The poster was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990.
Wide, rectangular poster printed on faded, off-white paper and adhered to a white, linen backing. The poster is divided into three sections, each promoting the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The left section has an underlined, centered title in large, black, fraktur-style font. Below are several lines of small, black text, divided into sections by larger brown text headers. At the bottom are two lines of large, underlined black text. The section has a three sided, brown border with an open top. In the lower left margin are several lines of small, black text. The center section has a line of publication information at the top in brown and black ink. Below are two lines of text: the top is large and black, and the bottom one smaller and brown. Both lines are in block print. In the center is a large, black-and-white profile image of a runner carrying the Olympic flag with the image of a group of runners superimposed over its lower portion. To the right is a column of small, black fraktur-style text in between upper and lower brown borders. The right section has two paragraphs of fraktur-style text in the center, surrounded by a brown border. The top center of the border is overlaid with the five Olympic rings colored in different shades of gray. There are visible folds where the poster was previously folded, and there are substantial surface losses in the lower right corner. The paper is worn and discolored from use, with some losses along the left edge.
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overall: Height: 22.250 inches (56.515 cm) | Width: 53.875 inches (136.843 cm)
German propaganda poster issued from July 30 to August 5, 1936, from the Parole der Woche (Word of the Week) series, promoting the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin. Germany was chosen to host the 1936 Olympics in 1931, two years before Adolf Hitler came to power. Nazi authorities used the games to promote an image of a new, strong, and united Germany to foreign spectators and journalists while masking the regime’s targeting of Jews and Roma (Gypsies), as well as Germany’s growing militarism. Germany fielded the largest team, with 348 athletes, and won the most medals. The games were used to promote the myth of “Aryan” racial superiority and physical prowess, and draw a link to symbolize that"Arya" culture was the rightful heir of classical antiquity. As part of their propaganda campaign, the Nazis used an installment of their Word of the Week Series of posters (also referred to as Wandzeitung, or wall newspapers), to promote the games. The Word of the Week was used to buttress public support for the war effort, shape public opinion, and reinforce antisemitic ideas. The posters were strategically placed in public places and businesses such as: market squares, metro stations, bus stops, payroll offices, hospital waiting rooms, factory cafeterias, schools, hotels, restaurants, post offices, train stations, and street kiosks so that they would be viewed by as many people as possible. Posters were the primary medium for the series, but smaller pamphlets were also produced. The posters used colorful, often derogatory caricatures, and photorealistic images with vibrant language. The series was discontinued in 1943.
Word of the Week German Word of the Week propaganda poster supporting the Nazi-organized Berlin Summer Olympics