Original Item: Only One Available. Many of the fear-inspiring posters during WWII depicted NSDAP acts of atrocity. Although brutality is always part of war, the atrocities of World War II were so terrible, and of such magnitude, as to engender a new category of crime—crimes against humanity. The image here was composed to foster fear. Implicit in these posters is the idea that what happened there could happen here.
This John Philip Falter poster features an image of Americans against a rust-colored brick wall: a priest and a family with two children are caught in a bright light. The dark-haired woman’s arms are around a little girl. She is wearing a white blouse and rust-colored skirt with a terrified expression on her face. The little girl wears a short rust-colored dress with puffed sleeves and a white collar, white ankle socks and black shoes with straps. Her dark hair is in pigtails with a white bow. There is an expression of anger on her face. The little boy, wearing a rust and white striped sweater vest over a white long-sleeved shirt stands slightly behind the woman and girl with an expression of surprise. The dark-haired father wears a rust-colored suit with a white shirt and black tie. He is leaning protectively toward the woman and children, with a grim expression. The priest on the left is leaning forward in a deep black shadow that falls over the group, his white collar visible in the gloom. The shadow is of a man in a military cap with a whip in his hand threatening with a raised hand. Large black letters on a white background at the top of the poster read “This world cannot exist half slave and half free”. At the bottom, on the white background in large black block letters are the words “Work for freedom!”
This poster appears to be from a series of similar ones, but with different phrases at the bottom. The bottom border reads:
For additional copies write to Graphics Division, Office of Facts and Figures, Washington, D.C….Specify GPO Jacket No. 453120
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1942–O
The poster is in excellent condition and has minor wear on the corners and still has the original creases present from when the poster was ordered and mailed out. It measures 14” x 20”.
A wonderful example of WW2 propaganda. Comes ready to display.
“Under their system, the individual is a cog in a military machine, a cipher in an economic despotism; the individual is a slave. These facts are documented in the degradation and suffering of the conquered countries, whose fate is shared equally by the willing satellites and the misguided appeasers of the Axis.”
- Government Information Manual for the Motion Picture Industry Office of War Information
