Accession Number: 2022.02.8.34

Stamp: 6 Winterhilfswerk Deutches Reich

Overview:

The postcard was produced by the Third Reich and depicts Martin Luther. It is apart of the “Winter Relief” series. It depicts a drawn image of Martin Luther from the neck up, and the text below reads “I seek not my own, but only the happiness and health of all of Germany”. Printed on the postcard an eagle and swastika emblem, symbols of Nazi Germany, with the words “Postkarte” “Kriegs” (meaning war) and “WHW” standing for Winterhilfswerk (Winter relief fund) 

Historical background:

The image of Martin Luther on this postcard signifies an exploitation of his name and legacy. The Nazi’s often used Luther to justify their anti-Semitism and nationalism. Throughout other forms of Nazi propaganda, he has been referred to as a “fighter against the Jewish spirit in the Christian Church” as well as “Dr. Luther is one of the greatest anti-Semites in German history.” Martin Luther did, in fact, have a number of anti-Semitic writings. He believed Jews should be converted to Christianity and he gradually lost patience when they did not begin to embrace the religion. It’s been stressed that he was not a Nazi anti-Semite, but a religious anti-Semite; he was opposed to Jews not as an ethnic group but because they refused to convert. Lutheran churches have since firmly rejected Luther’s anti-Semitic writings and asked for forgiveness from the Jewish community.  

The Nazis marked the 450th anniversary of Luther’s birthday in November 1933 with a nationwide “German Luther Day.” On this day, Luther’s “ethno-nationalist mission” was praised and called for “the completion of the German Reformation in the Third Reich.” 

The following year, the 400th anniversary of Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible into German was celebrated. As was worded by the Third Reich, it was an action showing “a healthy people committed to their own kind.”