda
exploiting the
Jewish quest for a
return to Palestine.

VISUAL CULTURE AND THE HOLOCAUST |
Social and political reasoning uses predetermined national security to defend its
position against European Jewry. Historic animosity, paranoia, and social fatigue led
to false defensive actions against the Jews. Wrongful blame, according to socialist
doctrines, both accelerated and intensified after the out come and Germany’s
Nationalist position after World War I.
The undercurrent attitudes,extended anti-Semitic ideologies dating back
to Martin Luther’s protestant reformation,and the events and circumstances
surrounding the French inquisition.The predominant historic attitudes of European
citizens continually resented the Jewish communities wealth and supposed economic
influences.European Jewry previously had been denied land ownership rights in
Russia,France,Germany,and England.This political and economic restriction forced the
International Jewish Diaspora to turn inward,relying on the extension of community
and its cross-cultural connections incorporating academia,and the trade and
distribution of marketable goods.
Jewish national identity has continually focused on their biblical Holy Land of
the‘Chosen People,’Palestine,Israel and the city of Jerusalem.This affection continued
to provide them with a strong emotional and national pride.A people without land to
claim as their own,left Jews around the world to identify first with religious conviction,
and secondly with their national/state of occupancies.This conviction,to the ideological
state of Israel,considered by residential communities to represent a lack of National
pride in the host country,such as Germany,Italy,Poland,Bohemia,the Ukraine,Russia,
and the Balkan States.This apparent and deliberate lack of National pride provoked
citizens and wrongfully encouraged ideologies of mistrust,questioned solidarity,
paranoid rumors of espionage,and undercurrents of potential revolutionaries.
National pride of European nations intensified after the Great War.Germany
suffered great losses after the fall of World War I.Germany was severely severed and
fractured in social and economic depression.Germany looked to their National identity
and government for answers as to the demise of their once powerful nation.The
National Socialist party looked to answer these questions,ending blame on the Jews.
1933
JANUARY
German government
takes away freedom
of speech, assembly,
press, and freedom
from invasion
of privacy (mail,
telephone, telegraph),
and from house search
without warrant.
March
The concentration
camp at Dachau
is established.
July
Nazis pass a law
requiring the forced
sterilization of
those found to have
genetic defects.
September
German Jews are
forbidden from
owning land.
October
German Jews are
forbidden from being
newspaper editors.
Timeline events
focus on anti-
Semitic legislation
and actions
directed by the Nazi
regime.

654
The Wire Puller:
Brain-and Manual
Workers Vote for
the People’s Bloc,
Election poster,
1924. (Herf, 33)
Behind the Enemy
Powers: The Jew
Ministry for Public
Enlightenment and
Propaganda, by
Hans Schweitzer,
1943. (Herf)
Jewish Conspiracy
against Europe,
Reich Ministry
for Public
Enlightenment and
Propaganda 1941.
(Herf, 143)
Political posters from the begining of the
Nazi regime, and through the end of the
war, consistently depicted the Jewish man
as the mastermind behind all oppositional
politcal force. The caricature of the Jewish
figure is consistenly positoned behinde, or
above, symbols of industrial and politcal
influence.
These posters represent a ‘lurking’ Jew,
controling the political relationships of
Allied agreements between England,
Russia and America. Nazi propaganda used
sterotypical caricatures of the overweight
British bourgeois and heavy forcefulness
of the Jewish politican.
Other Nazi sterotypes focused on religious
Jews; these depictions exaggerated the
beard, nose, ears, and lips in appoving
facial gestures. The Nazis commonly
depicted Jewish conspirators safely hidden
away in the safety and luxury of influence
in America or England.

Nazi anti-Semitic propaganda presented Hitler and Germany as
merely responding to political threats,initiatives,and injustices of
others.Propaganda initiatives portrayed the Germans innocence,
turning the power relationships of the Jews upside down.Hitler
projected his own paranoia,twisting historical world events to make
claims of the diabolical intentions of International,and world Jewry.
Nazis projected blame onto the Jews at the outbreak of World War
II.According to Hitler and the Nazi party,it was the Jews who had
launched the war against Germany,thus compelling the Nazi party to
retaliate.
Germany would use propaganda tactics to contradict
historical events,making simultaneous claims of a master race
and world domination.With world domination,paranoia,and the
self-pity of victimization,the Nazis used propaganda to convince
themselves and the rest of the world that they were the victims.The
Nazis believed they had uncovered deep secrets of modern history
and politics.Through means of propaganda,the Ministry for
Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (Reichsministerium für
Volksaufklärung und Propaganda) was to educate the people,(Herf,6)
of the‘true’realities.
The mid-late 1930’s the political consensus led to the
Nuremburg Race Laws.The newly enacted laws would deny citizen-
ship,encourage economic impoverishment of Jews—the enemy to the
sate and well being of Germany.Anti-Semitism rested on the belief
that the Jews were a cohesive and politically active power that was
seeking the destruction of Germany.Nazi propaganda insisted that
the powerful autonomous entity of International Jewry controlled
stooges and political accomplices who served their evil interests.An
International Jewish political force was falsely exposed for effecting
leaders in Great Britain,the Soviet Union (under the Bolsheviks,) and
the United States.The Nazis made claims that Jews were masters of
camouflage,able to unknowingly afflict its goals at the unsuspecting
1934
May
German Jews are
forbidden from
receiving national
health insurance.
NAZI AGENDA

Germans.Nazi propaganda made its initial effort
to expose,identify,and destroy the supposed goal
of German annihilation.Hitler personally sought
to exterminate the Jews before they were able to
annihilate the contemporary
German empire.
Established decades prior to the Nazi party,
The Protocols of Zion,popularized fictitious themes
of Jewish conspiracy.Twisting historical events
effecting German strength,The Protocols of Zion
supposedly answered questions to policies that
beleaguered Germany after
World War I.
The campaign’s only
rationale was to blunt the
sensibilities of the people
regarding the campaign
of persecution and
murder which was being
carried out…they were
not designed to unite
the German people in the
war effort…sub due any
doubt…racial persecution
to which the Jews were to
be subjected…
1
1 “Judgement,”
Trials of War
criminals before the
Nuremburg Military
Tribunal (IMT), 14,
565-576.
Otto Dietrich
testified at the
Nuremburg Military
trial stating…
(Herf, 23)
Election poster,
1932. (Heller, 64)
8
All of Germany
listens to the Führer
with the People’s
Receiver. Designed
by Leonoid. 1936.
(Aynsley, 179)
7
The audience is directed at ‘the people’
of Germany, which refer to Aryan
decendents. Both the visual tone and
the language is set to Fraktur, calling on
German Nationalism.

