The Jew Kaufman trumped! Word of the Week Nazi propaganda poster claiming American Jews want to exterminate the German people

German propaganda poster issued during the week of August 19 to August 25, 1942, from the Parole der Woche (Word of the Week) series. This poster uses a quote from Theodore Kaufman’s book, “Germany Must Die,” and claims that the Jews and their allies are fighting to exterminate the German people. Theodore Kaufman was a fringe, Jewish-American extremist writer who advocated for the sterilization of German men and women as a means to eliminate the German people, and the partition of German territory among neighboring nations. Although his writings were not popular in America, the Nazis used them heavily in their propaganda to advocate for public support for the war. They falsely claimed that Kaufman’s ideas were popular opinion in America, and that Kaufman was an associate of President Roosevelt. The Nazis used propaganda to buttress public support for the war effort, shape public opinion, and reinforce antisemitic ideas. As part of their propaganda campaign, the Nazis created the Word of the Week Series of posters (also referred to as Wandzeitung, or wall newspapers), the first of which was distributed on March 16, 1936. Each week, approximately 125,000 posters were strategically placed in public places and businesses so that they would be viewed by as many people as possible. Posters were the primary medium for the series, but smaller pamphlets were also produced, which could be plastered on the back of correspondences. The posters used colorful, often derogatory caricatures, and photorealistic images with vibrant language to target the Nazis’ early political adversaries, Jews, Communists, and Germany’s enemies during the war. The series was discontinued in 1943.