Miniature "button book" issued for charitable contributions by the Winter-hilfswerk des Deutschen Volkes
Creator(s)
- Heinrich Hoffmann (Author)
- Presse-Hoffmann (Publisher)
- Winterhilfswerk Des Deutschen Volkes (Issuer)
Biographical History
Heinrich Hoffmann (1885-1957) was a German photographer and Nazi propagandist. The son and nephew of photographers, he worked in the Hoppé studio in London before setting up in Munich as a portraitist and photojournalist. His photograph of cheering crowds on 2 August 1914 unwittingly captured the young Adolf Hitler, an event which would later benefit Hoffmann's career. Drifting to the far right after the First World War and revolutionary events in Bavaria, he joined the Nazi Party in 1920 and convinced an initially camera-shy Hitler of photography's political value. Hoffman’s assistant, Eva Braun, became Hitler’s mistress in 1930. After 1933, his virtual monopoly of Hitler photographs, as ‘the man who sees the Führer for us’, made him one of the Third Reich's major profiteers. His scenes of carefully constructed intimacy, presenting his master, especially in the regime's early years, as a clean-living, nature-loving man of the people, were massively disseminated. After 1945, though claiming to have been a mere chronicler of events, he was fined and imprisoned. His extensive photo archive survives, including photographs of German political and religious figures, as well as actors, painters, and musicians.
Archival History
The pamphlet was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2008 by Pablo Daniel Cano.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Pablo D. Cano
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
Miniature Nazi propaganda booklet featuring scenes of Hitler visiting the military, including wounded troops, and other public appearances between 1932 and 1937. A series of these books were distributed as premiums to contributors to the Winterhilfswerk, a fundraising drive conducted through the Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt (National Socialist People's Welfare Organization), to provide winter relief. Strings were attached so that the books, known as button books, could be worn to show that an individual had contributed to the war effort. Hitler's signature is printed at the end.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Miniature propaganda album ; 32 pages, [4] unnumbered pages : chiefly illustrations ; 5 cm. "Winter-hilfswerk des Deutschen Volkes" -- From back cover. Red and white cover with a b&w photograph of Hitler on the cover. Hitler's signature is printed at the end of the text.
People
- Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945--Pictorial works.
- Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945.
Corporate Bodies
- Nazi Party
Subjects
- Germany
- Charity -- Associations, institutions, etc.
- Germany--Social life and customs--1933-1945.
- National socialism.
- Charities--Germany--20th century.
- Nazi propaganda.
- Germany. Reich Chancellor--1933-1945.
Genre
- Miniature books--Specimens.
- Object
- Books and Published Materials