Before the official beginning and declaration of war in 1939,
propaganda had been used to propagate the new world order
according to the Nazis,and vilify the enemy.The industrial revolution
allowed the proliferation of posters,uniforms,street graphics and
political banners en masse.The propaganda image both unified and
identified political opponents giving faces to the enemies of the Reich,
creating solidarity amongst leaders,followers,as well as the crushed
opposition.
Leadership figures embodied the power and ideology of
Nazi Germany.For the first time,photographic representation
allowed images of Hitler to become icons.(Hollis,108) Through
photographic representation,the Jewish enemy would also be
vilified.Jewish faces could also be used to identify,misrepresent,and
exaggerate anti-Semitic stereotypes,to the disadvantage of the Jews.
Direct photographic representation was better suited to symbolic
representation of the power of the Nazi party,and expose and
propagate the negative connotations of the Jews.
Posters were used by the Nazi party to boost morale among
its own,encourage war production,and dictate order to civilians.The
modern medium of propaganda was able to overwhelm viewers.
(Hollis,109) Posters effectiveness depended upon the images ability
to communicate instantly and sub due the potential for reactionary
thought or consequences.
The statistical information offered by Jeffrey Herf,is a
staggering account of propaganda activity.In the initial years of the
war the Propaganda Ministry was responsible for 200,000 political
meetings from September 1939 through October 1940,a staggering
29,674 slide show meetings consisting of nine productions,as nine to
ten million saw the German Weekly Newsreel each week.Herf reports,
“Text posters were printed in edition of 400,000-500,000 and picture
posters numbering 300,000.By the end of 1940,700,000 photos of
1935
May
German Jews are
forbidden from serving
in the military.
September
The German
government enacts
the Nuremberg Laws—
depriving German
Jews of citizenship and
fundamental rights.
The Nazis intensify
persecution of political
dissenters and others
considered“inferior,”
including Gypsies,
Jehovah’s Witnesses,
and homosexuals.
WAR AND
PROPAGANDA

9
Collaboration,
USHMM
Call Number:
2004.264.1
Front divided into three panels with anti-Semitic caricatures
in center panel. The poster refers to the meeting between
Henri Philippe Petain, French general and head of the Vichy
government in France, and Adolf Hitler in Oct. 1940 at Montoire-
sur-le-Loir, France, when Petain offered his collaboration with
Nazi Germany. Language(s): In French.

Hitler had been produced.Herf also specifies the color poster accompanying the film The
Eternal Jew was 23,000.(Herf,59)
By January 1941,Herf lists the Propaganda Ministry claims that,“more
than seven million posters,two million pamphlets,sixty million periodicals and wall
newspapers,an sixty-seven million leaflets were produced.”(Herf,34) This amount does
not reflect film,demonstrations,slide shows,or political rallies.The quantitative mass
was pre-dominantly implementing the solution to‘The Jewish Question,’addressing
the supposed subversive power of the Jews in Germany.The staggering numbers start to
represent the other fact that these reports do not show,the six million Jews destroyed as
the results of paranoia and murderous anti-Semitism.
1936
August
Olympic Games begin
in Berlin.To gain public
favor, Hitler and Nazis
temporarily stop
actions against Jews.
10
The Jew: Instegators
of the War,
Prolonger of the
War, Ministry
for Public
Enlightenment and
Propaganda, by
Hans Schweitzer,
1943. (Herf)
11
He Bears the
Guilt for the War!
Ministry for Public
Enlightenment and
Propaganda, by
Hans Schweitzer,
1943. (Herf)

10 | NAZI ANTI-SEMITIC PROPAGANDA
Jeffery Herf’s book,The Jewish Enemy,lays out specific accounts and historical facts
that prove and identify Nazi propaganda to be falsely based,and politically skewed for
public support.Herf’s specific numbers dramatically prove the ultimate purpose was
to falsely convince its own party,as well as the German citizens the supposed power of
International Jewry.Herf’s statistical information is based on the decreasing percentage
of German Jews predating the Nazi regime.Herf’s figures state,“The percentage of
Jews in the German population had declined from it’s peak of just over 1 percent in 1880
(under the Weimar Republic) to .76 percent in 1933…”Herf continues,“Out of all German
Jews,160,000 or 32.1 percent,lived in Berlin,a fact of considerable importance for Joseph
Goebbels before and after 1933.”(Herf,35) Previous anti-Semitic prejudices had limited
Jewish professions.Jews had been mostly removed from political and civil service.Jews
were not allowed to participate,nor be the head of large corporate business.Herf states,
“Almost three-quarters of German Jews made their living from trade,commerce,or
banking,with strong concentrations in sales,white-collar jobs,and office work.”(Herf,
35) Remaining professions was law and medicine,which remained accessible for Jews
to practice.
Anti-Semitic propaganda made unsubstantiated claims the Jews dominated
both the cultural and intellectuals of Berlin.These numbers were highly dramatized as
less than an average of six percent occupied positions of notable influence.The less than
consistent positioning of the Nazis regime conspiratorial claims of Jewish involvement
was fictitious.
Under the sanctioned Nuremburg laws,which eliminated both economic and
social standing for the Jews,continued deception strengthened the Germans disgust of
the Jews supposed power.Herf writes,“By the end of 1933,37,000 of the 525,00 Jews in
Germany had already left.”(Herf,37)
From the onset of Hitler’s rise to power,his previous publication Mein Kampf,
which was written from prison,did not obsessively discuss racial biology,consuming
itself mostly with the affect International Jewry had on the economic depression that
afflicted Germany after World War I.The Jews were enemies because of their supposed
economic war,capitalism,and connection to the Bolshevik revolution started in Russia.
Herf cites the continued pressure and activism in England and America towards
Germany for the increasing anti-Semitic policies towards Jews and the conspiracy of
QUESTIONING ANTI-SEMITIC
REPRESENTATION / PROLIFERATION

VISUAL CULTURE AND THE HOLOCAUST | 11
International Jewry.Herf writes,“The source of tension was therefore
foreign criticism of the regimes anti-Semitic policies,not the policies
themselves…”(Herf,39)
Joseph Goebbels,second in command to Nazi propaganda,
frequently linked Bolshevism with Germany’s Jewish problem.
Both Goebbels’and Hitler’s speeches would demonize the‘Judo-
Marxist domination’in its westward expansion of Germany,and
the Jewish quest for world domination.Hitler’s hatred of America
was continually obsessed with its connections to supposed Jewish
influences.Outspoken American politicians,against the Nazis in
Germany,fueled Jewish implications.Herf states,that Nazis attacked
F.D.Roosevelt’s New Deal,believing that it was common to National
Socialism in its encouragement of Liberal Democracy,a strong state-
hood and active public welfare system.Politics in America was
propagated by the Nazis proof of its alleged Jewish manipulation.
International outrage and criticisms of the Nazi policy of anti-
Semitism,provoked Hitler to‘retaliate’against the Jews of Germany
and later the rest of Europe.Seen as an act of Jewish aggression
on Germany,Hitler enacted the anti-Jewish pogrom of November
1938,‘the night of broken glass’destroying Jewish business and
synagogues,killing and beating of Jews,and subsequently sending
many males to Dachau,at which time was a cap for prisoners of war.
1937
January
German Jews
are banned from
many professional
occupations including
teaching Germans,
accounting and
dentistry.They are also
denied tax reductions
and child allowances.
July
Many Jewish students
are ordered to leave
German schools
and universities.
November
Jewish passports
are declared invalid
for foreign travel.
12
The Wire Pullers:
They Are Only Jews!
Parole der Woshe,
Reich Propaganda
Directorate of the
Nazi Party, 1942.
(Herf, 153)
The early use of
photography put
faces of the enemy
for all passersby to
see.

