Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Poster created by Ben Shahn for the US Office of War Information as a response to the Nazi-led annihilation and destruction of communities throughout the Czech Republic, including Lidice. It also protests the retaliatory measures taken for the attempted assassination by Czech resistance members of Reinhard Heydrich, director of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, under the Nazi occupation.
- Artwork Title
- This is Nazi Brutality
- Series Title
- Office of War Information poster, no. 11
- Date
-
commemoration:
1942 June 11
creation: 1942
- Geography
-
manufacture:
United States
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection. The acquisition of this collection was made possible by the Crown Family.
- Markings
- front, across center of image : This is Nazi Brutality... / RADIO BERLIN.-- / IT IS OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED:- / ALL MEN OF LIDICE - CZECHOSLOVAKIA - HAVE BEEN SHOT: / THE WOMEN DEPORTED TO A CONCENTRATION CAMP: / THE CHILDREN SENT TO APPROPRIATE CENTERS--/ THE NAME OF THE VILLAGE WAS IMMEDIATELY ABOLISHED. / 6/11/42115P.
- Contributor
-
Artist:
Ben Shahn
Producer: United States Office of War Information
- Biography
-
Ben Shahn was born in Kovno,(Kaunus) Lithuania, on September 12, 1898. Shahn immigrated to Brooklyn, New York, in 1906. He first worked as a lithographer's apprentice until 1930 and was formally educated at NYU and the National Academy of Design in New York City. He was associated with the Social Realist movement and his work often joined striking visual images with compassionate and powerful political commentary. During World War II (1939-1945) he designed posters the Office of War Information. Shahn, age 71, died on March 14, 1969.
The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was created on June 13, 1942, to centralize and control the content and production of government information and propaganda about the war. It coordinated the release of war news for domestic use, and using posters along with radio broadcasts, worked to promote patriotism, warn about foreign spies, and recruit women into war work. The office also established an overseas branch, which launched a large-scale information and propaganda campaign abroad. The government appealed to the public through popular culture and more than a quarter of a billion dollars' worth of advertising was donated during the first three years of the National Defense Savings Program. Victory in Europe was declared on May 8, 1945, and in Japan on September 2, 1945. The OWI ceased operation in September.
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Classification
-
Posters
- Category
-
Anti-Nazi propaganda
- Object Type
-
Posters, American (lcsh)
- Physical Description
- Rectangular paper poster with an image of a man in a blue suit with a hood tied over his head. His clenched fists are chained to a red brick wall. Across his body is English text designed to look like the pasted strips from a telegram.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 38.000 inches (96.52 cm) | Width: 28.500 inches (72.39 cm)
- Materials
- overall : paper, ink
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The poster was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2015.
- Funding Note
- The acquisition of this artifact was made possible by the Crown Family.
The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
- Record last modified:
- 2024-10-02 14:44:14
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn545816
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Also in United States homefront poster collection
The collection consists of thirteen posters relating to the war effort in the United States before and during World War II.
Date: 1940-1944
Security of War Information Campaign poster about safeguarding convoy movement information
Object
Security of War Information Campaign poster warning people to guard what they say in public because it could lead to the death of military personnel. The poster was designed by Stevan Dohanos, an illustrator and painter known for his “American Realist” style and depictions of everyday life. The poster was part of the Security of War Information Campaign, also known as the “hush-hush campaign.” This cooperative project was undertaken by the Office of War Information (OWI) with the oversight of a Security Committee, which included representatives from the OWI, the Army, Navy, FBI, and other agencies. The campaign focused on educating the public about the need for discretion in their communication to prevent information from being leaked to the enemy. The need to manage information about the war on the home front led to the establishment of the OWI in June 1942. This office controlled the design and distribution of war information to the American public in print, radio, and film media, and commissioned work from leading artists. The American campaign drew on themes from the British “careless talk series” of 1940. It highlighted the many ways that careless talk could leak sensitive information that enemies would use to kill soldiers, sink ships, and undermine the war effort.
