Issue of the Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung – The Berlin Illustrated Newspaper – dated July 14, 1941, depicting “The Jews Among Themselves” in the Warsaw Ghetto, through photographs and particularly venomous antisemitic descriptions, intended to spread revulsion, disgust, and a sense of danger toward Jews among the German population.
After the Nazis confined the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto and created impossible living conditions for them, they covered Jewish life in the ghetto as though it were the “natural” place for “the disease-spreading people” – a deceitful and vile propaganda tactic devised by Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. At the center of the issue is an extensive multi-page feature on Jewish life in the Warsaw Ghetto under the headline: “Juden unter sich” – “The Jews Among Themselves” – “This is how the people live from whom came the murderers of Bromberg, Lemberg, Dubno, and Bialystok. A report from the Warsaw Ghetto.” The article portrays the Warsaw Ghetto as a filthy and dangerous hub of disease, rife with extreme social injustice among the Jews themselves. In an effort to convey the antisemitic message to the German reader, Nazi propaganda here depicts Jewish society in the ghetto as a sharp contrast to the Nazi “people’s community” of solidarity. Through numerous deliberately selected photographs taken in the ghetto and through virulently antisemitic descriptions, the issue presents the extreme social gaps in the Warsaw Ghetto, as well as alleged Jewish immorality. The propaganda deliberately conceals the fact that the appalling suffering of the ghetto’s Jewish residents was not of their own making, but rather the direct result of the hellish conditions imposed on them by the Germans.
At the opening of the article, the newspaper displays a photograph of a sign hung above one of the ghetto’s iron doors, with a Jewish man’s head peeking out from a window behind it. The sign reads: “Entry and exit strictly forbidden – Typhus, ” and the article states that Jews are the spreaders of typhus: “In the unprecedentedly neglected Jewish quarters of Warsaw, ” where 92% of those suffering from the disease among the general population allegedly came from the Jewish population. Based on this, the creation of the Warsaw Ghetto and the confinement of Jews within its walls are described as a necessary step to halt Jewish spread, and as a measure of hygienic and security protection for the rest of the population: “The economic war measures demanded the removal of the Jews, who had always proven to be saboteurs, black-market dealers, and price manipulators in economic life… This segregation of the Jews marks the end of a centuries-long process… The Jews took over the houses one after another. They seized the factories, the warehouses, the large stores, and the constant migration from the villages intensified their invisible infiltration. Warsaw became the most Jewish city in the world after New York. Every third resident was a Jew…” .
The article goes on to describe the class divisions among the Jews in the ghetto, and under the headline “Contrasts in the Ghetto, ” the writer presents how the “upper” Jewish class ignores the lower class. To illustrate, a photograph of a Jewish youth appears with the caption “Neglected boy”: “Two bottles of vodka in his belt, a pale, cynical smile on his face, he wanders the streets daily, lies in bed, stands around—antisocial like his antisocial surroundings. Faces like this make it clear that Jewry is a constant reservoir of criminality throughout the world, and that the atrocities in Bromberg, Dubno, and Lemberg were committed by Jews…”. Next to it appears a photo of a scene from a Jewish theater in the ghetto, described as: “And the rich enjoy themselves. – The poor are starving, the rich dine. One of countless examples of Jewish solidarity: here in the Warsaw Ghetto, where Jews live among Jews…” . Also presented is a photograph taken by German propaganda photographers, showing a Jew who collapsed from hunger, sprawled on the steps of the Jewish Council building, while “wealthy” Jews exit the building and completely ignore the wretched man. The description reads: “Sentimental in the cabaret… cruel in real life… In life, they pass by their starving compatriots. A Jew who has collapsed lies outside the Jewish Council building. The doorman smiles to himself in satisfaction, a Jewish security officer is seen in the distance, looking bored…”.
The article also presents deliberately framed photographs taken in the Jewish cemetery within the ghetto, aiming to highlight the contrast between the lavish coffins of the wealthy and the simple coffins of the poor, accompanied by the venomous caption: “Loyalty to the dead and piety are not characteristics of the Jews.” Continuing the theme of the supposed moral degradation of Jews toward their own destitute brethren, the issue features a photo of smiling youths drinking in a bar, alongside images of poor children, under the caption:
“The ghetto bar snobs… and the wretched faces of the children begging outside these places of amusement.”
On the following page appears a photograph of Jewish police officers, accompanied by an “informative” explanation of the role of the Jewish police: “To seal off areas of disease and maintain cleanliness in the ghetto.” Also featured is a photo of a Jewish youth “caught” stealing by a local, described as: “Stop the thief! In the market, a merchant resorts to taking justice into his own hands. These young thieves roam the ghetto like an invisible swarm, appearing wherever there’s something to snatch.” In an effort to portray Jews as chronic thieves, the newspaper presents a photo of a basket of vegetables protected with barbed wire around its edges, out of fear it might be stolen by Jews. The article continues by describing to its readers the illicit Jewish trade in the ghetto. A photo appears of a Jewish vendor selling worn clothing, captioned: “Smile and you’ll sell—that’s the business motto of this Jew…”. Next to it is a photo of the Jewish market in the ghetto, described as: “The strangest market in the world. Jews trading with Jews… The venom that reigns here is indescribable…”.
The front page of the issue features a German infantry soldier portrayed as a hero, with the caption: “With burning feet, always in good spirits…”.
The remaining pages include articles attacking the Soviet-British alliance, depictions of German forces as victorious on various fronts, photographs of “Bolshevik” soldiers surrendering to German troops, the “exposure” of Roosevelt’s secrets, and more.
The Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung was founded in 1891 by Leopold Ullstein and was, in its early years, Germany’s first mass-market newspaper. During its initial period, the paper maintained authentic and objective reporting. However, with the Nazi party’s takeover of all media outlets in Germany, all previous publishers were dismissed, and the newspaper was transformed into a Nazi propaganda tool until the end of the war. It was published twice a month, featuring regular reports on the new Germany, German conquests, antisemitic articles designed to provide moral and “scientific” justifications for the persecution of Jews, and false propaganda that consistently reported pro-Nazi “news, ” accompanied by striking visual imagery and political messaging aimed at influencing public opinion and promoting Nazi ideology.
An identical issue from this date is on display at the “Photography in the Holocaust” exhibition at Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem. See also: Flashes of Memory – Photography during the Holocaust, Jerusalem 2018, Yad Vashem Publications, p. 104.
22 pp. 38 cm. Complete issue. Light fold mark at center. Good condition.
