German Men SS recruitment poster with photos depicting SS soldiers’ activities
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 23.750 inches (60.325 cm) | Width: 17.625 inches (44.768 cm)
Creator(s)
- Waffen-SS (Distributor)
Archival History
The poster was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection
Scope and Content
Recruitment poster for the Waffen SS featuring photographs of soldiers participating in their wartime duties. The Waffen SS was the armed military division of the Schutzstaffel (SS), the Nazi paramilitary organization that was responsible for security, intelligence gathering and analysis, and enforcing Nazi racial policies. They controlled the concentration camp system and planned and coordinated the Final Solution. The SS was originally formed in 1925 to protect Hitler along with other Nazi leaders and provide security at political meetings. In 1929, Heinrich Himmler was appointed Reichsführer-SS (Reich Leader of the SS) and turned the organization into an elite corps based on visions of racial purity with absolute loyalty to Hitler. The Waffen SS was established in 1939 to strengthen the position of the SS relative to the army and German elites, eventually fielding more than twenty divisions and half a million men at its peak. Members of the Waffen SS were selected based on “racial” ancestry. Selected individuals were expected to have an Aryan Nordic lineage and volunteers were accepted from Germany, and later Austria, Norway, Denmark and Holland.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Black and white printed poster on faded white paper adhered to a white paper backing with three columns of pictures of SS soldiers. In the center is a black and white photograph of a kneeling soldier in the snow pointing a gun towards the viewer. He wears a dark military uniform, with skis and ski poles. Above is the Reichsadler, and the title superimposed on the SS insignia in white. Below is a block of black text superimposed over the SS insignia in white. The center is flanked by columns containing photographs, 4 on the left and 3 on the right, depicting the various activities of SS soldiers. The individual images and text blocks are bordered in black and a thicker black border surrounds the entire image.
back, bottom left, handwritten, pencil : pII 488 back, bottom right, handwritten, pencil : 16/J
Corporate Bodies
- Waffen-SS
- Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei. Schutzstaffel
Subjects
- Soldiers--Germany.
- Nazi propaganda--Germany.
Genre
- Object
- Posters
- Propaganda posters.