Truth versus Propaganda

The extensive use Nazi propaganda had an extreme influence on the opinions of thousands of Germans. These posters glorified the Germans and advertised their higher power over the Jews in a way that seemed nonviolent and rational. The Jews were portrayed as dirty, fat, and greedy animals to manipulate the Germans into thinking that the Jews were associated with the enemies. However, this was clearly not the case as presented in Maus. Art Spiegelman, in a way, mocks these forms of persuasion by altering the way the posters were depicted to unveil the realities and the harshness of Nazi control.

 

For example, as seen by the chapter cover for Chapter 2 in Maus and a form of Nazi propaganda above, both portray people looking at the swastika. However, the underlying meaning of these images differ to a great extent. In the second image, a “German student” (translation of the words on the poster) is shown to be honoring the Nazi flag which demonstrates the biased way of persuading the Germans. In the first image, the swastika is altered in a way in which it looks deformed and non-symmetrical. By doing this, Spiegelman illustrates the corrupted power of the Germans and how he doesn’t fully regard the Germans as being the more powerful group. In addition, the colorful backdrop of the propaganda is contrasted with the black and white backdrop of Spiegelman’s illustration. This demonstrates the fact that propaganda displayed hope while in reality it was only destruction and downfall that took place due to the atrocity of the Nazis’ actions.