Waffen SS Admission after age 17 Waffen SS recruitment poster featuring a soldier and a Leibstandarte (SS Adolf Hitler flag)
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 31.125 inches (79.058 cm) | Width: 21.125 inches (53.658 cm)
Creator(s)
- Waffen-SS (Distributor)
- Mjölnir (Artist)
Biographical History
Hans Schweitzer (1901-1980) was born in Berlin, and joined the Nazi party in 1926. As a member of the party, Schweitzer created cartoons, caricatures, and political posters under the penname, Mjölnir. He worked for several Nazi newspapers, including the Völkischer Beobachter (The People’s Observer) and a paper published by early Nazi leaders Gregor and Otto Strasser. With his artistic talents, Schweitzer advanced through the party. He was appointed as an honorary member of the SS and became friends with Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. Later, Schweitzer illustrated several books for Goebbels, including Die Verfluchten Hakenkreuzen, published in 1930. Throughout the 1930s, Schweitzer created images for Nazi antisemitic, political, and election posters. He was also a cartoonist for the paper Der Angriff (The Attack), publish by Goebbels, and illustrated the book, Kampf um Berlin (Fight for Berlin). In 1935, he was appointed as Representative for Artistic Design and worked in conjunction with the Ministry of Propaganda for the creation of exhibitions, erection of monuments, and the development of insignia and national symbols. Later, he worked with a commission to decide how to utilize artwork stolen from Nazi victims. Schweitzer was arrested by American authorities in 1947 and fined 500 deutsche marks for his actions during the Holocaust. In 1955, he had his Nazi record expunged and was able to work as an illustrator and teacher.
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
Recruitment poster for the Waffen SS featuring an image of a uniformed soldier and a Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler flag. The Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler was Hitler’s personal bodyguard regiment. The Waffen SS was the armed military division of the Schutzstaffel (SS), the Nazi paramilitary organization that was responsible for security, intelligence gathering and analysis, and enforcing Nazi racial policies. They controlled the concentration camp system and planned and coordinated the Final Solution. The SS was originally formed in 1925 to protect Hitler along with other Nazi leaders and provide security at political meetings. In 1929, Heinrich Himmler was appointed Reichsführer-SS (Reich Leader of the SS) and turned the organization into an elite corps based on visions of racial purity and absolute loyalty to Hitler. The Waffen SS was established in 1939 to strengthen the position of the SS relative to the army and German elites, eventually fielding more than twenty divisions and half a million men at its peak. Members of the Waffen SS were selected based on “racial” ancestry. Selected individuals were expected to have an Aryan Nordic lineage and volunteers were accepted from Germany, and later Norway, Denmark and Holland.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Poster on faded light brown paper on a white linen backing depicting a soldier in a green military uniform with an upright rifle with a bayonet. He is shown from the waist up wearing a jacket with a black shoulder strap and collar patch, and a round green helmet with the SS insignia. His face is lightly colored red, and he stares into the distance with a blank expression. Flying behind him is the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler flag: a black swastika within a gold wreath on a red field with golden Reichsadler in each corner. At the top left are two lines of green, block print text and above the text, in the left corner, is a round stamp in black ink with German text. Below the image are two lines of green and black text in fraktur font, and below, one line of black text followed by two indented lines of text. For another example of this poster see accession number 2014.496.1.
front, bottom left corner on linen, handwritten, pencil : 16/K front, bottom right corner on linen, handwritten, pencil : pII 486 front, top left corner, stamped, black ink : Kommandantur / 1 / ,,Doetinchem” [Headquarters 1 "Doetinchem"]
Corporate Bodies
- Waffen-SS
- Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei. Schutzstaffel
Subjects
- Soldiers--Germany.
- Nazi propaganda--Germany.
- Berlin (Germany).
Genre
- Propaganda posters.
- Posters
- Object