Anti-Bolshevism Poster

Poster: A cartoon of three people. A man, his hands bound in front of him, lies on his side, his neck bleeding. A young girl lies on the floor reaching out, also bleeding. Kneeling above her is a woman with a look of horror on her face. There is a broken cross on the floor. The text reads “Bolsjewisme is Moord!” – Bolshevism is murder.

Anti-communist propaganda poster from the Netherlands.

This propaganda poster, with the inscription "Bolsjewisme is Moord!" (Bolshevism is Murder!), was issued by the Department Ministry of Popular Education and Arts (Departement van Volksvoorlichting en Kunsten, DVK). The DVK in occupied Netherlands was equivalent to Nazi Germany's Ministry of Propaganda.

Bolshevism refers to the communist form of government adopted in the Soviet Union following the 1917 revolution. The Nazi party viewed bolshevism, Marxism, socialism, and communism as major threats to Nazi Germany. The Nazis linked these political ideologies to the "inferior" Slavic populations of Eastern Europe and to a perceived international "Jewish conspiracy." These beliefs were infamously laid out in "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," a fake document published in Russia in 1903 to incite hatred against Jews.

In June 1941, Germany launched Operation Barbarossa and invaded the Soviet Union. By the time this poster was created in 1943, the Nazis were suffering tremendous losses on the Eastern Front.

Donated to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre by Peter N. Moogk. 2016.003.031

Anti-Bolshevism Poster

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