Antisemitic caricature of a Dreyfus supporter

Identifier
irn545107
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2016.184.645
Dates
1 Jan 1899 - 31 Dec 1900
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • French
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 26.125 inches (66.358 cm) | Width: 20.000 inches (50.8 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 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

Print from Musee des Horreurs, an antisemitic series featuring 52 cruel caricatures of well known Jews and others involved in the Dreyfus Affair. It was produced in 1899-1900 by an artist under the pseudonym V. Lenepveu. Many caricatures featured well known Jews, such as the Rothschilds, who were not involved in the scandal, but whose prominence made them targets of the anti-Jewish fanaticism engulfing France. The Dreyfus Affair was a political scandal revolving around antisemitism that inflamed France in the late 19th century. Alfred Dreyfus was an army captain found guilty of treason in 1894 for selling French military secrets to the Germans. Antisemitic publications used Dreyfus as a symbol of the disloyalty of all French Jews. In 1896, another man was tried and acquitted of the same crime. Emile Zola wrote a letter to protest the verdict, titled "J'Accuse," in which he accused the French Army of covering up its unjust conviction of Dreyfus. Zola was charged with libel and the Dreyfus Affair grew into a national political crisis. An Army intelligence officer was found to have forged the document proving Dreyfus's guilt. But in a second trial, despite the confession of the traitor, the Army again convicted Dreyfus and sentenced him to prison for another ten years. The verdict was met with outrage around the world. Dreyfus was pardoned by the president to end the crisis. The poster 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

Poster in black ink on light brown paper depicting a caricature of a man’s head on the body of a black feathered eagle with the top of its wings nailed to a stone wall. He has a bald crown, black hair, and short, curled black sidelocks in front of small, furry ears with pointed tips. His forehead is furrowed, there are hairy moles on his face, and he has stereotypical Jewish features: thick, bushy eyebrows, a hooked, beak-like nose, and fleshy lips. Tears and saliva drip from the corners of his closed, heavily lidded eyes and mouth. His neck is bent, his head hanging to the right with his face in quarter profile. His wings are partially folded and his talons are loosely raised up in front of a short, feathered tail. There is French text across the top and bottom. It is adhered to a slightly larger linen backing.

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.