Der Giftpilz is a children's book published by
Julius StreicherJulius Streicher was a prominent Nazi prior to World War II. He was the founder and publisher of Der Stürmer newspaper, which became a central element of the Nazi propaganda machine...
in 1938. The title is
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
for "the toadstool" or "the poison-mushroom". The book was intended as anti-Semitic
propagandaPropaganda is communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience...
. The text is by Ernst Hiemer, with illustrations by the illustrator
Philipp RupprechtPhilipp Rupprecht was a German cartoonist best known for his antisemitic caricatures in the Nazi publication Der Stürmer, under the pen-name Fips.-Career:...
(a.k.a.
Fips).
The book was intended to "educate" children about the Jews. In a series of stories, it tells how to distinguish Jews from non-jews.
Der Giftpilz is a children's book published by
Julius StreicherJulius Streicher was a prominent Nazi prior to World War II. He was the founder and publisher of Der Stürmer newspaper, which became a central element of the Nazi propaganda machine...
in 1938. The title is
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
for "the toadstool" or "the poison-mushroom". The book was intended as anti-Semitic
propagandaPropaganda is communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience...
. The text is by Ernst Hiemer, with illustrations by the illustrator
Philipp RupprechtPhilipp Rupprecht was a German cartoonist best known for his antisemitic caricatures in the Nazi publication Der Stürmer, under the pen-name Fips.-Career:...
(a.k.a.
Fips).
The book was intended to "educate" children about the Jews. In a series of stories, it tells how to distinguish Jews from non-jews. It also warns children not to trust their Jewish classmates, or even Jews who converted to Christianity. In some instances, it is implied that Jews will try to molest children. In addition, the book warns of Jews in various occupations – Jewish businessmen, lawyers, tradesmen, and kosher butchers, who in one chapter are described torturing an animal to death. The same chapter also accuses the Jews of kidnapping Christian children to use their blood in Matzohs. One of the final chapters blames the Jews for the death of Jesus, who is called the greatest enemy of the Jews of all time.
There is an entire chapter containing numerous false quotations from the Talmud. The book claims that the Talmud forbids Jews to do manual labour, and that Jews are only permitted to engage in trade, and that non-Jews are meant to be slaves. The chapter further states that Talmudic law allows Jews to cheat non-Jews, and asks Jews to enslave the non-Jewish population. None of the quotations appear in the actual Talmud.
A copy of the book is on display at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.
An
English-languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
translation of the book was produced by a US Nazi leader
Gary LauckGary Rex Lauck is the leader of the current incarnation of the NSDAP/AO in the United States and probably the largest producer of neo-Nazi literature in the world...
and thereafter marketed on his website for $10. Lauck also recently produced an
Estonian languageEstonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
translation in 2007 and claims to be working on translations into many other languages. The
Estonian security policeThe Kaitsepolitsei is a central national security institution of Republic of Estonia. Its purposes are centered around enforcing constitutional order...
has investigated the case under the section of Estonian penal code criminalising incitement to social hatred, but concluded that it is unlikely to have the jurisdiction or means to prosecute the author, as under
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
law websites are covered by the
First Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the Congress from making laws "respecting an establishment of religion", prohibiting the free exercise of religion, infringing on the freedom of speech and infringing on the freedom of the...
.
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