Nazi anti-Semitic theories,were disseminated from the writings
of Adolf Hitler’s book Mein Kampf. Hitler’s chief conspirator in the
proliferation of anti-Semitic propaganda was Joseph Goebbels.
Through Hitler and Goebbels the Nazi party generated prolific
amounts of effective propaganda.First to win the popular election
of Hitler and secondly the anti-Semitic campaign aimed at the
destruction of European Jews.Nazi propaganda pioneered the use of
modern communication methods,incorporating radio,aerial travel,
and the novelty of film (Bytwerk,11) was used to establish the Third
Reich as a strong and powerful political force.In the publication
Paper War,Randall Bytwerk introduces Hitler’s clear identification
of propaganda’s use to persuade the masses.Bytwerk quotes Hitler’s
writings in Mein Kampf,“The act of propaganda lies in understanding
the emotional ideas of the great masses and finding,through a
psychologically correct form,the way to the attention and thence to
the heart of the broad masses.”
(Bytwerk,11)
Hitler’s anti-Semitic convictions was addressed,supported and
inflated by his closest party propagandists.His core of experienced
supporters were Joseph Goebbels,Otto Dietrich,and Alfred Rosenburg.
(Herf,17) During the past Weimar Republic years,Nazi propagandists
learned the importance and influential methods to distort the
reporting of both political and military news worthy stories.Half-
truths selected,omitted,and downplayed historical facts,slanting fact
and fiction.Most effective propaganda does not consist of blatant lies,
for the truth always has the potential to be found.
By January 1933,the Nazi party confiscated,destroyed,
eliminated,and closed all opposing newspaper and publications.This
process led to the expulsion of German journalists,including Jews,
Social Democrats,Communists,political writers,and other forms of
political dissent.By the end of 1933,the Nazis controlled all remaining
papers and free press,also enacting laws forbidding Jews as editors,
13 Der Stürmer. “Jewish
Murder Plan against
Gentile Humanity
Revealed,” issue
accusing Jews of
practicing ritual
murder to secure
the blood of
Christians to use
in Jewish religious
rituals. Special
Issue: May 1934.
(Calvin College
Archive)
NAZI OFFICES
AND OFFICERS
Der Stürmer (The Stormer) was a weekly
Nazi newspaper published from 1923 to
the end of World War II in 1945. It was a
significant part of the Nazi propaganda
machinery and was vehemently anti-
Semitic. Der Stürmer often ran obscene
materials such as anti-Semitic caricatures
and propaganda accusations of blood libel.

and banning those married to Jews from practicing journalism.
The Nazi Press Office in Propaganda Ministry was run
by Otto Dietrich.Both the Reich Press Chamber and German
Association of Newspapers and Periodical Publishers was
ran by Max Amann,a close friend of Hitler,who helped publish
Mein Kampf.Under both ministries,Nazi ownership and influence
of all remaining privately owned newspapers had to attest to orders
officially directed from the Nazi ministries.All information was now
in the control of a hand selected few from the Nazi party.Each,in their
own right,had made public testimonies to party members making
their intentions regarding‘the Jewish question’known to all.At the
head of the propaganda chain,its chief Adolf Hitler,who along with
Goebbels directed the anti-Semitic hatred and war against the Jews.
Goebbels who was now in charge of the Propaganda
Ministry,was director of press divisions,mass speaking
engagements,political rallies,cultural events,radio,and film.The
Office of Active Propaganda produced pamphlets and posters.
Goebbels was directly responsible for many academic and scholarly
publications.He formerly had been editor of Der Angriff (The Attack)
the official National daily newspaper of the Nazi party,Der Völkische
Beobachter (VB),and Das Reich.Herf writes that,“Das Reich focused
exclusively on the Jews,and anti-Semitic motifs were ubiquitous.”
(Herf,21)
Jeffrey Herf places a large influence of anti-Semitic rhetoric
on Otto Dietrich.He was the Reich press chief,and unlike Goebbels,
worked in Hitler’s office everyday.To a large extent,his specific
mission was to enrage the Germans against the Jews.Herf accounts
of the multiple Nazi ministries,all of which maintained anti-Semitic
propaganda as their chief reasoning for existence.At the core of these
ministries of propaganda,a small frequently reported set group of
men are solely responsible for the consistent messages of hate.The
list:Adolf Hitler,Joseph Goebbels,Otto Dietrich,and Alfred Rosenburg.
1938
March
Germany takes
over Austria and all
anti-Jewish laws
are enforced.
April
Nazis require Jews
to register wealth
and property.
July
Nazis require Jews
over age 15 to apply
for identity cards to
be shown on demand
to any police officer.
Jewish doctors are
prohibited by law from
practicing medicine.
August
Nazis destroy the
synagogue in
Nuremberg.
Nazis require all Jewish
women to add“Sarah”
and all men to add
“Israel” to their names
on all legal documents,
including passports.
September
Jews are prohibited
from all legal practices.
October
Law requires Jewish
passports to be
stamped with a
large red“J.”
November
Kristallnacht:The
Night of the Broken
Glass, Nazis attack
Jews throughout
Germany—30,000
Jews are arrested; 91
are killed; 7,500 shops
and businesses are
looted; and more than
1,000 synagogues are
burned. Nazis fine
Jews one billion marks
for the damages.
Jewish children
are expelled from
public schools.
December
A law is passed calling
for the Aryanization of
all Jewish businesses.
Hermann Goering
takes charge of
resolving the
“Jewish Question.”

Whether it be the Office of Active Propaganda,Propaganda
Ministry,or the Reich Press Office,the continuity remained,
propagators of the continued hatred and oppression,and offered the
supposed answers to‘the Jewish Question.’
Under the Office of Active Propaganda,the Institute zum
Studium der Judanfrage, and its bi-weekly journal,Antisemitische
Aktion that Die Judenfrage,authored ideological and theoretical
offerings regarding‘the Jewish Question.’According to Herf,the
anti-Semitic topics included,“the Jews as a race;the national and
international impact of the Jews on economic,political,and cultural
life of modern nations…”(Herf,28) With continuing active debate
paramount,the group oversaw the theft of treasured Jewish objects
from all over Nazi occupied Europe.
The Nazi rhetoric sought to permanently expel the Jews,and all
their implied misery and suffering caused to the nation of Germany.
Accusations of international Jewish conspiracy,were explicity enacted
by political opposition from England and America.The Jews were
believed to be searching for the destruction of Germany to create the
founding of their own statehood.This belief was propagated by Reich
propaganda offices,encouraged by Hitler,and used to substantiate the
destruction of European Jewry.
14
Who Bears the
Guilt for the War?
Parole der Woshe,
Reich Propaganda
Directorate of the
Nazi Party, 1942.
(Herf, 153)
15
The Jews Wanted
the War! Parole
der Woshe,
Ministry for Public
Enlightenment and
Propaganda 1941.
(Herf)
For the first time, images of Roosevelt,
Churchill and Stalin put faces to the
Jewish co-conspirators in the International
conspiracy of the Jews. The National
leaders were described by the Nazis as
figure heads fronting Jewish advance on
Germany. The size of Roosevelt represents
his influence of Jewish advisors.

