Jews Stalking Behind: Anti-Semitism In France’s Propaganda Posters In 1940-1944

Abstract

June 22, 1940 France signed a truce with Hitler’s Germany, which created the pro-Nazi Vichy France that used propaganda posters extensively to demonize communists and Jews to earn Frenchmen’s loyalty to the regime. The ideas were nurtured by Institut d'étude des questions juives (Institute for the Study of the Jewish Problem), the body funded by the German Embassy in Paris. Visual antisemitic propaganda centered around the idea that a “Jewish conspiracy” was the root of all trouble in France, and that Jews were also behind the Bolsheviks and de Gaulle. Propaganda also exploited the French dissatisfaction with the falling living standards: inflation, black market, and unemployment, in an attempt to convince people Jews were to blame. Posters centered around stereotypical, repulsive, dehumanized image of Jews—the image of a murderer and an enemy in disguise that was lurking around and trying to undermine France’s prosperity. Visual propaganda materials heavily relied on the personalized enemy image as exemplified by Le Juif et la France (Jews and France) exhibition that highlighted the dominance of Jews in the country’s legal, economic, and cultural affairs. The exhibition also sought to teach French citizens to recognize Jews by their stereotypical physical traits. These materials were intended to seed intolerance to Jews in the French, make the people loyal to the pro-German regime and its Endlösung der Judenfrage (Final Solution to the Jewish Question). Mémorial de la Shoah (the Shoah Memorial) in Paris conducted a substantial research to preserve, systematize and provide access to these materials.