Antisemitic issue of the newspaper Kladderadatsch from April 2, 1933 – following Adolf Hitler’s consolidation as Chancellor of Germany. On the front page, a large color illustration depicts a Nazi maid with a swastika on her headscarf sweeping away small rats portrayed as Jews with long noses, alongside the caption: “The beginning of spring – the great cleanup.”
Editorial titled “Potsdam – The Beginning of Spring 1933,” discussing the “City of German Loyalty to the Führer” and words of praise “from the stronghold of the honor of the German nation and land to the Führer.” It continues with ridicule of the Treaty of Versailles, and features a large cartoon showing an SS man mocking a French tailor, saying: “You’ll have to get used to the fact that from now on I have my clothes tailored only by a German tailor.” A two-page comic strip illustrates the transformation Germany underwent between January 1 and March 31, 1933 – depicting how the Jewish Lichtenstein brothers lose their status, and declaring that “Kladderadatsch will report on anyone opposing the national movement, ” and more. On the back of the issue appears another color illustration showing three Jews with long noses and stereotypical faces walking in the opposite direction from the sign reading “To Germany, ” with the caption: “And so we continue, with the stench, to another restaurant.”
The Nazi regime systematically employed dehumanizing imagery to portray Jews as filthy animals that had to be “cleansed” from the public sphere. The depiction of Jews as rats or parasites reflected a process of symbolic extermination, presenting Jews not as political enemies to be dealt with, but as subhuman disease carriers and a biological threat that must be eradicated. The cartoon on the cover of this issue, showing a Nazi maid “sweeping away” Jewish rats, illustrates how Nazi propaganda promoted an ideology of ethnic cleansing under the guise of public hygiene. This imagery served the perception that Jewishness was filth on the level of vermin, and therefore its removal was justified, necessary, and even moral, thus influencing the wider public to support the exclusion and persecution of Jews.
Kladderadatsch was a German-language satirical magazine founded by Albert Hofmann and David Kalisch, first published in Berlin on May 7, 1848, and appearing “daily, except on weekdays.” It was published continuously until 1944, and was considered one of the highest-quality magazines in terms of color graphics produced in the 19th and early 20th centuries. During the Weimar period, the magazine held a German-nationalist stance. After its takeover by industrialist Hugo Stinnes in 1923, the magazine came under the control of the Nazi Party, and its content became increasingly antisemitic.
In the years of the Third Reich, especially after 1933, the newspaper became an overt antisemitic propaganda tool, spreading racist imagery and expressions of dehumanization toward Jews. The cartoons of this period portrayed Jews with exaggerated physical features, as part of a broad system of public brainwashing aimed at justifying their exclusion, humiliation, and ultimately, extermination. Under the guise of political entertainment, the magazine served as a powerful instrument for embedding Nazi ideology among the public.
15 pages. Complete issue. Very good condition.