While anti-Semitic propaganda remains a constant,the Nazis also
created racist propaganda directed at all of its declared enemies.Early
in the Nazi regime’s climb to power,specific propaganda was aimed at
the Polish,specifically leading to the introduction of World War II with
the Nazis advancement on Poland.
Nazi anti-Polish propaganda declared the Pole an inferior,
claiming the insignificant accomplishments of the Polish nation in
regards to the other European nations.On October 23,1939,the Nazi
Periodical Service officially dictated that future associations with
the words:‘Pole,’‘Poland,’and‘Polish’to be indicative of sloppy and
objectionable behavior.(Herf,58)
Nazi racial purity condemned any mixture of German
bloodlines.Reported fraternization between German soldiers and
Polish women led to the directive stated by Jeffrey Herf,“Every blood-
linked mixture between Germans and Poles leads to racial decline in
German blood.”(Herf,58)
Nazi propaganda linked Poles,Gypsies and Jews,however they
did not assert that Poles were part of the International conspiracy,
that was specifically left prescribed to the Jews of Europe.As Hitler’s
army began to loose Polish ground in 1944,propaganda adjusted its
claims.Nazis leaflet‘newspapers’addressed the Poles as heroic dupes
contracted by both the Americans and the Russians.Propaganda
frequently described the killings of thousands of Polish soldiers by
the blood red murderous hands of the Russian and Bolshevik army.
Nazis laid claims to encourage the Poles to stop fighting and go home,
rejecting the leadership of International Jewry leading the Russian
fight against them.
Propaganda directed at the Poles consisted of horrific accounts
of anti-Semitic atrocities.The visual tone implied Jewish control of
the advancing Russian army.Often times,indicating International
Jewry behind the scenes were enjoying their lives on English or
American soil.The formal language addresses the heroic fighter
1939
January
Goering orders
the emigration of
Jews speeded up.
February
Nazis force Jews to
hand over all gold
and silver items.
April
Slovakia passes its
own version of the
Nuremberg Laws.
Jews are forbidden
rights as tenants
and are relocated
into Jewish houses.
July
German Jews are
forbidden the right to
hold government jobs.
Adolf Eichmann is
appointed director of
the Prague Office of
Jewish Emigration.
September
Nazis order Polish
Jews into restricted
ghettos and force
them into slave labor.
German Jews are
forbidden to own
wireless radios.
November
Yellow stars are
required to be worn
by Polish Jews over
the age of 10.
December
Adolf Eichmann takes
over the section of
the Gestapo dealing
with Jewish affairs
and evacuations.
ANTI-POLISH
PROPAGANDA

TO POLISH OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS!
The whole world learner with horror of the terrible
bestialities bestowed on the Polish people by the
blood-thirsty Bolsheviks.
Practically none of the Officers of the Polish Army,
who in 1939 were imprisoned by the Soviets, survived.
Whether General or Second Lieutenant – it made no
difference – all shared the same fate in the forest at
Katyn in April 1940. They fell, shot in the backs of their
heads by the Red Commissar. This crime, committed
by the bestial Soviet Regime, was confirmed by the
International committee and the horror displayed to
the whole world. 12,000 Polish Officers, the bloom of
Polish youth, Poland’s pride, were murdered by bandits
from the Kremlin, victims of the madness of the Reds,
aspiring to control the whole world.
These same Bolsheviks who got rid of Polish Officers,
tortured, using long and atrocious methods, nearly 3
million poles in Siberia, in concentration camps by the
North Sea and Kazakstan Steppes, telling them to die
slowly, far from their Fatherland.
And you,Polish Officer and Soldier,want to give up your
life for the murderers of your people who, together
with England in a close alliance, are, without scruples,
selling your country to Stalin? THINK ON IT, YOU’RE
BETRAYING YOUR OWN COUNTRY!
COME TO US! EVEN IN THE 5TH YEAR OF THE WAR, WE
PROMISE YOU A RETURN TO YOUR FATHERLAND.THERE,
YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SERVE YOUR NATIONALS.
Leaflet 7 back,
“Paper War,” Mark
Batty Publisher,
p.37.
The visual tone has a heightened use of red–indicating Polish
blood shed, as well as the color of the red army. The three striking
symbols specific to anti-Semitic propaganda is firstly the remote
Jewish figure holding the string. The caricature is involved but
indirectly responsible. Large exaggerated rat-like nose, mouth
and tail is also exaggerated with a brief-case. The second visual
distortion is the ‘Bolshevik’ red army soldiers, with the blatant
Star of David, as they are presumably controlled by the Nazi
ideas of Jews central influence of the Bolshevik revolution in
Bytwerk, Randall L.
Translation: Leaflet
7 back,“Paper
War,” Mark Batty
Publisher, p.37.
17
Russia. One could read into the swinging pendulum, and the
short length of rope into the tenacious relationship of the Nazis
ideas of the Jews and the Russian army. The third visual reference
is the head smashing into a Swastika / German brick wall, as if
the wall of Germany has nothing to do with the blood shed. The
Nazi wall remains strong, all of this activity relates to the horrific
claims made in the text, specific to the Poles addressed. The text
references are specifically horrendous.
Leaflet 7 front,
Batty Publisher,
p.36.
16

DEAR POLISH FRIEND!
You are fighting, but those who are toasting to the
defeat of Poland, who are contributing to the mass
murder of a nation, do not know anything about the
pains and anxieties of war, and do not appreciate the
effect of 5 years’ struggling. You are suffering because
they are looking after their own dirty business at
your cost.
And the war goes on…
THE JEWS ARE GETTING THE BEST OUT OF IT.
You are wandering far from your close ones, in a far-
away country. Thew swindlers are imposters of the
war are away from the front, enjoying every comfort,
surrounded by their families. But they are pushing you
to war whilst sitting in their warm houses where they
do not want for anything. At the cost of your pains
and toils, at the cost of your blood, they are collecting
millions. They do not care that you are disappearing,
because gigantic profits are more important to them.
Your families, like our, are really feeling the effects
of the war. They have to work hard, and they have
recognized the red disease approaching from the East.
Your families do not believe that Stalin’s victory can
make Poland happy.
Would you like to know how your nearest and dearest
are, what they think of the war, and how they are
yearning for you?
If you do – come to us. We assure you an instant return
to your Fatherland.
Your wives, children and beloved Fatherland
await you!
SLOGAN: GO HOME!!
POLISH FRIENDS!
DO YOU WANT TO
DIE FOR THESE?
19
Leaflet 8 back,
Batty Publisher,
p.39.
Bytwerk, Randall L.
Translation: Leaflet
8 back,“Paper
War,” Mark Batty
Publisher, p.39.
18
Leaflet 8 front,
Batty Publisher,
p.38.
Military propaganda directed towards the Polish army contained
aspects of Nazi anti-Semitic. The visual tone, paired with the
text, indicates the female figure is not of Jewish heritage. With
consideration of the Polish Army as the direct audience, the
anti-semitic depiction of the seated Jewish man is assumed to
be a international conspirator either in England or in the United
States. The visual tone of the seated man is also wrapped,
misshapen facial features, and a racially stereo typical nose. The
text is also filled with anti-semitic rhetoric.

being led to pain and death,at the hands of the Jews.The language
insists that Jews were making millions off the continual war with
Germany and toasting to the defeat of both Germany and Poland.The
radical language twists the fate of German Jews,subjecting them to
the horrendous crimes against them.Nazi anti-Semitic propaganda
used language to invert the roles of the Jews lying (sic.) false claims
to distort the true actions of the crimes against Jews on Polish land,
namely the establishment of both concentration and death camps
in Poland.
Nazi propaganda persuaded the Poles,historically skeptical
to both the Germans and the Russians,in effect,to doubt their
implications in the war.Germany needed the Poles assistance in
fighting the Russian advance.Anti-Semitism added fuel for hate
citing the mass population of and their‘demented intentions’against
the state of Poland.Prolonged anti-Semitic reasoning had created
contempt of the Jews by Polish citizens increasingly since the Nazi
regime,justifying the killings and interment of thousands
of Polish Jews.
Anti-Polish propaganda used by the Nazis was an exaggerated
account of similar propaganda used in other countries to be
annexed and incorporated into the Reich.Poland was the first nation
misleadingly led into the war with Germany,and subsequently
encouraged England’s involvement into World War II.As a bordering
country to Germany,and a country also seemingly plagued,in Nazi
terms,with a similar scourge of Jews.The Nazi held contempt for the
Poles.Historically the Poles had their own version of anti-Semitism
and had enacted their own pogroms of hate on the Jews.Germany
used its relationship with Poland in a constant state of manipulation.
Nazis consistently made claims that they were cleansing Jews of all
Europe at the betterment of Germans and Poles.
The Jewish
Conspiracy Parole
der Woshe, Reich
Propaganda
Directorate of the
Nazi Party, 1941.
(Herf)
20
Nazi propaganda visually mapped the
Jewish conspiracy falsly linking outspoken
political intellectuals with Roosevelt,
Churchill, and Stalin in America, England,
and Russia.

