We Farmers Clear Away the Rubbish Pro-Nazi election poster with a farmer using a pitchfork against the bourgeoisie
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 47.010 inches (119.405 cm) | Width: 33.700 inches (85.598 cm)
Creator(s)
- Heinz Franke (Publisher)
- Plakat Kunstdruck Eckert (Printer)
- Felix Albrecht (Artist)
Biographical History
Felix Albrecht was born on July 6, 1900, in Darmstadt, Germany. He served in World War I as an operating engineer from 1917 through 1918, and was discharged with the rank of sergeant. Beginning in 1925, he studied at the Staatliche Hochschule für bildende Künste in Berlin. After finishing his art studies in 1927, Albrecht found work as a freelance artist, illustrator, book decorator and writer. On May 27, he became a member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP or Nazi Party), member number 62,499. He worked as a poster designer for the Nazi Party and in 1930 joined the Schutzstaffel (SS). By the end of 1931, Albrecht was working for the Reich Propaganda Directorate, designing graphic posters, postcards, and illustrations for books. Throughout the 1930s, Albrecht worked in various internal Nazi Party agencies as a graphic artist and reached the rank of Hauptsturmführer (head assault leader) in the SS. In 1941, he was part of the Officers Corps of the SS-Kraftfahrschule (driving school) in Vienna. After World War II, Albrecht was captured and held by the Soviets until 1949. After his release he returned to Berlin. Felix Albrecht, aged 80, died on July 27 1980.
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
Political campaign poster for the Reichstag elections of July 31, 1932, showing a muscular Aryan farmer with a swastika belt buckle, using a pitchfork to remove dwarfish caricatures of Nazi Party enemies. These parties are represented by former Chancellor of Germany Herman Müller, a caricature of a stereotypical Jewish businessman with a newspaper (the press) in his pocket, a businessman, and a communist. The Nazis blamed these groups for Germany’s loss in World War I, the failure of the Weimar Republic, and the economic depression that Germany was going through. The poster depicts the Nazis’ target demographic, a young, working class, Aryan man, disposing of the Nazis’ enemies, in essence, empowering the people to take Germany from the rich and powerful and return it to the hands of the farmers and working men.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Offset lithographic poster printed on faded white paper with a linen backing depicting a muscular blond man using a pitchfork to shovel men away. He wears brown pants with a swastika belt buckle and a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves. Both hands hold the pitchfork as he scoops up small, dwarfish figures, three of whom are wearing business suits and ties, the fourth has a protruding face with squinty eyes and a red cap with a red star adorned with a hammer and sickle. The background is red with a white border with three lines of white text at the top and 5 lines of large white text at the bottom. The bottom center is torn and there are holes and tears in the edges.
back, bottom right, pencil : 17/D back bottom left, pencil : PII 197
People
- Albrecht, Felix.
Subjects
- Germany--Politics and government--1933-1945--Posters.
- Germany--Politics and government--20th century--Posters.
- Germany--History--1933-1945.
- Political campaigns--Germany--History--20th century.
Genre
- Posters
- Object