150 years ago, I warn you gentlemen ... Has the great Franklin warned America in vain? Word of the Week Antisemitic poster featuring supposed warnings about Jews from Benjamin Franklin

Identifier
irn3760
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1990.333.48
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • German
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 33.500 inches (85.09 cm) | Width: 47.500 inches (120.65 cm)

Creator(s)

Archival History

The poster was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990.

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection

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

German propaganda poster issued in 1939 from the Parole der Woche (Word of the Week) series. This poster shows excerpts from the Franklin Prophecy, an antisemitic speech falsely attributed to Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States. Franklin is one of the most respected historical figures in the US, who helped write the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. The first publication of the speech was on February 3, 1934, in “Liberation,” a paper published by William Dudley Pelley, a Nazi sympathizer and founder of The Silver Shirts. The group was aligned with the German-American Bund. According to the speech, Franklin believed that Jews were morally and commercially corrupt, and if allowed, would stream into the country and do nothing but leach off society. The speech was quickly debunked as a fraud by the Franklin Institute, the International Benjamin Franklin Society, and distinguished American historian, Charles Beard. However, the speech paralleled Nazi beliefs and was widely distributed over the radio, in writing, and was cited in speeches by Nazi leaders. The first Word of the Week Series of posters (also referred to as Wandzeitung, or wall newspapers), were distributed on March 16, 1936. Each week, new posters were placed in public places and businesses to be viewed by as many people as possible. Posters were the primary medium for the series, but smaller pamphlets which could be plastered on the back of correspondence, were also produced. The posters targeted the Nazis’ early political adversaries, Jews, Communists, and Germany’s enemies during the war. The series was discontinued in 1943.

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access

Conditions Governing Reproduction

No restrictions on use

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Poster printed on off-white paper, and adhered to a white, linen backing. The poster has a black background and a wide, red border. A large black-and-white portrait of Benjamin Franklin is in the top right corner, overlaid on the border. Below the portrait is a paragraph of small, white text in fraktur font. To the left are two columns: one with small, white text interspersed with large red text, and another one with a title in large, bold, red title text split between the top and bottom of the poster. The left column is in fraktur font, while the right imitates handwritten letters. In the bottom right corner is a small logo consisting of a line of text arranged in a circle around three larger letters. There are clear lines where the poster was previously folded, and pinholes in the corners. The edges are discolored with small losses along the bottom and right.

People

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.