Any further usage of the swastika,beyond specific historical reference must be avoided
at all costs.Steven Heller’s book,Swastika Beyond Redemption,lays out the increasing
potential of contemporary derivatives by examining the historical usage and origins of
the swastika.Racial segregation appeared in Germanic Free Masonry cults dating back
to the 1890’s.Swastika like images appeared on various forms of Aryan brotherhood
literature,pre-dating the radical influences of the Nazis.Early symbol identification
extended the Swastika symbol representing secret German folk nationalism.These
secret orders expanded on the already prevalent symbols of mystic origins,further
extending it once again to represent the pure order of Aryan supremacy.
Viennese-born Guido Von List,(1848-1919) asserted the Swastika with
supernatural power,(Heller,51) linking it with Aryan’s strength and energy.List’s
idea was also responsible for the Gothic revival in Germany,encouraging Germanic
conservative art and architecture.List was responsible for the classic revival of writing
with spiky Fraktur type because it glorified the past strength and resolve.(Heller,54)
The swastika image was used in World War I by a militarist German youth
movement.Hitler,like other World War I veterans,and secret Germanic brotherhood’s,
believed the Jews,Communists,and Republicans betrayed and profited from Germany
at the end of the war.Hitler strongly identified and was inspired by the national style,
co-opting the symbol for his own usage,unifying his anti-Semitic beliefs with those
of his brothers.Hitler’s book,Mein Kampf (My Struggle) was devoted to semiotics and
Germanic heroism.He had previously witnessed the strength and visual impact that
the Communist party used to create a political spectacle.Hitler’s first commission for
the Nazi movement was as its propaganda chief.As a former art student,Hitler easily
understood the power of symbolism and propaganda in the effort of the war.He had
witnessed the new visual age and realized the impact propaganda could have on the
masses.As the newly formed leader of Nazism he choose to be its art director and
image manipulator.
Hitler’s vision of the new German Reich imagined past glories and the ultimate
destruction of its enemies—including of the Weimar Republic,Jews,and Communists.
Hitler’s final design was stolen from Dr.Friedrich Krohn,a Völkish symbology scholar.
Through Mein Kampf,Hitler was able to strengthen the past symbol,changing the visual
direction,a denotation of forward power.Without further debate,the Nazi symbol,with
1940
July
Eichmann proposes
his Madagascar
Plan, which would
deport all European
Jews to the island of
Madagascar, off the
coast of east Africa.
The first anti-Jewish
measures are taken
in Vichy France.
August
Romania introduces
anti-Jewish measures
restricting education
and employment,
and then begins the
“Romanianization”of
Jewish businesses.
October
Vichy France signs its
own version of the
Nuremberg Laws.
THE ULTIMATE
ANTI-SEMITISM SYMBOL

its white,black,and red flag was implemented for the Nazi regime.
Hitler debuted his creation in 1920,encouraging and mandating his
creation for the sole usage as the true Nazi identity.The swastika’s
systematic usage,under the minister of propaganda,Joseph Goebbels,
and architect Albert Speer,incorporated it into every aspect of Nazi
representation.Even the most vociferous opponents of Nazism agree
that Hitler’s‘identity system’is the most ingeniously consistent
graphic program ever devised—is attributed to his visual mastery of
the design and propaganda process.(Heller,69)
On September 15,1935,Hitler enacted the first Nuremburg
laws,making the Swastika Germany’s only national flag.(Heller,71)
On the same day,the next laws were against the Jews,removing the
rights and citizenships,and prohibition of them from ever flying the
German national flag.(Heller,72) Over the next few years the swastika
was codified into national icon—ultimately denoting it as the symbol
synonymous with evil.
After the destruction of the Nazi regime,as the Nazi symbol
retreats into mythic memory,the danger remains for its usage to
represent some new abhorrent form or resurgence of Nazi anti-
Semitic intolerance—or even worse an effigy of a destroyed dictator.
21
Graphic artists in
the Hitler Youth
c. 1938. (Heller, 60)
Always the
Same Goal:
Germany Must
be Exterminated,
Parole der Woshe,
Reich Propaganda
Directorate of the
Nazi Party, 1941.
(Herf)
22
As the Nazis intensified mass murders,
and concentration camps reached their
maximum efficiency, the language of The
Posters of the Week became increasingly
accusational of the Jewish politcal agenda.

REACTION
Increasing usage by Aryan inspired anti-Semitic
militias and white supremacist hate groups are to
be kept in check.The reoccurring usage implies a
call to arms and the potential to cause a resurgence
of hatred is to be considered intolerable.Every time
I personally encounter the image of the swastika,
whether in Heller’s book,a flag in a Jewish historical
museum,or commentary on contemporary
supremacist power,as telling illustration I am
left in shock and horror.Contemporary usage
of the swastika,newly describing the American
Fascist or Republican Party does not serve as
an appropriate aesthetic,even to describe the
current political regime.The usage of the swastika
represents everything that I find offensive.Heller
questions the symbols potential redemption,and
I believe he would agree that any usage is wrong
and hurtful in any context.Its representation is
especially dangerous in political usage—even if it
is to describe our current state of affairs.Its usage
wrongfully addresses ideas of anti-Semitism.
23
Down with
Financial
Enslavement! Vote
National Socialist!
Nazi Election
poster, by Hans
Schweitzer, 1924.
(Herf, 32)
1941
February
430 Jewish hostages
are deported from
Amsterdam after
a Dutch Nazi is
killed by Jews.
September
German Jews are
ordered to wear
yellow stars.
October
Nazis forbid emigration
of Jews from the Reich.
November
The Theresienstadt
Ghetto is established
near Prague as a
model ghetto for Nazi
propaganda purposes.
During a cabinet
meeting, Hans Frank,
Gauleiter of Poland,
says“Gentlemen,
I must ask you to
rid yourselves of all
feeling of pity.We
must annihilate
the Jews wherever
we find them.”
They Will Stop
Laughing!!! Parole
der Woshe, Reich
Propaganda
Directorate of the
Nazi Party, 1942.
(Herf, 168)
24
Poster text quoted from a Hitler speech
regarding his early proficy of Jewish
extermination. Hitler repeatedly
reference the jews as ‘them laughing,’
‘once laughed,’ or ‘if the laughter
has already gone from them.’ Hitler
publically announced his ordering and
implimentation the extermination of
the Jews.

