Comic Books, Graphic Novels and the Holocaust

Beyond Maus

Ewa Sta?czyk

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780429942297
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Histoire
• Subtopic: Histoire de l'Holocauste

This book analyses the portrayals of the Holocaust in newspaper cartoons, educational pamphlets, short stories and graphic novels. Focusing on recognised and lesser-known illustrators from Europe and beyond, the volume looks at autobiographical and fictional accounts and seeks to paint a broader picture of Holocaust comic strips from the 1940s to the present. The book shows that the genre is a capacious one, not only dealing with the killing of millions of Jews but also with Jewish lives in war-torn Europe, the personal and transgenerational memory of the Second World War and the wider national and transnational legacies of the Shoah. The chapters in this collection point to the aesthetic diversity of the genre which uses figurative and allegorical representation, as well as applying different stylistics, from realism to fantasy. Finally, the contributions to this volume show new developments in comic books and graphic novels on the Holocaust, including the rise of alternative publications, aimed at the adult reader, and the emergence of state-funded educational comics written with young readers in mind.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Modern Jewish Studies.

Picturing anti-Semitism in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands: anti-Jewish stereotyping in a racist Second World War comic strip

Kees Ribbens

ABSTRACT

In 1942, the Dutch weekly magazine Volk en Vaderland, which propagated the political opinions of the Dutch National Socialists in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands, published a comic strip, “Rare, maar ware commentaren” (Odd, but true comments). In it, the illustrator, Peter Beekman (1911–1959) depicted current events and the various perceived enemies of National Socialist society, Jews in particular, providing insight into how the genre was deployed in the Nazi propaganda machine. This article analyses the use of six dominant anti-Semitic themes which appeared in this particular wartime comic strip, but which were also a reflection of wider anti-Jewish stereotyping present throughout Europe at the time, including those of “otherness,” greediness and Judeo-Communism. My discussion will be thus placed in a broader context of both the Dutch political culture and the Volk en Vaderland editorial policy. I will also focus on Beekman himself, an intriguing figure of the time, who joined the NSB, the country’s National Socialist party, in 1940, and who continued to work as an illustrator after the Second World War. As such, the article will go deeper into the intricacies of anti-Jewish discourse, its hidden mechanisms, and the individuals and institutions that molded it.

Comics have often been described as a medium without memory (Groensteen 2006, 67). Now in existence as a distinct genre for over a century, the number of comic strips from the early decades that today’s readers are still familiar with remains limited. With the exception of few classics, a large share of comic strips that used to be popular with wide audiences is forgotten. This is also true for graphic narratives that existed during the Second World War, the messages they tried to convey and the artists who created them.

Comic strips were an emerging medium in the Netherlands in the 1930s and 1940s (Kousemaker and Kousemaker 1979; Lambiek 2017b; Matla et al. 2013; Ribbens and Sanders 2006). While comics were primarily regarded as entertainment for children – a misconception that was common throughout the world until the appearance of the graphic novel in the late twentieth century – they were also used as a medium for adults. To some extent, this was a continuation of the political cartoons that had become popular in the printed press in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, regardless of the growing importance of photography. Caricatures were inspired by contemporary events at home and abroad, and were usually humorous with a serious under-tone. There were artists who did not limit themselves to single frame depictions, but chose to use more frames, thus creating comic strips representing the dynamics of current life and illustrating a wider variety of themes (Van der Heijden and Ribbens 2010, 35–38).

The use of comic strips for political purposes was not unusual, despite the widespread belief that comics only represented the status quo in a way that was simplistic and lacking nuance. This was certainly the case with the Dutch National Socialist comic strip drawn by the professional illustrator Peter Beekman in the weekly magazine Volk en Vaderland in 1942. Placing Beekman’s strip at the heart of my analysis, I will discuss the artist’s portrayal of Jews and elucidate the potential impact of his anti-Semitic images. After an introduction to the Dutch National Socialist movement and its anti-Semitic tendencies, I will briefly outline Beekman’s work. Next, a selection of his comic strips will be analysed using six topoi, including those of “otherness,” greediness and Judeo-Communism. As the instrumentalization of comics in the Netherlands as a means of political propaganda in the Second World War is still under-researched, this case study aims to provide insight into how this medium was used to present strongly racist views. As such, this article complements previous work on France (Ory 2002; Ragache 2000; Tufts 2004) as well as wider studies that look at this phenomenon globally (Strömberg 2010).

