Propaganda of World War II
Aisha Rehan and Danielle Wightman
Germany Propaganda: Anti-semitic Newspapers
This is one of the many articles published from the popular anti-semitism newspaper, Der Stuermer (‘The Attacker’). The short, catchy slogan "Die Juden sind unser Ungluck" (The Jews are our misfortune), was written at the end of every article, inciting feelings of hatred towards the Jews. The purpose of publishing these anti-semitist articles was to convince the people of Germany (the non-jews) that they need to eliminate the Jewish race because the Germans are better and more perfect. The caricature in this particular article shows a Nazi pumping poisonous gas into the base of a tree, with dead rats representing Jews around the tree. The rats are labelled “stock exchanges,” “the press,” and “trusts.” The branches of the tree, labeled “Germany,” are industry, agriculture, commerce, the arts, business, etc. The caricature's caption is “When the vermin are dead, the German oak will flourish once more” (Der Stuermer December 1927). Stuermer uses the rhetorical technique name-calling when he refers to the Jews as “vermin.” Doing so demoralizes the Jews and furthermore convinces the people of Germany that the Jews as a race are “bad.” Having a caricature of the Jews as the cover of the article also shows how little respect the Germans have for the Jews.