Of the anti-Semitic propaganda used by the Nazis,predominantly the
most effective form of communication was that of printed matter—
en mass.The commercial and industrial strength of the printing
industry led to the direct and immediate form of the printed visual
political poster.
The Active Propaganda Division in the Propaganda
Ministry was responsible for the direction and national
implementation of the propaganda machine.The placement of
graphic street‘wall newspapers’was crucial for the Nazis to bombard
every German citizen with news generated from the propaganda
ministries.The predominant form of transportation was propelled by
pedestrian traffic.Public transportation was used by most Germans,
especially in the highly developed city of Berlin,making posters
noticeably present and highly visible to all Germans.
Nazi directives place all forms of political posters through
an array of national,state,provincial,local,and specific bureaus of
information.The influx of active political members was required by
Nazi law.The distribution was statewide and mandatory.Labor and
professional organizations were required to respond and post all
Nazi party dictated materials.Under the Third Reich,the nation of
pedestrians came to convergence in centralized public spaces.The
political poster was favored to film and radio due to its prevalence
truly amongst the people.Every German citizen that could read was
exposed to the political agenda prescribed by the Nazis,including the
vast and repeated message of sanctioned anti-Semitism.
The Word of the Week (Parole der Woche) wall newspapers
became crucial and pervasive forms of visual propaganda.From
1937-1943,in all of Nazi Germany,its images were unified everywhere.
Jeffrey Herf quotes Walter Benjamin,“The Word of the Week wall
newspapers were stunning examples of the work in propaganda in
the era of mechanical reproduction.”(Herf,29)
Hitler personally appointed Hans Schweitzer with the task
NAZI PROPAGANDA
DESIGN OBJECTIVES
The Jew Kaufman
Outdone! Parole
der Woshe, Reich
Propaganda
Directorate of the
Nazi Party, 1942.
(Herf, 111)
26
Jewish author Nathan Kaufman, self
published Germany Must Die, an angry
anti-Nazi book of writing calling for
the International retaliation for the
persecution of the Jews. The book
was wrongly linked for its influence
on American political and intellectual
policies against Germany.
25The War Aim of
World Plutocracy
Ministry for Public
Enlightenment and
Propaganda 1941.
(Herf)

of translating Nazi ideology to the uniforms,stamps,and posters.
The Word of the Week poster campaign was directed to‘document’
(emphasis) political events important to the people of Germany.
Hitler’s strict criteria for judgment was,its effectiveness.The Nazi
propaganda offices where supplied with the actions and reactions of
the people at the local level.This system of evaluation had previous
been used by the Weimar Republic.
According to Jeffrey Herf,specific production actualities of
The Word of the Week campaign;“the first edition was distributed
on March 16,1936.By January 1941,eight million copies had been
distributed,approximately 125,000 a week.”(Herf,30) Everything
about the campaign became a political activity,from the message by
design to be read by everyone,to the distribution handled by party
members.The visual tone of the poster utilized bold type and strong
use of Nazi influenced colors
In stark contrast to the previous political posters of the Weimar
Republic,which advocated for high modernism incorporating
dogmatic works of Bauhaus and DaDa artists,Nazi propaganda
resisted‘degenerate art’created by German émigrés.Nazi propaganda
revisited past German glorification of the mythological Aryan hero.
Initial Nazi posters featured Germanic völkisch type.Contemporary
Germans at first had a difficulty grasping antiquated letterforms.
Hitler initially rejected Gothic styled modern letterforms,associating
their prevalence on Swashbacher type styles associated with the Jews
in the graphic forms presented by the Bolshevik’s.
Jeffrey Herf adds significant anti-Semitic representation in
The Word of the Week in its direct reinforcement,specific to anti-
Semitism as well as the greater reports of the Holocaust.Herf report
the quantity of anti-Semitic wall newspapers coincided with varying
Nazi programs against the Jews.Herf writes,“Between 1936 and 1940,
anti-Semitic themes were infrequent.In 1940,only three of the wall
newspapers broached them.From 1941 to winter 1943,about a quarter
Fraktur typefaces
advertised in
Graphische
Nachrichten Berlin
1935. (Hollis, 66)
27
1942
April
German Jews are
banned from using
public transportation.
June
Jews in France,
Holland, Belgium,
Croatia, Slovakia, and
Romania are required
to wear yellow stars.
September
Food rations for Jews in
Germany are reduced.
December
The British Foreign
Secretary Eden tells
the British House of
Commons the Nazis
are“now carrying
into effect Hitler’s oft
repeated intention to
exterminate the Jewish
people of Europe.”
The United States
declares those crimes
will be avenged.

of wall posters included attacks on Jews… moreover
27 posters were produced from January 1942 to July
1942,at a time when the extermination camps had
begun full operation,twelve poster were devoted
partly or wholly to anti-Semitic attacks.”(Herf 31)
As many Germans have made claims after
the war that they did not know,it is difficult to
believe that the propaganda efforts made no lasting
affects at the Germans response to anti-Semitic
actions.The direct ratio of posters,with or without
anti-Semitic claims,is relative to the Nazi pogroms
enacted upon the Jews,as well as the annexing of
ghettos,and the murder of German and
European Jews.
Herf also lists the subscription requests from
the outlying areas of the German population.The
subscription figures account the attitudes of the
German people.The request comes from a complete
representation of local governing forces:hospitals,
factories,schools restaurant associations,war
veterans,and Nazi party officials to name a few.
This shows the complete effectiveness of
Nazi propaganda.
30
Ludwig Hohlwein,
poster for
the Deutsche
Lufthansa, 1936.
(Meggs, 263)
And You?
Ludwig Hohlwein,
recruiting poster,
early 1940s.
(Meggs, 263)
29
The Mask Falls!
They Are the Real
Rulers in the U.S.A.!
Parole der Woshe,
Reich Propaganda
Directorat of the
Nazi Party, 1942.
(Herf)
28

From a design history perspective,anti-Semitic propaganda has been well avoided.
With minor exception,Nazi propaganda has been left out of the design continuum.
Philip Meggs,a respected design historian,negates even the negative impact the Nazis
had on European graphics.Meggs’book,A History of Graphic Design,all but alludes
to the Nazi domination of graphics produced during the Second World War.Meggs’
graphic time line cites,“The poster reached its zenith of its importance as a medium
of communication during World War I (1914-1918).”(Meggs,258) Meggs’beginning
introduction and conclusion offer three brief paragraphs introducing the design work
of Ludwig Hohlwein,citing two posters produced for the Nazis,one in 1936,the second
in 1940.Meggs’cites the like minded graphic approach,favored by Hitler and visualized
by Hohlwein.The effective propaganda,used Hohlwein’s artistic representation of
heavy handed graphic symbolology,depicting the mythological and formal gestures
often implied in Nazi propaganda,he also used an integrated combination of text and
imagery.While these two posters are militaristic in tone,neither depict elements of
anti-Semitism.None of Meggs’reproduction or text show,or inform the reader of the
potential for Nazi propaganda to be in effect.Meggs’consistently fluctuates with High
German art,Allied propaganda with the WPA poster projects,and the inclusion of
design movements prior to Nazi occupation of Europe.He is proficient at representing
the Bauhaus both in Weimar and in Dessau.Other than the admission of the Nazis
forcing the Bauhaus out of Germany—he quickly moves on to the Russians.Meggs’main
representation consist of Allied posters for the war effort.Surely the negation,at least
from a historic mode of inclusion is to be dually noticed.
Jeremy Aynsley’s book,Graphic Design in Germany 1890-1945,specifically
confronts the ideological Nazification of propaganda.While non-specific to anti-
Semitism,it does analyze the mythology of German artifacts.
Aynsley makes immediate mention of lacking analysis of Nazi strategies of
advertising published in the English language.Aynsley relates political propaganda to
adaptive strategies of marketing (Aynsley,180) citing specific practice of graphic design
and its ephemeral response to the informative needs of the people’s reaction towards
regime announcements.The response was less controlled and oddly dependent on the
diversity of the message.Many contradictory methods were explored for the total search
for questionably effective communication.Aynsley writes,“Often pragmatic recognition
1943
January
Ernst Kaltenbrunner
succeeds Heydrich
as head of RSHA.
March
In New York, American
Jews hold a mass rally
at Madison Square
Garden to pressure
the U.S. government
into helping the
Jews of Europe.
April
At the Bermuda
Conference, the
United States and
Great Britain discuss
the plight of refugees
from Nazi-occupied
countries, but nothing
is decided about the
plight of the Jews.
October
Himmler talks openly
about the Final
Solution at Posen.
Massive escape from
Sobibor as Jews
and Soviet POWs
break out, with 300
making it safely into
nearby woods. Of
those 300, 50 survive.
Exterminations then
stop at Sobibor, after
250,000 deaths. All
traces of the death
camps are removed
and trees are planted.
November
The U.S. Congress holds
hearings on the U.S.
State Department’s
inaction regarding
European Jews, despite
mounting reports of
mass extermination.
DESIGN HISTORY
PERSPECTIVE

