Anti-Dreyfus journal cover about Jews conspiring with the German Army
Extent and Medium
a: Height: 15.875 inches (40.323 cm) | Width: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm)
b.: Height: 15.875 inches (40.323 cm) | Width: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm)
Creator(s)
- Jean Louis Forain (Artist)
- Peter Ehrenthal (Compiler)
- E. Plon, Nourrit et cie (Publisher)
- Caran d'Ache (1859-1909) (Cartoonist)
Biographical History
The Katz Ehrenthal Collection is a collection of more than 900 objects depicting Jews and antisemitic and anti-Jewish propaganda from the medieval to the modern era, in Europe, Russia, and the United States. The collection was amassed by Peter Ehrenthal, a Romanian Holocaust survivor, to document the pervasive history of anti-Jewish hatred in Western art, politics and popular culture. It includes crude folk art as well as pieces created by Europe's finest craftsmen, prints and periodical illustrations, posters, paintings, decorative art, and toys and everyday household items decorated with depictions of stereotypical Jewish figures.
Archival History
The magazine cover was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by the Katz Family.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Katz 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
Cover of Psst...!, an antisemitic, anti-Dreyfus satirical journal founded in 1898 by Caran d'Ache, at the height of the Dreyfus Affair. This cover from August 19, 1899, directs the satires and incites outrage at the treasonous links between Zola, Jews, and the German military supposedly exposed by the scandal. Caran D'Ache was the pen name of Emanuel Poire, a Russian born cartoonist who achieved renown in France with his antisemitic, anti-Dreyfus Lundi [Monday] cartoons in the newspaper Le Figaro. This political scandal revolving around antisemitism inflamed late 19th century France. Dreyfus, an army captain, was found guilty of treason in 1894 for selling military secrets to Germany. He was used by politicians and the press as a symbol of the disloyalty and treachery of all French Jews. Zola wrote a letter, J'Accuse, to protest the verdict, accusing the French Army of a cover up. Zola was charged with libel and the Dreyfus Affair grew into a national political crisis. An Army officer was found to have forged the document proving Dreyfus's guilt. But in a second trial, despite the traitor's confession, the Army again convicted Dreyfus. The verdict was met with outrage and the president pardoned Dreyfus to end the crisis. The magazine cover is one of the more than 900 items in the Katz Ehrenthal Collection of antisemitic artifacts and visual materials.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Separated sheets, the left and right sections of a single large sheet, torn along the vertical fold, that were originally the front and back pages of a newspaper. a. Front cover page: The front has a caricature by Forain of a short, wealthy looking Jewish man in a 3 piece suit with his hand on the shoulder of a man in a German Army officer uniform, with the caption: Ce n'est pas le moment te nous lâcher. [It is not time to let go.] On the back is the headline, Le Regiment Dreyfus, above a caricature by Caran d'Ache of a uniformed German soldier standing at attention, ready to march with his backpack and a rifle on his shoulder, above the caption: Ier, IIe, IIIe bataillons, garnison Berlin. [1st, 2nd, 3rd battalions, Berlin garrison.] b. Back cover page: The front has a Caran d'Ache drawing mirroring the inside front cover layout (a.) It is headlined, Le Regiment Dreyfus, with a caricature of Emile Zola, with a large quill pen over his shoulder with an attached ink bottle labelled poison, above the caption: IVe bataillon, garnison Paris et Rennes. [4th battalion, Paris and Rennes garrison (locations of Dreyfus trials). On the other side is a half page cartoon, Comment cela finira a Rennes / Les Rennais et la presse etrangere (Casporal Poire), [How it will end in Rennes / Les Rennais and the foreign press (Casporal Poire)], 3 squares with advertisements, 2 columns listing publications by Caran d'Ache, and publishing information.
People
- Caran d'Ache, 1859-1909.
- Forain, Jean Louis, 1852-1931.
- Zola, Emile, 1840-1902--Caricatures and cartoons.
Subjects
- Antisemitism--Pictorial works.
- Soldiers--Caricatures and cartoons.
- Antisemitism in art--France--19th century.
- France--Politics and government--1870-1940--Periodicals.
- Anti-Jewish propaganda--France--Sources.
- Jews--Caricatures and cartoons--France.
- Caricatures and cartoons--Periodicals.
Genre
- Object
- Art