Two issues of the antisemitic newspaper Der Stürmer – February 1939

Der Stürmer – Two issues of the antisemitic weekly Der Stürmer, founded by Julius Streicher – considered the most vicious and extreme antisemitic propaganda newspaper of all time. Filled with articles and virulently antisemitic and cruel imagery and photographs. Nazi Germany, reissued editions from January and March 1939.

• Issue No. 3 – January 1939. Headline: Das finstere Mittelalter – Warum der Jude diesen Ausdruck erfunden hat / Judenhochburg - “The Dark Middle Ages – Why the Jew Invented This Term / Jewish Stronghold” - A central antisemitic article claiming that Jews lived well during the Middle Ages in the countries where they resided, but because they exploited their host nations, they were persecuted by the ruling powers. Therefore, the article argues, they coined the phrase “the dark ages” to portray themselves as victims - when in fact, they were responsible for the “darkness.” The inner pages are filled with antisemitic cartoons and articles, including: A photo of traditionally dressed Jews in Jerusalem, with a caption accusing them of spreading disease: “Jews, like many living in Eastern European countries such as Poland, Hungary, Romania, etc.… it’s no wonder these scoundrels are carriers of contagious diseases like typhus, smallpox, syphilis, etc.” Another page shows portraits of “arrogant-looking Jews” under the caption “Jews in Nikolsburg”. A full page of antisemitic caricatures portraying the Jew as a parasite living off others. [10] pages. Fold line with minor tears along the front cover. Good condition.

• Issue No. 10 – March 1939 of Der Stürmer. Headline: Das Talmudweib – Die Jüdin Rosenberg in Wien treibt eine werdende Mutter in den Tod / Grauenhaftes Martyrium einer deutschen Familie - “The Talmudic Woman – The Jewess Rosenberg in Vienna Drives a Pregnant Woman to the Brink of Death / Horrific Martyrdom of a German Family”. This issue opens with a blood libel-style story, accusing a Jewish woman of exploiting an innocent non-Jewish man, and includes a caricature of two Jews hunched over the American flag, accompanied by the antisemitic caption: “In his endless rage, the Jew continues to make the gravest mistakes. The most serious mistake he makes in our time is openly displaying his hatred toward everything non-Jewish.” The issue also features: An antisemitic article about Jews in Milan, and a section titled “Jewish Sadism at the Vienna Fish Market”, consisting of photographs of Jews in the market, described in the text as “watching the slaughter of fish with demonic glee”,  A full page of antisemitic caricatures, portraying Jewish control and so-called Nazi “solutions” to the Jewish “problem”. [10] pages. Fold mark with slight tears along the front page and the page following. Good condition.

Der Stürmer (German: Der Stürmer, “The Attacker”) – an extreme antisemitic weekly that stood at the forefront of Nazi propaganda in the war against the Jews. The newspaper was founded in the spring of 1923 by Julius Streicher and was published until the end of World War II in 1945. Streicher was known as an especially fanatical and cruel antisemite, something that was clearly reflected in the content of his newspaper. Throughout its years of publication, the paper engaged in unrestrained antisemitic incitement, and it is considered the most extreme newspaper ever published against the Jews during the Nazi regime—and beyond. The newspaper’s style was crude, aggressive, and easy to understand. The articles were composed of simple, blunt propaganda statements that repeated themselves; antisemitic caricatures; antisemitic stories (some of which were aimed at younger readers – each issue included a serialized antisemitic story about “the Jewish merchant”); and photographs of Jews in ghettos accompanied by antisemitic slogans. As part of the aggressive antisemitic line adopted by the newspaper, it adopted as its motto the statement coined by Heinrich von Treitschke – “The Jews are our misfortune!” (in German: “Die Juden sind unser Unglück”). This slogan appeared at the bottom of the newspaper’s front page in every edition starting in 1927, and was also used by the Nazis at official gatherings. The newspaper’s peak circulation reached approximately 800,000 copies.

Complete issues. Good condition.