that a modern Germany,even under National Socialism,needed a
sustained consumer economy was disguised by party rhetoric and
official propaganda.”(Aynsley,180)
Aynsley argues that the effectiveness of Nazi propaganda,
stating its‘own’claim on völkish ideas and return to neo-classical
was inherent in the propaganda itself.Beyond the total rejection
of Weimar representation,Nazi artistic representation claimed
modernization for their own.This testament remains intact when
comparative consideration of the magnitude of graphics supplied by
the Nazis,and extended grandness of its architectural extremes.In
the proprietary interest of National Socialist system,graphic evidence
incorporated the Bauhaus Modernism specific to publicity.
After the Nazi election in 1933,all arts and media control
was under the jurisdiction of the Reich’s Ministry for Education
and Propaganda.Under Goebbels international responsibilities
concerned with the display of German art,film,and sport;while
domestic responsibility controlled festivals,the press,radio,education,
art,and music.All design efforts consisted of official commissions,
heavy restrictions forced many Jewish artists out of Germany,and
others consequently were attacked as cultural Bolshevik’s and
were murdered (Aynsley,189) those lucky enough to emigrate did
so quickly.Aynsley documents,“The last exhibition of graphic art,
entitled The Jewish Poster, took place at the Jewish Museum in Berlin
in March 1937,before the final devastating stage in the obliteration
of the Jewish Germans in the Kristallnacht pogrom of November 9
and 10,1938.”(Aynsley,190) The Reich Advertising Division declared
a unification of leadership for the direction of political,cultural,and
economic concerns.
Aynsley studies the language and graphic representation of
Gebrauchsgraphik,a newly converted graphic magazine under the
Nazi regime.The magazine continued to represent contemporary
styles not allowed by the Nazi regime,yet still covering International
Gebrauchsgraphik
Magazine cover,
designed by
Herbert Bayer,
October 1938.
(Aynsley, 193)
31

design styles.The magazine was allowed to show
foreign work from the United States,England,
France,and with great interest an emphasis in the
popular Fascist design of Italy.An International
attitude invited Herbert Bayer to create its cover in
October 1938.(Aynsley,193) Aynsley makes a final
cautionary note saying,“The continuing pluralism
in Gebrauchsgraphik after 1933 should not mislead
the historian into believing that there was an open
editorial policy,unchanged by political events.The
distinct ideological nature of the overall coverage
of official design events warns against this reading.
(Aynsley 195)
Similar to the staged propaganda of the
Olympic Games held by the Nazis in Berlin in 1936,
Herbert Bayer’s exhibition and design work was
used to propagate,as Aynsley writes,“an image
of national economic potential for domestic and
foreign audiences alike.”(Aynsley,205)
While Herbert Bayer work does not represent
anti-Semitic propaganda,it both establishes and
demystifies the conflicted history of Nazi design.
While National Socialism held fast to neo-classical
representations its process and attitudes are still
fascinated by the industrial and cultural revolution
that Nazi power was to identify itself with.
Its intolerant attitude
certainly corresponds
in particular to the
German inclination to the
absolute; its military will-
to-order and its claim to
sole power correspond to
those fearful components
of German-ness which
unleashed Hitler’s rule
and Second World War.
2 Jan Tschihold,
“Glaube und
Wirklichkeit,”
Schweizer
Graphische
Mitteilungen, 65,
No.6, June 1946.
2
Aynsley seems
to perfectly
encapsulate his
academic analysis
with a quote from
Jan Tschihold,
(Aynsley, 214)
1944
January
In response to political
pressure to help Jews
under Nazi control,
Roosevelt creates the
War Refugee Board.
Diary entry by Hans
Frank, Gauleiter of
Poland, concerning
the fate of 2.5 million
Jews originally under
his jurisdiction,“At the
present time we still
have in the General
Government perhaps
100,000 Jews.”
March
President Roosevelt
issues a statement
condemning German
and Japanese
ongoing“crimes
against humanity.”
May
Himmler’s agents
secretly propose a
trade to the western
Allies: Jews for trucks
and money.The
deal is rejected.
June
A Red Cross delegation
visits Theresienstadt
after the Nazis have
carefully prepared the
camp and the Jewish
inmates, resulting in
a favorable report.

The initial research of this paper was to examine
the visual properties of Nazi anti-Semitic
propaganda leading to the horrific results of the
Holocaust.Visual aspects of Nazi propaganda are
formulations of racially spirited anti-Semitism.
Formal attributes twist previous stereotypes of the
European Jew.Historical studies of the Holocaust
have shown prolific biological racism enacted upon
the Jews.Subsequent research written by Jeffrey
Herf suggests that,anti-Semitism is more specific
to Hitler’s paranoia of International Jewry.The
research presented here,reveals a more specific
and directed verbal communication of slander and
miss-representation of the Jews.Verbal accusations,
made by the Nazi regime,proved to be filled with
hatred and malice.As my research unfolded,I easily
realized that the verbal language used by the Nazis
was far more incriminating.Carefully articulated
words were chosen for their capacity to carry a
desired message.Specific words could encourage
hatred,propel fear,or quell victims into silent
submission.The heavily ironic words,posted in the
changing rooms in Aushwitz-Birkenau,initially
soothed gassing victims.These would be the last set
of words administered by the Reich.
Hitler’s specific use of language,at
Nazi rallies,was strengthened by the various
propaganda ministries.Even the language chosen,
to identify the varied propaganda ministries,
were specific to methods of propaganda.
Hitler’s consistent usage of‘extermination,’and
‘exterminate,’indicated that he had ordered the
PAROLE DER WOSHE: SPRACHE
CONCLUSION: QUESTIONING LANGUAGE
Protective Custody
Living Space
Quarantine District
Treated Appropriate
Special Action
Clearing up the Jewish
Question
Evacuation to the East
Jewish Residential District
Mercy Killing
Shot—while trying to
escape
Auxiliary Equipment
Resettlement
Final Solution to the
Jewish Question
Hairdresser
Selection
Special Treatment
Disinfection
Shower
‘Work Liberates,’ gates of
Auschwitz.
‘Harvest Festival,’
extermination of 43,00
Polish Jews, November
1943. Also specific to
Jewish Holiday of Sukkot.
‘Lake Forest,’ used as a
fake return address on
postcards sent from
Auschwitz.
Alternate words and phrases disinfected
the hands of the Nazi elite. Words became
clever deceptive devices for the continued
need to simultaneously pacify the Jewish
community and encourage idealistic
favoritism among Germans.These word
phrases were used to deflect the blame
away from the Nazis intent of persecuting
the Jews.
Words of
propaganda used
by Nazis to obscure
acts against
Jews. The Jewish
Heritage Museum
(installation) New
York, New York

