Illustrierter Beobachter (Munich, Germany) [Newspaper]

Hermann Esser (1900-1981) was born in Rörmoos, Germany. His father was a civil servant. Esser volunteered for the German army and served during the later stages of World War I (1914-1918). After the war, he returned to Germany a radical socialist, and co-founded the German Workers Party with Anton Drexler in 1919. Later that year, the German army assigned Adolf Hitler to spy on the Party, which he ultimately joined. During the early stages of the Party, Esser was an important figure due to his oratory skills, which were second only to Hitler. Esser made speeches that attacked the government, and spread conspiracy theories about Jews. After Hitler joined, the German Worker’s Party name was changed to Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP). Esser held several leadership positions in the new party. In 1929, he became a member of the Councils of Bavaria and Munich, and was elected to the Reichstag in 1933. Esser was editor of Völkische Beobachter (Ethnic Observers, an early party newspaper), and Illustrierter Beobachter (Illustrated Observer, a party propaganda magazine), until 1932, and the first chief of Nazi Party propaganda. He also served as Bavarian minister of economics until 1935. Esser had an unscrupulous personal life that left him at odds with Hitler and his Nazi colleagues. This caused his role within the party to become diminished during the war. He was alleged to have assaulted the underage daughter of a prominent businessman. To marginalize him, Hitler to appoint him as head of the Tourist Division of the Reich Propaganda Ministry and president of the Reich Group Tourist Traffic. In 1939, he published an antisemitic book, Die Jüdische Weltpest (The Jewish World Pest), but otherwise was insignificant. After the war, Esser was captured by the Americans and held for two years, but he was considered an unimportant Nazi Party official and released in 1947. He was arrested again in 1949 by the German police and was classified as a major offender by a Munich de-Nazification court for being the most senior propagator of Nazi ideas and for past anti-Jewish activities. He was sentenced to five years hard labor in 1950 but was released in 1952 for previous time served. Afterward, he maintained a low profile until his death.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Iris Wasserstein