Jew Abraham writes from America Word of the Week Antisemitic poster denouncing claims of Jewish persecution by Germany

The poster was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990. 

Jew Abraham writes from America Word of the Week Antisemitic poster denouncing claims of Jewish persecution by Germany 

overall: Height: 33.125 inches (84.138 cm) | Width: 49.500 inches (125.73 cm) 

German propaganda poster likely issued the week of December 8, 1938, from the Parole der Woche (Word of the Week) series. The poster depicts letters allegedly written by a German-Jewish émigré in America, Abraham Reis, to his father, Simon Reis in Germany. The poster asserts that the letters reveal that Jews are lying about German persecution. The poster also claims that American Jews proposed plots to kill Adolf Hitler. The Nazis used propaganda to buttress public support for the war effort, shape public opinion, and reinforce antisemitic ideas. As part of their propaganda campaign, the Nazis created the Word of the Week Series of posters (also referred to as Wandzeitung, or wall newspapers), the first of which was distributed on March 16, 1936. Each week, approximately 125,000 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, which could be plastered on the back of correspondence. The posters used colorful, often derogatory caricatures, and photorealistic images with vibrant language to target the Nazis’ early political adversaries, Jews, Communists, and Germany’s enemies during the war. The series was discontinued in 1943. 

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Poster printed on off-white paper, and adhered to a white, linen backing. The poster has a black background and depicts images of three, side-by-side letters that slightly overlap. The largest is in the center with typed German text in black and red. It is flanked by two smaller letters with black, handwritten text. There is underlined red, title text above and below the letters. The lower text is followed by three lines of white text printed in a stylized font resembling handwriting. To the right is a column of gray German text in Fraktur style font. In the bottom left corner is a logo with a central Parteiadler, a stylized eagle with spread wings and its head turned to the right, surrounded by a small, elongated circle of text. There are creases where the paper was previously folded, and pin holes along the sides.