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Illustration I
Both Hitler and Stalin justified the monumental state as the necessary tool to create a totally new and pure social order. The social order would be made up of a new type of citizen, perfect in all ways. But first, all the impure and imperfect humans would have to be eliminated. The visual propaganda of the two societies was used to portray the world as divided between the pure and noble and the impure and debased. Here a 1939 copy of the Nazi publication Der Stuermer (“Storm Trooper”) portrays the Jews as the ultimate enemy of all that is good in Germany. The headline is about a Jewish woman who drove a pregnant non-Jewish woman to her death. An ugly, stereotypical cartoon pictures two angry Jews. The caption reads in part: “Unmasked hatred/in his unbounded rage against the Jew has once again committed a grave error which has undercut him- that he so often displays his hatred against all non-Jews.”

1. Over the years the publication Der Stuermer offered a steady stream of some of the worst anti-Semitic articles and images imaginable. What does the term anti-Semitic mean?

2. The cartoon contains a typical anti-Semitic stereotype of a Jew. What is the stereotype? From what you know about anti-Semitism, can you explain how the features of the two men depicted here fit with the typical anti-Semitic stereotypes?

3. Most historians would say the Jewish population of Germany in the 1920’s and 1930’s were law abiding, generally successful economically and admiring of German society and culture. Why then do you think so many Germans accepted views such as the one in Der Stuermer?

Illustration II
In Nazi Germany, the division of society into the pure and impure was often made visual. Here, for example, is a chart of prisoner **badges and patches worn by inmates in German concentration camps.** The horizontal categories list markings for the following: political prisoners, criminals, emigrants, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals and German and non-German slackers or people ‘shy of work’. The fourth row down shows Jewish stars for Jews in these seven categories. Among the other badges are ones for Jews who had sexual relations with Aryans and Aryans who had sexual relations with Jews.

1. This chart may look harmless. It is in fact a listing of prisoner badges in a concentration camp. What is a concentration camp?

2. The chart is also a form of propaganda. It shows different badges to be worn by political prisoners, Jews, and others. How are these markings a form of propaganda?

3. Both Hitler and Stalin wished to portray their nations as divided into pure and noble groups on one hand and dangerous and impure on the other hand. How might these markings divide a country even more?

4. Among the prisoner markings here is one for Jews who had sexual relations with Aryans and one for Aryans who had sexual relations with Jews. How would such identification aid Hitler in his plans to alarm Germany about a Jewish threat to the nations supposed racial purity?

Illustration III
In the late 1920’s, Stalin launched a plan to industrialize the Soviet Union. As a part of it, peasants were to be forced into government-run collective farms so as to ensure enough food for industrial workers in the cities. But most peasants resisted collectivism. To terrorize them Stalin cut off food shipments to the Ukraine in 1932 and caused death by starvation to at least 5 million people. To justify this genocide he portrayed these peasants as evil. The poster shows how the kulaks were depicted. Meanwhile, heroes of socialist labor were identified and praised for their great efforts. They were given awards and held up to others

1. Stalin’s visual propaganda also helped him portray his nation as bitterly divided in a battle of the pure and the noble against the impure and dangerous. But in his case, the groups identified this way were classes, not races. Can you explain what this means? Why would Stalin’s Communist view of the world lead him to stress class over race?

2. The Soviet poster portrays an ugly kulak peasant as an enemy of the people. From what you know of Stalin’s years in power, can you explain who the kulaks were? Why do you think he pictured them as he has here?

3. The kulak in the poster is surrounded by the tractors on a Soviet collective farm. What were collectives? A collective farmer on the right is shown with a tractor and his awards for hard work. His efforts have won him the title “hero of socialist labor.” Stalin presented such heroes as examples of the new, perfected socialist man being created in the Soviet Union. How does the photo help present this view?