National Socialist anti-Semitism

Racial classification principles play an essential role in National Socialist ideology. The idea of superiority of the so-called Aryans derived from the nineteenth century cult of racial purity (Hondius 2014; Anemone 2016). Initiated by the French nobleman Arthur de Gobineau’s reverence for “pure descent,” and supported subsequently by widespread calls for eugenics, the racial doctrine was later enthusiastically embraced by Adolf Hitler. Aggressively promoting the idea of superiority of Germans and the inferiority of Jews (and other races and ethnicities) helped Hitler’s Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP) in coming to power in Germany in 1933.

Although anti-Semitism had always been at the heart of Hitler’s political beliefs (Herf 2006; Meyer zu Uptrup 2003), it was not immediately adopted by similar right-wing authoritarian movements emerging elsewhere in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. In the neighbouring Netherlands, the Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging in Nederland (National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands, NSB), founded by Anton Mussert in 1931, seemed at first to reject the virulent anti-Semitism of the German Nazis. After an initial successful period in which the NSB had welcomed Jewish members, the support for this anti-democratic party decreased from 1935 onwards. This is when the NSB strongly radicalized its approach to Jews and began to openly express an anti-Semitic viewpoint, cherishing the conviction that the Dutch, like the German people, belonged to the Aryan race (Havenaar 1983, 101–113; Te Slaa and Klijn 2009; Zwaan 1984).

Anti-Semitism was by no means absent in the “pillarized” society of the interbellum, which was organized according to religious denomination or political affiliation, but the explicit way in which it was expressed by the NSB and smaller right-wing organizations was unusual for the Netherlands. Jews had been present in the country since the Middle Ages and had acquired the same civil rights as other groups. They were highly assimilated and integrated politically, economically and culturally. Nevertheless, like elsewhere in Europe, they were often fashioned into folk devils and the myths of their purported responsibility for the death of Christ, as well as their alleged unreliability were frequently cited. Although the pseudo-scientific anti-Semitism of the 1930s had limited support, a certain reluctance about accepting Jews as vital part of Dutch society was not that uncommon, even though it was often left unsaid (Blom and Cahen 1995, 284–287; Ensel and Gans 2017; Quispel 2016, 198–217; Romijn 1995, 313–315).

After the German invasion of Western Europe in May 1940 the virulent racial policies of the Nazis were introduced in the Netherlands. The measures taken to identify and isolate Jews – most of them living in the western urban areas – were part of the German effort at the nazification of the Netherlands. Those discriminatory measures were embraced by the NSB and implemented by the Dutch authorities. Doctrines such as the National Socialist Führerprinzip – the dictatorial leadership principle placing the political authority of Hitler and other high-ranking National Socialist leaders above all laws and governmental regulations – were introduced in Dutch society, and propaganda was employed to gain wide support from the general public.

A Nazi worldview in comic format

Various outlets were exploited by the Nazi propaganda. Daily and weekly newspapers were placed under censorship or eliminated. Print media, radio and film were used to reach the largest possible audiences with a variety of pro-German and pro-Nazi messages. An integrated part of this propaganda, of which the comics were part, was the cultivation and dissemination of the images of the various enemies as a way of discrediting political opponents.

The NSB media, such as the weekly newspaper Volk en Vaderland (People and Fatherland, 1933–1945) and Het Nationale Dagblad (The National Daily Newspaper, 1936–1945), had propagated the National Socialist ideals in the pre-war period and continued to do so during the war. The editors not only used the written word but also hired artists to make drawings. Images were commonly used elsewhere in NSB propaganda, in particular on posters, in documentary films and illustrated magazines (Vermeer 1987; Wilbrink 1998). From its inception, Volk en Vaderland published political caricatures (Mulder 1985; Van der Hoek 1990). In January 1942, a comic strip was also introduced to represent and support the weekly’s views on race. The new comic was conceived by the accomplished illustrator Peter Beekman (1911–1959).

