U.S. Window Card for the film “Hitler’s Children” (1943)
Extent and Medium
Overall: Height: 22.000 inches (55.88 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm)
Creator(s)
- RKO Radio Pictures (Production Company)
- RKO Radio Pictures (Distributor)
- Ken Sutak (Compiler)
Biographical History
The Cinema Judaica Collection consists of more than 1,200 objects relating to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical subjects, from 1923 to 2000, from the United States, Europe, Israel, Canada, Mexico, and Argentina. The collection was amassed by film memorabilia collector Ken Sutak, to document Holocaust-and Jewish-themed movies of the World War II era and the postwar years. The collection includes posters, lobby and photo cards, scene stills, pressbooks, trade ads, programs, magazines, books, VHS tapes, DVDS, and 78 rpm records. Sutak organized these materials into two groups, “Cinema Judaica: The War Years, 1939–1949” and “Cinema Judaica: The Epic Cycle, 1950–1972” and, in conjunction with the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum (now the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum in New York), organized exhibitions on these two themes in 2007 and 2008. Sutak subsequently authored companion books with the same titles.
Archival History
The window card was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Ken Sutak and Sherri Venokur.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Ken Sutak and Sherri Venokur
Scope and Content
Window card for the American feature film, “Hitler’s Children,” released by RKO Radio Pictures in January 1943. Window cards were mass-produced promotional materials used until the mid-1980s. They included a blank section at the top for individual theaters to write in dates and show times, and placed in locations outside of the theaters. “Hitler’s Children” was adapted from Gregor Ziemer’s novel, “Education For Death,” which was based on the author’s experiences and observations as the former headmaster of Berlin’s American Colony School. The film focuses on a young American woman in Germany, who denounces Nazi ideology and the state-sanctioned treatment of women as vessels for procreation, and is forced into a labor camp. After running away, she is subjected to public flogging and is eventually executed. The film was one of the first of several films to feature the theme of women persecuted by Nazi Germany. This object is one of more than 1,200 objects in the Cinema Judaica Collection of materials related to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical themes.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Restrictions on use. Copyright status is unknown.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Poster printed on rectangular, cream-colored cardstock for the film “Hitler’s Children.” The center features a large, red-toned photographic image of a girl’s face bearing a scared expression. The background is shaded in pink, and overlaid on the woman’s forehead are three white strips, each with a line of black text inside. On the left side is a small-scale, green-toned image of a Nazi officer in a wide, threatening stance and holding a forked whip in one hand. Directly below his feet is a small rectangle containing several lines of advertising copy. The bottom third of the poster consists of a black rectangle with the film title in large, green text, and the film credits in small, yellow and red text. A small, blue studio logo is in the lower left corner, and the copyright information is printed in small, blue text in the bottom margin. The top third of the poster is unprinted, with two lines of handwritten text in pencil about the local theater’s show times. The edges of the poster are stained and yellowed with age and there are several tears along the sides. Depicted: Bonita Granville as Anna Müller
top, handwritten, pencil : Saturday Mid-Nite / Sunday & Monday
People
- Muir, Gavin, 1909-1972.
- Whitley, Crane.
- Holt, Tim, 1918-1973.
- Granville, Bonita, 1923-1988.
- Warner, H. B. (Henry Byron), 1876-1958.
- Ziemer, Gregor, 1899-1982.
Subjects
- Hitler’s children (Motion picture : 1943)
- Women in motion pictures.
- Germans in motion pictures.
- United States.
- Germany.
- Captivity in motion pictures.
- Nazis in motion pictures.
- Film adaptations.
- Feature films.
- National socialism in motion pictures.
Genre
- Display Cards.
- Information Forms
- Object