Poster with an antisemitic quotation attributed to Giordano Bruno
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 33.750 inches (85.725 cm) | Width: 18.000 inches (45.72 cm)
Creator(s)
- Peter Ehrenthal (Compiler)
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 poster 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
Poster with a mournful looking, stereotyped Jewish man waiting at a dock as he waits to leave for yet another city. There is an antisemitic quote referring to Jews as the scum of the earth. It is attributed to Giordano Bruno, but it is doubtful that is true. Bruno was a Renaissance philosopher who was burned at the stake as a heretic for denying Catholic doctrines. He was later celebrated as a martyr to science. For both of these reasons, Nazi propagandists would find it useful to claim him as a fellow anti-semite, even if they had to invent lies to make the connection. This poster is one of more than 900 items in the Katz Ehrenthal Collection of antisemitic visual materials.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Light brown poster with a cartoonlike illustration of a stereotyped Jewish man seated on a bollard post at a dock with a block of German text to the left and the same text in Polish to the right. In front of him is light blue water and sky with a steamship in the distance. His head rests in his hands and he has a sad expression on his face as he gazes out to sea. He wears big black glasses on his large, curved nose, a bowler hat, and checked pants with a Talmud in his jacket pocket and an umbrella under his arm. His luggage is to his left: a suitcase covered with travel stickers for several European cities, a satchel with a Star of David, and a pastry box.
Subjects
- Anti-Jewish propaganda--Germany--Posters--20th century--Specimens.
- Jews--Caricatures and cartoons--Posters--20th century--Specimens.
- Antisemitism--Germany--Posters--20th century--Specimens.
- Anti-Jewish propaganda--Poland--Posters--20th century--Specimens.
- Christianity and antisemitism--Posters--20th century--Specimens.
- Antisemitism--Poland--Posters--20th century--Specimens.
Genre
- Posters
- Object