Winter Relief

The producers of propaganda complained high and low that good Dutch designers were unwilling to create posters commissioned by the Department of Information and Arts. Well-known graphic designer Jan Lavies also had no inclination to do so. Lavies had a reputation to maintain. He had worked his way up to the position of one of Holland's top designers, with international acclaim for his art deco style and his flamboyant, optimistic images with predominantly bright colours. His covers for the King Atlas and the Royal Dutch Touring Club magazine Autokampioen had made him famous. Multinationals like Shell, General Motors and Dunlop were among his regular customers.

During the occupation, his assignments decreased in number, and he became involved with forging identity papers, among other things. In 1941, Lavies was however coaxed into designing two posters for Winterhulp Nederland (Winter Relief the Netherlands), the organisation installed by the Germans to supplant the many charity organisations.

Koenraad

The Nederlandsche Arbeidsdienst (the Dutch equivalent of the RAD) was founded in May 1941 with the occupying force's assignment "to do useful work in aid of the community". Its motivation was the propagation of the national-socialist ideology among youths. The occupier was initially satisfied with volunteers, but groups of youths were soon forced to join. The worker figure of Koenraad was presented in the propaganda of the Nederlandsche Arbeidsdienst.

Koenraad was the model for the true "Dutch boy": always helpful, brave and ready to work. He appeared in newspapers as a comic book figure: he stood up for ladies in street cars ("Our legs are strong, ma'am"), and scolded a little boy for teasing a dog ("Naughty boy! Do you expect to become a man?").

The campaign was a complete failure. Koenraad quickly acquired the derogatory nickname "Dollefie Sallefie". Artist and resistance fighter H.N. Werkman wrote in his diary on 28 September 1942: "Koenraad was made to look ridiculous in those pictures, and they were smart enough to grasp this because they cancelled the series".

Arend Meijer

The German occupation brought unexpected possibilities for some designers. Advertising designer Arend Meijer, who had previously headed a small company in The Hague, was commissioned to design a poster for the Air-raid Defence Service.

Meijer's work was to the propaganda makers' liking, and new commissions were soon pouring in. Before long, the staff of Studio Arend Meijer had grown from four to thirty employees, and the company moved into a new office building on the Laan van Meerdevoort in The Hague. A dedicated NSB supporter himself, Meijer never forced his convictions on any of his employees.

In 1944, Meijer felt compelled to act upon his political conviction. He moved to the east of Holland to volunteer for the Landwacht, the NSB police that assisted the Germans. His staff carried on the work. Arend Meijer was later accused of enemy collaboration and sentenced to four years of imprisonment.

The Eternal Jew

The film "De Eeuwige Jood" ("The Eternal Jew") premiered in October 1941. In this anti-Semitic "documentary", Jews were compared to rats that had to be exterminated. The accompanying poster had been produced in secret by artist Hans Borrebach, who remained popular after the war.

In order to measure the poster's impact, the Department of Information and Arts hired the services of a survey bureau, which reached the following conclusions.

"This poster is found generally irritating, even among many NSB members. The print, which was meant to stimulate the film's attendance, has missed its mark. Although the horrible Jewish mug, unfamiliar to the Dutch, has certainly been impressed upon the public's subconscious and is therefore moderately successful as anti-Semitic propaganda, we can ascertain that this poster has failed to contribute to the film's attendance."

Title:	De eeuwige Jood. Ook U moet deze...
Year of making:	1939/1945 Tweede Wereldoorlog
Source:	shelfMark: AG/00638 [affiche (Lithografie)] ( [Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie])
Copyright:	Koninklijke Bibliotheek/Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie

Thinking woman

Married women were of no social importance according to the ideas of Mussert's movement. Women were expected to view marriage as an assignment. They were expected to become one with their husbands, whose troubles they were expected to share. Dutch women served the community by living lives of dedication and self-sacrifice. It was the mother's task to raise her children to become good 'citizens'.

During the elections for the Provincial Council, the NSB addressed Dutch women specifically. Women were offered a choice in the election campaign: 'Wouldst thou follow thy calling as a woman? Then vote for Mussert! Or wouldst thou become a dockhand? And wouldst thou allow thy most sacred feelings to be trampled and squandered? Then go ahead and vote for Moscow!'

Title:	De vrouw die nadenkt, stemt óók op...
Year of making:	1939 1939
Source:	shelfMark: AF/00300 [affiche (Lithografie)] ( [Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie])
Copyright:	Koninklijke Bibliotheek/Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie
Dimensions:	88 x 60

Jodewin

On the initiative of well-known radio propagandist Max Blokzijl, "Jodewin" was first introduced in propaganda in August 1943. His name was derived from the first names of the three allied war leaders Joseph Stalin, Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. This figure was used to combat the constant stream of rumours.

The national-socialist propagandists responded to the corresponding poster with elation: "One reaches the conclusion that the drawing can be considered good in every respect, only the balloon's orange colour should stand out more. One is in agreement about the fact that curiosity should first be cultivated for this image. We will have to find the material based on rumours and gossip." There was great disappointment when it turned out that the population completely failed to understand the campaign.

Title:	Dit is Jodewin. Jozef Delano Winston Roddel.
Year of making:	1943 1943
Source:	shelfMark: AE/00405 [affiche (Lithografie)] ( [Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie])
Copyright:	Koninklijke Bibliotheek/Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie
Dimensions:	55 x 40

V-campaign

In the spring of 1941, the Dutch division of the BBC encouraged listeners in occupied territories to chalk the letter V (V for Victory!) onto walls as an expression of their anti-German disposition. In late June of that year, a second variant was introduced: the V in Morse code, three short clicks and one long one. The campaign was a massive success: fingers were used to make the V-sign, and waiters were beckoned in restaurants by tapping the V-signal on tables.

In order to combat this situation, Goebbels simply decided to take over the V-sign. The slogan was "V=Victory, because Germany is winning for Europe on all fronts", followed by several other variations. The German V-campaign was started all over occupied Europe on 18 July 1941, exactly at midnight. That morning, all of Holland was covered by V-posters.

Title:	Duitschland wint voor Europa op alle fronten.
Year of making:	1939/1945 Tweede Wereldoorlog
Source:	shelfMark: AC/00299 [affiche (Lithografie)] ( [Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie])
Copyright:	Koninklijke Bibliotheek/Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie
Dimensions:	22 x 14

"Robbery"

The Dutch national-socialists were outraged over the permission the exiled Dutch government had given the United States to station troops in Surinam. 'Robbery,' fulminated the NSB propagandists as they started a new propaganda campaign.

This 'six-colour printing plate' was circulated in three different sizes. An identical image, with the call to support Mussert in his 'crusade against this injustice' on its reverse side, was circulated door-to-door as a leaflet by the Dutch postal service in an unprecedented printing of over two million copies. The campaign was supported by a ten-minute film that all movie theatres were forced to show for over a month. The campaign's budget was Dfl. 26,836, a sizeable sum at that time.

Title:	Eens met bloed en zweet verworven voor...
Year of making:	1940 1940
Source:	shelfMark: AF/00080 [affiche (Lithografie)] ( [Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie])
Copyright:	Koninklijke Bibliotheek/Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie
Dimensions:	82 x 60

to be continued...

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