When Jews laugh Antisemitic Der Stürmer advertising flier showing several Jewish people smiling

Identifier
irn544600
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2016.184.435
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • German
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 17.000 inches (43.18 cm) | Width: 12.000 inches (30.48 cm)

Creator(s)

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 flier 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

Antisemitic advertising flier for the Der Stürmer newspaper showing photographic images of the “devilish grins” of Jews. The text claims that Jews are born criminals, who are incapable of laughter, and can only smile nefariously, which implies their untrustworthy nature. Two versions of the flier were published: this one with red lettering and an advertisement on the bottom, and one with black-and-white text without a bottom advertisement. The antisemitic newspaper was founded by Julius Streicher and published from 1923 to 1945. Striecher used the paper as a platform to foment public hatred of the Jewish race. The paper blamed Jews for the depression, unemployment, and inflation in Germany as well as rape and other crimes against the German people. Der Stürmer also accused Jews of "blood libel" or "Jewish ritual murder" antisemitic fabrications that were common in the Middle Ages. They claimed that Jews used Christian blood, usually from children, obtained from a torturous ritual sacrifice to perform religious ceremonies. The paper often featured crude and distasteful cartoons that showed Jewish people as ugly, with exaggerated features and misshapen bodies. The paper became very popular, eventually reaching a circulation of 800,000. After the war ended, Streicher was arrested by the US Army in May 1945. He was tried by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, convicted, and executed per the ruling that his repeated publication of articles calling for the annihilation of the Jewish race were a direct indictment to murder and a crime against humanity. The flier 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

Offset lithographic advertising flier printed on tan-colored paper. The flier has black-and-white photographic portrait images of ten men and one woman. The images are overlaid on top of one another and arranged around three, short lines of large, red, cursive font in the center of the page. They are well-dressed with collared shirts and jackets. Five of the men wear flat caps, while an older man wears a brimmed hat, and the largest, central figure wears a yarmulke. The figures are situated in different poses, though they are all depicted looking towards the front and smiling. There is a line of red text in the bottom border, and two lines of small, black text in the bottom right of the image. There are stains and discoloration along the margins, especially the left one.

back, top center, handwritten, pencil : $ 450 / # 1250 El- / DER STÜRMER back, top right, stamped, black ink : D

People

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.