The Masterminds! Anti-Semitic propaganda poster with pictures of several prominent Jewish figures

Bernard Baruch was born on August 19, 1870, in Camden South Carolina, to Simon Baruch and Isabel (Belle) Wolfe Baruch. Simon was born in Prussia, to a Jewish family. He came to the United Sates in 1840 to avoid conscription in the Prussian army. He became a doctor and served as a surgeon for the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Belle came from a wealthy South Carolina family which had suffered ruin following the Civil War. Bernard had three brothers, Hartwig (1868-1953), Herman (1872-1953) and Sailing (1874-1962). Bernard graduated from the College of the City of New York in 1889, and became a successful stock market speculator and financier. He married Annie Griffin and they had 3 children, Belle, Bernard Baruch Jr., and Renee. In 1916 Benard was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson to the Advisory Commission of the Council of National Defense. In 1919, he was a member of the Supreme Economic Council at the Versailles Peace Conference and was also a personal adviser to President Wilson on the terms of peace. During WWII he was an advisor to President Franklin Roosevelt. After the war he formulated policy at the United Nations. Bernard Baruch, age 94, died on June 20, 1965, in New York City.

Felix Frankfurter was born on November 15, 1882, in Vienna, Austria Hungary (now Austria), to a Jewish couple, Leopold, a merchant, and Emma Frankfurter. Felix had 5 brothers and sisters Otto (1879-1961), Felix (1880-1957), Paul (1884-?), Ella, (1892-?), and Estelle (1895- 1997). In 1894 the family immigrated and settled in New York City. Felix attended City College and Harvard Law School where he later taught. Felix was U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1906–1909, and secretary of war under President William Howard Taft 1911–1913. He was a legal adviser to President Woodrow Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Felix married Marion Denman in 1919. He was an active Zionist and helped found the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Felix advised Franklin Roosevelt during his term as governor of New York, and later, as President. In 1939 Felix was appointed to the Supreme Court by Roosevelt. Felix retired in 1962. Felix Frankfurter, age 82, died on February 22, 1965, in Washington D.C.

Maksim Litvinov was born on July 17, 1876 in Białystok, Russia (now Poland) to a Jewish couple, Moses and Anna Wallach. In 1898, he joined the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party and was arrested in 1901 for revolutionary activity. He was able to escape custody and fled to Great Britain. Over the next decade he was active in Workers Party activities all across Europe. He married Ivy Low in 1915 and they had two children, a son, Misha and a daughter, Tanya. Litvinov returned to Soviet Union in 1917 after the Bolshevik Revolution and was appointed as a diplomatic representative in London. While there he was arrested for engaging in propagandist activities. The British government released him in exchange for a British journalist. Litvinov later joined the Soviet Commissariat for Foreign Affairs. He led the Soviet Delegation to the preparatory commission for the League of Nations’ World Disarmament Conference from 1927-1930. In 1930 he became commissar for Soviet Affairs. He led the Soviet delegation to the World Economic Conference in London and negotiated establishment of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and United States. Litvinov urged the League of Nations to make plans for collective resistance against Germany and negotiated anti-German treaties with France and Czechoslovakia. In 1939 he was relieved of his position, which enabled the Soviet Union to negotiate and sign the German-Soviet Treaty of Nonaggression. From 1941-1943, Litvinov was appointed ambassador to the United States, and then as deputy commissar for foreign affairs until his retirement in 1946. Maksim Litvinov, aged 75, died in 1951, in Moscow.

Leslie Hore-Belisha was born on September 7, 1893 in London, England to a Sephardic Jewish couple, Jacob and Elizabeth Miriam Miers Belisha. He served in the British army during World War I. In 1923 Leslie was elected to Parliament. In 1934 he was appointed Minister of Transport. He reformed the Highway Code, and improved laws for driver and pedestrian safety. In 1937, Neville Chamberlain appointed Leslie as Secretary of State for War. In this position, he instituted many reforms such as easier promotion from the ranks to the officer corps and the appointment of relatively young generals along with quick retirement for those who were older. These new changes antagonized many of the senior army officers and Chamberlain removed him from office in 1940. In 1944, Leslie married Cynthia Elliot. In 1945 Leslie lost his bid for reelection to the Parliament. Leslie Hore-Belish, aged 63, died on February 16, 1957.

Walther Rathenau was born on September 29, 1867 in Berlin, Prussia to a wealthy Jewish couple, Emile and Mathilde Nachmann Rathenau. Emile was the founder of Allgemeine-Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG) which installed Germany’s first electric power system. Walther had a brother, Erich, and a sister, Edith. Walther studied philosophy, physics, chemistry, and engineering and received his doctorate in 1889. He held several executive positions in AEG, and at the outbreak of World War I he was head of the company. Walther headed the newly formed War Raw Materials Department in the War Ministry during the war. In 1921 he served as minister of reconstruction and in 1922 as foreign minister, negotiating the Treaty of Rapallo with the Soviet Union. Walther Rathenau was assassinated on June 24, 1922, he was 54.

Kurt Eisner was born on May 14, 1867 in Berlin, Prussia (now Germany) to a Jewish couple, Emanuel and Hedwig Levenstein Eisner. Kurt had 5 brothers and sisters, Hugo (1858-?), Ludwig (1860-?), Paul (1864-1869), Jenny (1870-1874), and Martha (1872-1907). Kurt studied literature and philosophy at the University of Marburg. He worked as a journalist for the Frankfurter Zeitung and was the editor of the official paper of the Social Democratic Party, Vorwärts. Eisner opposed Germany’s aid to Austria-Hungary against Serbia in World War I. In 1918 he was arrested for leading a strike and was released shortly after. In November, he organized a revolution that overthrew the Bavarian monarchy and proclaimed the Bavarian Republic. He became the first prime minister and minister of foreign affairs. On February 21, 1919, Kurt Eisner was assassinated in Munich, he was 51.

The poster was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1999.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection

Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.