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You Help as well!

Poster
1941 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Nazi ideology relegated women to a purely domestic role. The demands of war, however, forced the Party to rely heavily on female labour. This poster seeks to reconcile the reality of the labour need with a Nazi ideal of womanhood. The portrait of the soldier looms above the factory worker, nurse and agricultural labourer, suggesting that these women are still essentially serving men. The open-air setting recalls one of the themes found in Nazi-inspired art which portrayed women in association with the nurturing functions of the earth.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • You Help as well! (assigned by artist)
  • Hilf auch Du mit! (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Colour lithograph
Brief description
Second World War poster aimed at recruiting German women into war work, designed by Theo Matejko, Germany, 1941
Physical description
Central colour image of three women (left to right) striding forward with linked arms: a factory worker, a nurse and a labourer carrying a hoe. Rendered in black and white, the face of a soldier looms above them. German text printed in red across the lower margin.
Dimensions
  • Height: 59cm
  • Width: 42.2cm
Marks and inscriptions
Hilf auch Du mit! (printed in red)
Translation
(from the German) You Help as well!
Credit line
Gift of the American Friends of the V&A; Gift to the American Friends by Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
Nazi ideology relegated women to a purely domestic role. The demands of war, however, forced the Party to rely heavily on female labour. This poster seeks to reconcile the reality of the labour need with a Nazi ideal of womanhood. The portrait of the soldier looms above the factory worker, nurse and agricultural labourer, suggesting that these women are still essentially serving men. The open-air setting recalls one of the themes found in Nazi-inspired art which portrayed women in association with the nurturing functions of the earth.
Other number
LS.274-2004 - Leslie Schreyer Loan Number
Collection
Accession number
E.274-2004

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Record createdJune 23, 2004
Record URL
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