implementation of the destruction of the Jews.Hitler avoided the use of first person,and
active verbs directly negating association to the causality of his actions.Herf specifies,
“the Nazi faithful understood that Hitler was telling them in language by then familiar
that the Nazi regime was at the moment murdering the Jews.”(Herf,167) If the oration
of his speeches remained ambiguous to its audience,it was redistributed in mere weeks
following the political rally in a varied form of propaganda mediums.This combination
of word and image would have clarified any doubt of his intentions.
Hitler conveyed tyrannical words of hate and anti-Semitism by dissemination,
through the Reich Press Office under Joseph Goebbels.Jeffrey Herf writes,“…a
fanatical,but not small,minority embedded in or hovering around front organization of
the Nazi party adopted the anti-Semitic narrative…these fanatics were surrounded by a
society in which milder forms of anti-Semitism had become commonplace.”(Herf,277)
The Nazis manipulated language for the explicit means of obscuring their answer to‘the
Question of the Jews.’Increasingly aggressive actions against the Jews was twisted to
reflect back upon their victims,the supposed conspiracy of International Jewry.The Nazi
leaders knew,that they could not rely on a popularized backing for the total annihilation
of the Jews,without reprisals from England and America.The truth of what is not
said—and lies remain—in the words broadcast loudly.The repetitious and paranoid
language of the Nazi regime again forces blame upon its victims.Through persuasive
words of convoluted propaganda,the Nazis influenced Germany’s social and emotional
support in the advancement of national and anti-Semitic support.While visual aspects
of Nazi propaganda leaned toward obscure racial stereotypes,the‘true’war,consisted
of rhetorical,manipulative,and slanderous propagated discourse,becoming the Nazis
strongest asset to the slaughter of the innocent Jews.Through systematic and radical use
of language the Nazis overwhelmingly communicated its contempt of European Jews.
This research catalogues specific and deliberate results generated by the Nazi regime
to justify the destruction of the Jews.The purpose of this research is to display both the
visual characteristics,and the ultimate methodical use of language by the Nazi regime.
The lasting affects forever changed the visual representation of the Jews.
TIME LINE
Material based on
information from the
Jewish Community
Relations Council of
Minnesota and the
Dakotas, the United
States Holocaust
Memorial Museum,
the Survivors of the
Shoah Visual History
Foundation, and A
Teachers Guide to the
Holocaust, Produced
by the Florida Center
for Instructional
Technology, College of
Education, University
of South Florida © 2001

Herf,Jeffrey.The Jewish Enemy, Nazi Propaganda During World War II and the
Holocaust.Belknap Press of Harvard University Press,2006.
Paper War. Nazi Propaganda in One Battle, on A Single Day Cassino, Italy, May 11,
1944.Mark Batty Publisher,2005.
Heller,Steven.The Swastika: Symbol Beyond Redemption? Allsworth Press,2000.
Meggs,Philip B.A History of Graphic Design. Second Edition.Van Nostrand
Reinhold,1992.
Aynsley,Jeremy.Graphic Design in Germany 1890-1945. University of California
Press,2000.
Hollis,Richard.Graphic Design, A Concise History. Thames and Hudson,1994.
Conot,Robert E.Justice at Nuremberg.Gustan Muhler Gilbert,1975.1983.
The Wandering Jew, (videorecorring) 1933.Directed by George Roland.Written
byJacob Mestel.Waltham,Ma National Center for Jewish Film.1999.USHMM.
The Eternal Jew.Der Ewige Jude.(videoreccording) Nazi propaganda films.Rolf
Giesen.Jefferson,N.C :McFarland Co.,c2003.USHMM.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1 “Judgement,” Trials of War criminals
before the Nuremburg Military Tribunal
(IMT), 14, 565-576.
2 Jan Tschihold,“Glaube und
Wirklichkeit,” Schweizer Graphische
Mitteilungen, 65, No.6, June 1946.
QUOTED
REFERENCES

1 Heller,Steven.Fight for Freedom.
[pg.79]
2 Jewish identification armbands,
Czechoslovokia, est.1941.
3 Aynsley,Jeremy.Der-Ewige-Jude.
[pg.197]
4 Herf,Jeffrey.The Wire Puller: Brain-
and Manual Workers Vote for the
People’s Bloc.[Color Plate]
5 Herf,Jeffrey. Behind the Enemy
Powers: The Jew. [Color Plate]
6 Herf,Jeffrey. Jewish Conspiracy
against Europe. [Color Plate]
7 Aynsley,Jeremy. All of Germany
listens to the Führer with the
People’s Receiver. [pg.179]
8 Heller,Steven.Nazi Election poster.
[pg.64]
9 USHMM.Collaboration,Call
Number: 2004.264.1
10 Herf,Jeffrey.The Jew: Instegators
of the War, Prolonger of the War.
[Color Plate]
11 Herf,Jeffrey.He Bears the Guilt for
the War! [Color Plate]
12 Herf,Jeffrey.The Wire Pullers: They
Are Only Jews! [Color Plate]
13 Der Stürmer. Calvin College
Archive.
14 Herf,Jeffrey.Who Bears the Guilt
for the War? [Color Plate]
15 Herf,Jeffrey.The Jews Wanted the
War! [Color Plate]
16 Mark Batty Publisher.Leaflet 7
front.[pg.36]
back.[pg.37]
18 Mark Batty Publisher.Leaflet8
front.[pg.38]
back.[pg.39]
20 Herf,Jeffrey.The Jewish Conspiracy.
[Color Plate]
21 Heller,Steven.Graphic artists in the
Hitler Youth. [pg.60]
22 Herf,Jeffrey. Always the Same Goal:
Germany Must be Exterminated.
[Color Plate]
23 Herf,Jeffrey. Down with Financial
Enslavement! Vote National
Socialist! [Color Plate]
24 Herf,Jeffrey.They Will Stop
Laughing!!! [Color Plate]
25 Herf,Jeffrey.The War Aim of World
Plutocracy. [Color Plate]
26 Herf,Jeffrey.The Jew Kaufman
Outdone! [Color Plate]
27 Hollis,Richard.Fraktur typefaces.
[pg.66]
28 Herf,Jeffrey.The Mask Falls! They
Are the Real Rulers in the U.S.A.!
[Color Plate]
29 Meggs,Philip B.Poster for the
Deutsche Lufthansa. [pg.263]
30 Meggs,Philip B.And You? [pg.263]
31 Aynsley,Jeremy.Gebrauchsgraphik.
[pg.193]
PHOTO CREDITS

2
Czech Jews wore
stars after 1941.

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