The beer stein was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by the Katz Family.
The Katz Ehrenthal Collection is a collection of more than 900 objects depicting Jews and antisemitic and anti-Jewish propaganda from the medieval to the modern era, in Europe, Russia, and the United States. The collection was amassed by Peter Ehrenthal, a Romanian Holocaust survivor, to document the pervasive history of anti-Jewish hatred in Western art, politics and popular culture. It includes crude folk art as well as pieces created by Europe's finest craftsmen, prints and periodical illustrations, posters, paintings, decorative art, and toys and everyday household items decorated with depictions of stereotypical Jewish figures.
Cylindrical, offwhite, ceramic stein with a curved ceramic handle with a molded leaf design and a conical pewter lid with a pewter thumblift and pewter mountings with embossed floral designs. At the top of the body is a plain rim; below is a wide, rounded band with a green and purple leaf and geometric design, bordered by recessed brown lines. The body has 1 panel with a bas-relief design, painted black in the recessed areas, depicting 3 Jews taking advantage of a German farmer. Across the top is a banner with German text: DIESER PFLUG WÄR NICHT SO SCHWER WENN LEVY COHN UND SCHMUL NICHT WÄR [This plow would not be so heavy were Levy Cohn and Schmul not here]. A farmer stands behind a plow pulled by 2 horses. He is frowning and holds his downturned head with one hand and a whip in the other. Three Jews, in hats and long coats, have smug facial expressions and large noses. They sit on and weight down the plowshare. Each holds a document with German text: Wechſel / Dokument / Hypothek [Bill of exchange / Document / Mortgage]. The base has 3 recessed lines and a rounded bottom and a mold number on the base underside.
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overall: Height: 7.375 inches (18.733 cm) | Width: 3.875 inches (9.843 cm) | Depth: 5.250 inches (13.335 cm)
Black and cream ceramic beer stein embossed with an antisemitic scene of Jewish money lenders harassing a German farmer. Steins with anti-Jewish images were very popular in late 19th century Germany. The constitution of the newly unified Germany, adopted in 1871, emancipated all Jews. The following decades saw a surge in anti-semitism. It was more vicious and openly expressed, and became a popular cause for several political parties. This beer stein is one of more than 900 items in the Katz Ehrenthal Collection of antisemitic visual materials.
Black and cream ceramic beer stein with Jewish usurers tormenting a German farmer