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John Heartfield

(Berlin, Germany, 1891 - 1968, East Berlin, Germany)

"Die Nation Steht geschlossen hinter mir"

1933

Photogravure

14 3/4 x 10 3/8 in. (37.6 x 26.4 cm)

Collection of the Akron Art Museum

Gift of Roger R. Smith

1991.21

© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

More Information

This photomontage precedes an article on Nazi arrests throughout Germany. Immediately after Hitler became chancellor, camps were created to imprison political opponents and soon used to detain other minorities including Jews, homosexuals, Roma (Gypsies) and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Heartfield makes “Concentration camp Germany” in the shape of the country’s outline and adapts Kaiser Wilhelm’s remark at the outbreak of World War I, “I no longer know parties. I know only Germans.” To Hitler’s right is Paul Löbe (1875-1967), a former Reichstag president from the Social Democratic Party who was temporarily interned in 1933. To Hitler’s left is ex-Chancellor Heinrich Brünng (1885-1970) of the Catholic Center Party (abbreviated as Zentrum) who left Germany the following year.

Keywords
World War II
Commercial Art
Germany
Propaganda
Photogravure
Photomontage
Politics