Miniature "button book" issued for charitable contributions by the Winter-hilfswerk des Deutschen Volkes
Creator(s)
- Winter-Hilfswerk des Deutschen Volkes (Issuer)
- Heinrich Hoffmann (Author)
- Presse-Hoffmann (Publisher)
Biographical History
Heinrich Hoffmann (1885-1957) was a German photographer and Nazi propagandist. The son and nephew of photographers, he worked in the Hoppé studio in London before setting up in Munich as a portraitist and photojournalist. His photograph of cheering crowds on 2 August 1914 unwittingly captured the young Adolf Hitler, an event which would later benefit Hoffmann's career. Drifting to the far right after the First World War and revolutionary events in Bavaria, he joined the Nazi Party in 1920 and convinced an initially camera-shy Hitler of photography's political value. Hoffman’s assistant, Eva Braun, became Hitler’s mistress in 1930. After 1933, his virtual monopoly of Hitler photographs, as ‘the man who sees the Führer for us’, made him one of the Third Reich's major profiteers. His scenes of carefully constructed intimacy, presenting his master, especially in the regime's early years, as a clean-living, nature-loving man of the people, were massively disseminated. After 1945, though claiming to have been a mere chronicler of events, he was fined and imprisoned. His extensive photo archive survives, including photographs of German political and religious figures, as well as actors, painters, and musicians.
Archival History
The book was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by Jodie Butler, the daughter of Jean Jones.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Jodie Butler
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
Miniature "button book" printed by the Nazi German government and given as a token gift to those who had donated to the Winter-hilfswerk des Deutschen Volkes. The booklet could be worn on coat buttons as a sign that the wearer had donated to the charity.One of two miniature books sent to Jean Jones in Iowa from her German pen pal Irmgard Richter, whose parents were teachers in Berlin.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Miniature book with a string looped through a small hole in the back. [4?] pages; mostly ill. ; 5 cm.
People
- Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945.
Subjects
- Miniature books--Specimens.
- National socialism.
- Nazi propaganda--Germany.
- Germany--Politics and government--1933-1945.
Genre
- Books and Published Materials
- Object