Sketchbook by Fips of daily prison life created while jailed as a Nazi propagandist

Phillipp Rupprecht (1900-1975) was born in Nuremberg, Germany. He served in the German Navy during World War I. In 1920, he left Germany for Argentina, where he worked as a waiter and cowboy for several years. In the mid-1920s, he returned to Germany and worked as a cartoonist for the Fränkischen Tagespost, a Socialist newspaper. After drawing a cartoon of the Lord Mayor of Nuremberg, Hermann Luppe, Rupprecht was hired as an illustrator for the antisemitic newspaper Der Stürmer, by Julius Streicher, publisher of the paper and a regional leader of the Nazi party. While there, Rupprecht worked under the pen name Fips and became known for his variations on the antisemitic stereotype of the bearded, bulging eyed, large-nosed Jew. In 1938, he illustrated the antisemitic children's book, Der Giftpilz (The Poison Mushroom), published by the Stürmer publishing house. He joined the German Navy in 1939, but was released to create propaganda for the Nazi party. Rupprecht stayed at the paper until the last issue was published on February 22, 1945, and his career ended with the defeat of Germany in May. After the war, Rupprecht was captured by the United States Army and held in the 7th Army Internee Camp #74 in Ludwigsburg, Germany. He was put on trial as part of the de-Nazification process and sentenced to six years hard labor. Rupprecht was released from Eichstätt prison on October 23, 1950. He married twice, had four children, and worked in Munich as a painter and decorator until his death.

William M. Gustin was born on March 8, 1916 in Massachusetts. He enlisted in the United States Army on March 10, 1941. A 1st Lieutenant in the 798th Automatic Weapons Battalion, he served as a tactics instructor, supervising five hundred officer candidates. As an anti-aircraft weapons automatic unit commander, he was responsible for the training, discipline, security, and combat proficiency of sixty men for a period of twenty four months, including twelve months in combat in the European Theater of Operatios. As part of the Army of Occupation, he served as Provost Marshall for the 7th Army Internee Camp #74 in Ludwigsburg, Germany, responsible for the well being of seventy five hundred prisoners. William left the camp in late 1945, and separated from the army on January 16, 1946. He returned to the United States and married Helen Delaney. The couple had seven children. William died in Exeter, New Hampshire, on June 22, 2009, at the age of 93.

The sketchbook was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2006 by William M. Gustin.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of William M. Gustin