Bidspirit auction | A Lesson in History –

A Lesson in History – a booklet of anti-Nazi caricatures published in the midst of World War II. Moscow, 1942 - Yрок Истории. Рисунки - Кукрыниксы, Стихи - С. Маршака - ”A Lesson in History. Illustrations by Kukryniksy, poems by S. Marshak” – A rare publication issued in the midst of World War II, Moscow, 1942. The booklet features caricatures by Kukryniksy (Кукрыниксы), most of which mock Adolf Hitler, portraying him as a coward and a pitiful figure in the face of the might of the Allied forces. Text in Russian. On the title page appears a Hebrew dedication:  ”To Lilach, with foresight – Yehudit”, dated March 12, 1944. Most of the caricatures span full pages and ridicule Hitler’s ambition to conquer Russia, the failure of the German army to cope with the Russian winter, and depict Hitler, Göring, Goebbels, Himmler, and others as confused, lost figures, overshadowed by their own brutality. Alongside the illustrations appear satirical poems mocking Nazi Germany, with titles such as: “The Devil Is Not So Frightening, ” “A Lesson in History – Hitler’s Conversation with the Late Kaiser Wilhelm, ” “The Fascist, ” “Meat Grinder, ” and more. Although at the time Hitler was still considered nearly invincible and at the height of his power, the Eastern Front had dealt him a crushing blow in the Battle of Moscow one of the most significant and large-scale battles on the Eastern Front during World War II. By the end of the battle, fought in late 1941 and early 1942 between the Red Army and the German Wehrmacht, the Germans had been forced to retreat from the outskirts of Moscow. This battle is considered one of the major turning points of the war and marked the beginning of Hitler’s military decline and the growing contempt of the Soviet population toward him and Nazi Germany.  It was against this backdrop that this mocking publication of Hitler’s downfall was released.  The illustrators – a renowned Russian caricaturist collective consisting of three members. The poems were written by the Jewish-Russian poet Samuil Marshak (Самуи́л Марша́к). 64 pages. Light staining to cover and some pages. Good condition.