Background: These are photographs from a 1941 Nazi book titled
Robber State England. It was one of a series of so-called “cigarette
books.” One would paste pictures received as premiums with cigarettes
in an album. For another example, see a book on Hitler.
The book had 130 page and lots of picture, only a small number of which
I include here. The copy I am working from brought the number in print
to 180,000. The book traced the history of England, closing with this
sentence:
Our determination to carry out the war England has forced
upon us until final victory is clear from every word and act
of the Führer, from every action of the German army, from
the behavior of the whole German people. That victory will mean
the fall of British plutocracy and the end of England’s exploitation
of the world. It will result in the victory of the socialist
idea and the establishment of a just order in Europe and the
entire world (p. 129).
The source: Raubstaat England (Hamburg: Cigaretten-Bilderdienst
Hamburg-Bahrenfeld, 1941).
Robber State England
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The cover |
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Title: “The Stolen Empire” |
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Title: “Christianity in Practice”
Caption: “England achieved one of its most important
goals in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713: It gained a monopoly
on the North American slave trade. While plutocracy’s coffers
filled, millions of Negroes were kidnapped from their homeland
in the most horrible way.” (p. 42)
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Title: “Execution of rebellious Sepoys”
Caption: “To carry out mass death sentences on rebelious Indian soldiers, English officers found a new form of execution: The condemned were tied to canons and ‘blown into the air.’” A painting by the Russian painter Vasily Vereshchagin.”
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Title: “German Colonial Possessions before the War”
Explanation:The map shows Germany’s pre-1918
colonies. A major element of Nazi propaganda included a demand
for their return.
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Title: “Evidence of British ‘Humanity’”
Caption: “This scene by the English artist Hodgskin
appeared in the 12 February 1916 issue of the ‘Graphic.’ It shows
how the English steamer ‘King David’ left the crew of the airship
L 19 without assistance. The editors added: ‘One may assume that
each of these “baby killers” received the fate he deserved.’
The torpedoing of the ‘Athenia,’ the pirate attack on the ‘Altmark,’
the bombing of open cities and countless other crimes prove that
the English have not changed over the centuries.”
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Title: “The German Cemetery in Waterberg”
Explanation: A cemetery in a former German colony in
Africa, where those who had resisted the British are buried.
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Title: “Built by Germany — Stolen by England”
Caption: “This was the seat of the German government
in Windhoek (German Southwest Africa). What the natives of the
former German colony think is clear from the countless letters
and appeals that say: ‘Thousands and thousands are awaiting the
day when the great Mother Germany will once again return to her
children.’”
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Title: “‘Pax Britannica’ in the Holy Land!”
Caption: “England has responded to the freedom
movement by blowing up entire sections of cities — but still
cannot defeat it.”
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Go to the 1933-1945 Page.
Go to the German Propaganda Home Page.