The poster was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990.
Offset lithographic poster printed on off-white paper, adhered to a white linen backing. The top of the poster has a black background with two lines of large, white, German text. On the left, below the black section, is a black-and-white photographic image of a group of smiling and laughing men. An unflattering image of Franklin Roosevelt’s face, with thinning hair and a missing tooth, is set into the upper left corner of the larger image. To the right and below is a block of black, German text against an orange background. The text is punctuated with selected words and phrases in oversized font, white coloring, or black underlining. In the lower right corner is a small logo consisting of a line of text arranged in a circle around three larger letters. There is discoloration throughout, and some orange ink transfer in the right margin.
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overall: Height: 33.500 inches (85.09 cm) | Width: 47.000 inches (119.38 cm)
German propaganda poster issued during the week of October 28 to November 3, 1942, from the Parole der Woche (Word of the Week) series. The poster includes a photo depicting a farcical image of United States President Franklin Roosevelt’s face, among several Jewish men, implying that he is under their influence. The text is a quote taken from Adolf Hitler’s address at the Opening of the 1942 Nazi Winter Relief Campaign in the Berlin Sportpalast on September 30, 1942. The Winter Relief Campaign was an annual drive held by the Nazi Party to raise donations for charitable work. In the quote, Hitler claims that war was forced upon Germany in September 1939 (ignoring the fact that the German invasion of Poland started World War II). He also prophesied that a wave of antisemitism would sweep through every nation that enters the war, and that if Jews instigate a world war against the Aryan people, the Jews would be exterminated. 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), which began distribution on March 16, 1936. Each week, new posters were placed in public places and businesses to 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 correspondences. The posters targeted the Nazis’ early political adversaries, Jews, Communists, and Germany’s enemies during the war. The series was discontinued in 1943.
They'll lose their laughter Word of the Week Anti-American poster with a quote from Adolf Hitler prophesizing the extermination of the Jews