Bidspirit auction | Issue of the Antisemitic Newspaper

Issue of the Antisemitic Newspaper Der Stürmer – August 1944 – Declaring: “Germany Has Been Completely Cleansed of Jews” - Issue of the antisemitic Nazi propaganda newspaper Der Stürmer, dated August 24, 1944 – published at the stage of World War II when the issue declared that “Germany had been completely cleansed of Jews.” This issue contains an extensive article describing what would have happened had Germany not been completely “cleansed of Jews” during the war years, presenting the systematic extermination of the Jews as a benefit and as a “precautionary measure” taken by Nazism to safeguard Germany. Also included are photographs of Jews from the ghettos, accompanied by the claim that their facial features prove the theory of the scholar who maintained that man descended from the ape, and more. The issue is titled Garant des Sieges (“The Guarantee of Victory”). The issue proclaims the complete removal of the Jews from Germany, and its cover article elaborates on what, according to Nazi propaganda, would have happened had the Jews remained in Germany. The central illustration depicts a victorious German knight holding a sword and a Nazi flag, alongside the inscription Die Treue ist der Sieg (“Loyalty Is Victory”); beneath him are skulls wearing caps bearing the Star of David – an illustration intended to symbolize the German victory over international Jewry. Alongside the caricature appears the antisemitic cover article, in which the issue declares the complete elimination of the Jews from Germany: “The homeland today is entirely different from that of 1918. Germany has been almost entirely freed of Jews. Only those who know precisely the circumstances that led to the collapse of the Reich more than 25 years ago can truly understand what the cleansing of the German homeland means for the general public...” (emphasis in the original). The newspaper continues by describing what, according to its propaganda, would have happened in Germany had it not been for Nazism: “If Jews today, as in 1918, controlled German agriculture and the entire food market! Jews would hoard food intended for the people in large corporations! Jews would enrich themselves through enormous profits! Jews would even sell our supplies to enemy countries, just as happened in 1918, and make billions more from the starvation of the German people! This is what the food supply of the German people would look like today had National Socialism not taken precautionary measures... What would happen if Jewish ‘financial experts’ were responsible for German tax policy? Hundreds and thousands of war profiteers would spring up like mushrooms, just as in 1918! They would be the beneficiaries of the war, profiting and enriching themselves from the bloodshed! They would seize the wealth of the nation, while the masses of the people would collapse under the burden of an unjust tax system. This is what the Reich’s financial situation would look like today had National Socialism not taken precautionary measures...”. The newspaper continues by describing what would supposedly have happened had Germany not “cleansed” itself of Jews: “The Jews would already have poisoned and corrupted the spirit of our people to such an extent that it would have been ripe for our enemies’ plans of annihilation...” It further states: “The examples given demonstrate the immense significance of the Reich’s anti-Jewish policy. They also demonstrate that the solution of the Jewish question was not merely a political matter, but also a military matter of the broadest scope. In the First World War we had to fight against two groups of enemies: the external enemy and the internal enemy. The external enemies could not defeat us. Only the internal enemy, the Jew, succeeded! History has unequivocally established that the Reich of 1918 was not destroyed by our enemies at the front, but fell victim to the Jews’ stab in the back from within the Reich...” The article concludes: “The solution of the Jewish question thus created the conditions for the victory of our Wehrmacht at the front.” Throughout the issue appear virulent incitement and antisemitic attacks against the Jews. On one of the pages, under the headline “Judaized Hungary, ” are photographs of Jews in the ghetto accompanied by hateful captions such as: “An elderly Jewish couple. The old woman smiled at us like death itself.” Photographs of several elderly Jews appear with the blatantly antisemitic caption: “A scholar once claimed that human beings are descended from apes. If by ‘these human beings’ he meant Jews, then his claim may well be correct. Just look at the faces of these six Talmudists!” (All photographs - Der Stürmer archive), and more. The issue also contains an article claiming that the driving force behind the Allies in their war against Germany was the Jews;