Pieter Joannes Marie (Peter) Beekman was born in a Catholic family in Amsterdam. After secondary school he went to Switzerland to train as a cook. He then returned to the Netherlands to attend arts school in Maastricht. In the second half of the 1930s his illustrations started to appear in a variety of publications, such as sports magazines and newspapers. During the war, he became involved in the production of National Socialist books and magazines. In 1941, he began working on a comic strip for children (commissioned by Het Nationale Dagblad), “De merkwaardige avonturen van Hansje, Ansje en de meeuw” (The Remarkable Adventures of Hansje, Ansje and the Seagull), which tells a story of the Nationale Jeugdstorm member, the Dutch equivalent of the Hitler Youth (Catalogue of the International Institute of Social History 2017; Lambiek 2017a).

In this period, he also made illustrations for the NSB books and magazines such as Kaderblad voor functionarissen (Magazine for Executives) and De Zwarte Soldaat (The Black Soldier), a publication of the NSB “defense” unit Weerafdeling (WA), and worked as an editor for the monthly magazine Ontwakend Volk (Awakening People). After the war, he was arrested and interned for 15 months until August 1947 for membership and active support of the NSB, and for collaborating with the enemy (National Archives of the Netherlands: CABR file 56394 [Tribunal Utrecht 1623]; Utrechts Nieuwsblad 29 July 1947, 5 August 1947). In hindsight, it appears remarkable that Beekman’s sentence did not refer specifically to his comic art but carried a more general charge of collaborating with the NSB. That this judgement ignored the specific ideas that had been spread, as well as the vicious degree of anti-Semitism that was expressed in his illustrations, presumably reflects that comics were hardly taken seriously by the postwar authorities. After his release, Beekman continued his career as an illustrator in the advertising business, as well as drawing editorial cartoons under a pseudonym. He died in Utrecht on 7 December 1959 at the age of 48.

Beekman’s comic “Rare, maar ware commentaren” (Odd, but true comments) was the first comic strip to appear in Volk en Vaderland. It ran for just one year and in total 45 episodes were printed, usually consisting of four strips with both text balloons and captions. In December 1942, the comic was taken over by Cor van Deutekom who continued in a similar vein. Beekman went on to publish visual propaganda in various NSB newspapers and magazines. The reason for his replacement remains unclear, though it appears to be connected to Beekman’s temporarily falling from grace with the German occupiers. On December 10, 1942 a drawing by Beekman had been published on the cover of De Zwarte Soldaat which portrayed a meeting between Mussert and Hitler. It seems to be the case that the portrayal of the Führer, in particular, angered the German authorities. There are unconfirmed reports that following the publication Beekman was briefly detained at the Scheveningen prison (Weber 1947, 346–401). He resumed his activity in early 1943 and his work again appeared in De Zwarte Soldaat and elsewhere.

Beekman’s comic in Volk en Vaderland, “Odd, but true comments,” did not simply cover the news, but commented on current events and developments in the Netherlands and abroad from a National Socialist point of view, which was supposed to embody the “true” and only way of looking at things. The reality Beekman depicted in these comic strips focused on the purportedly “undesirable” and “unwelcome” aspects of social and political reality, either in occupied Europe or elsewhere, that were to be eliminated to pave way for political transformation. Examples include the alleged phenomenon of the American government “buying” allies in Latin America, or British state and church leaders bonding with the Soviets. Once National Socialism was widely implemented, his comics implicitly argued, this reality would be changed for the better.

Apart from political leaders, who recurred across the various episodes, the comic had no set characters. However, certain topics were covered regularly, creating a sense of continuity. One of those recurring themes was the various enemies of the regime who prevented the National Socialist ideology from succeeding. Those appear in two varieties. The first is the anti-German Allies who obstruct and hinder the international ambitions of the Axis powers. The other is the Jews, both in the Netherlands and elsewhere, who are accused of derailing a just society from its course by deliberately sabotaging it for their own benefit. Representatives of these partially overlapping groups appear in different forms, reflecting six different stereotypes.

Jews as “the other”

In the case of the Allies, Beekman’s work mainly depicts recognizable political and military leaders. National iconic figures like the British John Bull and the American Uncle Sam are sometimes present, but much more frequent are the appearances of individuals, such as Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin. Only the upper part of their bodies is portrayed, using caricature and magnifying certain phy...