The People select List 1 National Socialists Pro-Nazi election poster with a giant red swastika and number 1
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 47.250 inches (120.015 cm) | Width: 33.500 inches (85.09 cm)
Creator(s)
- WEM (Artist)
- Adolf Wagner (Editor)
- Friedrich J. Rehse (Previous owner)
Biographical History
Friedrich Josef Rehse was born on March 23, 1870, in Münster, Germany. He worked as a photographer until the outbreak of World War I, when he began collecting printed materials such as pamphlets, maps, stamps, postcards, letters, photographs and posters. Rehse continued to add to his collection throughout the 1920’s, becoming friendly with Adolf Hitler and other National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party or NSDAP) leadership and acquiring many pieces of their early propaganda work. In 1929, the NSDAP, which up to that point had saved little of their early works, purchased the entire collection from Rehse for 80,000 Reichsmarks and appointed him archivist of the collection. The collection was kept in the office of the NSDAP in the Munich Schellingstrasse, and in 1932 was named the "FJM Rehse Archive for Contemporary History and Journalism Munich.” In 1935, the collection was moved to the north wing of the Munich Residence, which was turned into a museum and renamed the “FJM Rehse Archive and Museum of Contemporary History Munich." The collection continued to grow both through legitimate acquisitions and through Nazi plunder until the end of the war when Munich was liberated by American troops in 1945. The collection was confiscated, and the unlawfully acquired pieces were returned to their rightful owners. The remainder of the collection, along with the files of the NSDAP main archive, were taken to the Library of Congress in Washington DC. Friedrich Rehse, aged 81, died on January 14, 1952 in Munich, Germany. Much of the confiscated collection was returned to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1963 as part of a "book repatriation" by the United States.
Archival History
The poster was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection
Scope and Content
Political poster promoting the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler for the German elections of 1932. The image shows how, with the people’s support, the Nazi Party became the most popular political party in Germany. This poster was initially preserved by the FJM Rehse Archive and Museum of Contemporary History in Munich, a museum operated by the Nazi Party that preserved much of their early propaganda. By June 1932, Germany was deep in the throes of the Great Depression, with six million unemployed. This economic distress contributed to a rise in the popularity of the Nazi Party who along with the Communist Party and the Social Democrats, were the most popular political parties in Germany. When Germany held parliamentary elections in July of that year, the Nazi party won almost 40 percent of the electorate in the Reichstag, becoming the largest party in German parliament. However Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party failed to defeat incumbent Social Democratic President Paul von Hindenburg in the presidential election. With the support of his majority party, Hitler was appointed Chancellor by President Hindenburg on January 30, 1933.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Offset lithographic poster printed on faded white paper, adhered to a white linen backing depicting a large centered, red number 1 rising from the center of a red swastika laying on its side. Masses of small, indistinct figures are streaming in between the spaces between the arms of the swastika. There are two lines of black text in the top corners with the text on the left underlined, and a line of black text at the bottom. The background of the poster is white. The poster has several small red dots on the left edge. There is a small stamp near the bottom.
front, bottom, stamped, blue ink : F.J.M. Rehse / Archiv / f. Zeitgeschichte / u. Publizistik / München [F.J.M. Rehse / Archive / f. Contemporary History / u. Journalism / Munich]
Subjects
- Political campaigns--Germany--History--20th century.
- Nazi propaganda--Germany--History--20th century.
- Germany.
- Germany--Politics and government--20th century--Posters--Exhibitions.
- Nazi propaganda--Germany.
Genre
- Propaganda posters.
- Object
- Posters