Jewish usury prices and Aryan business are incompatible Antisemitic broadside by Fips claiming German business and Jews are incompatible
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 38.625 inches (98.108 cm) | Width: 25.375 inches (64.453 cm)
Creator(s)
- Fips (Artist)
- Fips (Subject)
- Waldheim und Eberle (Publisher)
Biographical History
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.
Archival History
The poster was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1993 by Alex Kertesz.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Alex and Boots Kertesz Family
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
German antisemitic propaganda poster featuring sales tags encouraging Germans to fight against unfair Jewish business practices, designed by Philipp Rupprecht (Fips). The Nazis used propaganda to push the narrative that Jewish greed was a burden to society. The poster uses the antisemitic trope of the Jewish usurer; a moneylender who charges excessive interest, which originated from the Middle Ages. In many areas of medieval Europe, Jews were barred from many occupations and from owning land. In turn, they had to rely on interest from moneylending to earn income. During this time, the Catholic Church regarded moneylending for interest as immoral, and prohibited Catholics from the practice. Because of this stigma, Jewish moneylenders were seen as immoral and predatory by their Catholic counterparts. These ideas evolved into the antisemitic concept of the fraudulent, parasitic, Jewish businessman who worshipped money. Nazi propaganda used this trope to promote the narrative that Jews were bad for German (Aryan) business and created an atmosphere that tolerated violence against Jews. The Nazis communicated their propaganda through art, music, film, radio, books, posters, and other published materials. Philipp Rupprecht, who used the pen name Fips, was one of the Nazi’s preeminent propaganda creators. Rupprecht was an artist for Julius Streicher’s Der Stürmer, an antisemitic newspaper that prominently displayed Rupprecht’s work. His illustrations portrayed Jews as heartless and cruel, and featured discriminatory images of Jews with exaggerated facial features, and misshapen bodies. Rupprecht also illustrated the antisemitic children’s book Der Giftpilz (The Poisonous Mushroom).
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Color, offset lithographic poster on off-white paper adhered to a white linen backing. The background of the poster is black to highlight the illustration. At the top is a white, five-sided store tag with a Star of David and three lines of black German text, with two crossed out in red. Below is a red rectangle with a white swastika in the top left corner and underlined black German text. Below are two lines of white German text shaded with black horizontal lines. At the bottom is a line of large, white text and four lines of smaller red text. The publisher name is in the bottom center margin and the artist signature is in the bottom right corner.
People
- Fips, 1900-1975.
Subjects
- Jews--Caricatures and cartoons.
- Antisemitism--Economic aspects.
- Nazi Propaganda--Germany.
- Antisemitism--usury.
- Germany.
- Anti-Jewish propaganda--Germany.
- Lithography, German--20th century.
Genre
- Object
- Posters
- Posters.