der jude

Nazi propaganda typically portrayed Jews as conspiring to provoke war. The caption reads, "Behind the enemy powers: the Jew." The poster is centered on a man standing behind flags, glaring out from between. The man obviously represents a Jew because he has a large nose, and is wearing a chain with The Star of David. His expression is shows hatred and seems to be avoiding eye contact. This in a way is dehumanizing, showing that Jews were not as innocent as they appear, or maybe not even human. He is wearing an expensive suit with a matching hat, showing obvious wealth, and he seems to be overweight. The flags in front of the man are of groups who the Nazi’s were agaisnt. These characteristics together form the stereotyped Jew which Nazi propaganda paints as greedy animals who were conspiring with enemies. The headline is in white apart from the words “the Jews,” which are in a bolded, underlined, vibrant shade of yellow, standing out from the rest of the caption. Your eyes are drawn to this phrase, as if pointing all the blame to the Jews. All together, this propaganda informs that Jews were the cause for the economic issues in Germany.

   In contrast, the chapter 4 cover of Maus shows the Jews and Vladek in front of the American flag, and they seem weary. He tries to reveal the truth by altering the setup of the propaganda. By placing the Jews in front of the flags instead of behind them, it looks as if the Americans were watching over the Jew rather than the hiding them. The overall representation of Jews by through mice is Spiegelman taking propaganda and changing it. The idea of this symbolism came to him when he found The Eternal Jew, a 1940 German “documentary” that portrayed Jews as rats. Spiegelman undermines this propaganda by mocking it. In Maus, he gives the characters human abilities like talking and showing emotion.