Accession Number:2022.02.12.3.4
Stamp:
Italian Post Centenario Francescano 1926
The following stamps are all from the 1934 Austrian traditional costumes series designed by Georg Jung (1899-1957), and printed by typography:
Girl carrying bible in Wachau, 8 groschen.
Man, horses, geese and a windmill in Burgenland, 1 groschen.
Woman carrying basket in Burgenland, 3 groschen.
Postmark:
Roma Ferrovia
Graz: Die Stadt der Volkserhebung (Graz: The city of the peoples’ uprising)
Wien: Ausstellung der Ewige Jude (Vienna: Exhibition of the Eternal Jew)
The Eternal Jew was an exhibition of antisemitism created by Joseph Goebbels and displayed at the Library of the German Museum in Munich, Vienna, and Berlin from 8 November 1937 to 31 January 1939. The exhibition featured photographs and caricatures falsely accusing Jews of negatively affecting Nazi Germany through Cultural Bolshevism, exemplified in the exhibition poster presenting a kaftan-wearing “eastern” Jew holding gold coins in one hand and a whip in the other. The exhibition attracted 412,300 visitors, over 5,000 per day. The exhibition was turned into a film released in 1940 which was so violently antisemitic that it was a commercial flop because the German audience was too disturbed by scenes of German guards starving and neglecting Polish Jewish children in the ghetto.
Historical background:
Germany’s annexation of Austria, known as Anschluss, took place on March 12th, 1938. Over the following three days, Hitler traveled through Austria, ending up in Vienna. This card is in commemoration of the speech he gave at the end of the journey. Hitler spoke at the Heldenplatz: a Hapsburg-era imperial parade ground and demonstration venue historically used for right-wing demonstrations of Austrian patriotism (Friehs, n.d.). His use of this monarchical venue invoked the power of the old Austrian empire and provided legitimacy towards his claim to leadership (Friehs, n.d.).
Hitler’s 15 March 1938 speech. The quote on the postcard is taken from 8 minutes 21 seconds.
Friehs, J. (Retrieved 20 November, 2024). Historic Rallies on Heldenplatz. The World of the Hapsburgs. https://www.habsburger.net/en/chapter/historic-rallies-heldenplatz
