Bidspirit auction | Antisemitic Postcards – Europe, Russia,

Antisemitic Postcards – Europe, Russia, the United States, North Africa, and the Far East. Early 20th Century - 9 Antisemitic Postcards – Caricatures and Stereotypical Depictions of Jews from Various Countries – Europe, Russia, the United States, North Africa, and the Far East. Various publishers and dates of publication, early 20th century. Nine postcards presenting the range of antisemitic imagery circulated in popular culture during the early 20th century. Jews are depicted through crude visual stereotypes – exaggerated noses, long beards, clothing perceived as “Jewish, ” and an unkempt appearance – alongside imagery associating Jews with money, dubious commerce, deceit, filth, and social alienation. Postcards: “Союз истинно-русских людей” – “Union of True Russian People” – Russian postcard from the early 20th century. A long avenue of trees, from behind each of which a stereotypical Jew peers out, as a visual expression of the supposedly threatening Jewish presence in Russian society. The title refers to a Russian nationalist organization associated with the political milieu of the “Black Hundreds.” “Gruß aus dem Moorbade” – “Greetings from the Mud Baths” – Color German postcard featuring a series of scenes at a spa resort. Black handprints and footprints form part of an antisemitic joke associating Jews with dirt and uncleanliness. “Leipzig – Gruß von der Messe” – “Greetings from the Leipzig Fair” – German satirical postcard depicting an overcrowded “night hotel” – there are not enough beds for the locals, who are forced to sleep beneath a wooden structure and inside a crate, while two Jews peer through the window. “Kurgäste aus Galizien” – “Spa Guests from Galicia” – Color German postcard depicting three Galician Jews in a harsh caricature: prominent beards, exaggerated noses, long garments, and drinking vessels hanging from their bodies. The title turns Jewish visitors from Eastern Europe into objects of ridicule. (Caricature by Fritz Schönpflug, one of the prominent Austrian illustrators of the period.) “EVERYBODY WORKS POOR FATHER” – “Everybody Works Poor Father, ” United States, 1906. Caricature by F. E. Wothersbee in which the Jewish figure is explicitly identified as Abe Cohen, against the background of a sign purportedly offering fine clothing at low prices. The Jewish character is associated with a world of banks, money, and dubious transactions, in keeping with the antisemitic stereotype of the Jew as a cunning and avaricious merchant. (Printed in 1906 and mailed in 1908.) Two postcards from North Africa published by P. Grébert, Casablanca, depicting bearded Jews in traditional dress through exaggerated and degrading caricatures. One bears the caption “Béni Gopferze (Un Juif), ” and the other “Attendant le Messie” – “Waiting for the Messiah.” “TONKIN – Baie d’Along / Chenal de l’Hamelin – Le Juif” – Postcard from French Indochina. A rock formation in Ha Long Bay is given the name “Le Juif” – “The Jew” – because its shape resembles a face with a prominent nose, perceived as resembling a stereotypical Jewish profile. An unusual example of how the caricatural image of the “Jewish nose” became so recognizable that it was used as the name of a natural formation. French postcard depicting a Jewish figure with an exaggerated nose and beard walking toward a sign reading FRANCE, with the word AMNISTIE above him – a political caricature portraying the Jew through the conventional visual features of antisemitic caricature of the period. Seven of the postcards were used (inscriptions on the reverse, with some mailed through the postal service). Overall condition: good.