06 Elucidating stereotypes

The following article from a Nazi newspaper disparages black people and other people of colour with words and images.

Would you like to see the image and learn more about the methods used by the Nazis?

Otherwise, scroll down to read more about how we deal with such words and images today.

The article shows children of German women and soldiers from the French colonies in Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco who were deployed as occupation soldiers in the Rhineland in the 1920s.

At this time, black men were portrayed as a sexual threat to women and to ‘racial purity’ – a colonial racist stereotype that remained influential for centuries.

Nazi propaganda built on this racist stigmatisation. In addition to being denigrated in the media, under National Socialism these children of colour were persecuted bureaucratically: they were recorded in statistics in 1933, and a number of them were forcibly sterilised starting in 1937.

The newspaper article legitimises racist persecution. Not only the text, but also the carefully arranged photos make the children of colonial soldiers appear different and threatening.

In this photograph, the girl on the left appears unnaturally large due to her position in relation to the camera. The photographer allows the shadow to fall in such a way that it is virtually impossible to see her eyes and facial features.

This photo makes it difficult for the observer to develop any affection or sympathy for the child.

How museums should deal with depictions of anti-black racism and other forms of discrimination has been a topic of discussion for several years.

One option is to cover up such images and, like here, reveal them only in the context of critical analysis.

This room contains further discriminatory representations that we have not covered up. They, too, use ‘different’ body images that deliberately reinforce stereotypes. Turn around and see for yourself!

The staged photograph from the anti-Semitic magazine Der Stürmer shows pupils standing in front of a blackboard. The blackboard displays distorted caricatures that draw on well-known anti-Semitic stereotypes.

They contrast with the neatly dressed pupils, who have been deliberately arranged for the photograph.

Article ‘Teachers at the Front’, in *Der Stürmer*, August 1935

This article describes a fictional family in which mental or physical illnesses are inherited. It is intended to justify the sterilisation of people with ‘hereditary diseases’.

The images and text give off a scientific aura, but their main purpose is to instil fear. Crooked postures and averted gazes are intended to prevent sympathy for the people depicted.

Article ‘The B. Family’, in *Kölnische Illustrierte*, 18 November 1933

What is the best way to exhibit such discriminatory representations today? Take a look at some of the different positions.

A
B
C

And what do you think? Multiple answers are possible.

Discriminatory representations…

Here’s what you said:

Take your thoughts with you. Throughout the exhibition, you will frequently encounter the challenge of elucidating stereotypes without disseminating them.

Credits:
1. Westdeutschen Beobachter, 8 July 1934, p. 14; 2. Intervention trail ‘Blickwechsel – on the trail of racism’, Historical Museum Frankfurt © Horst Ziegenfusz; 3. Der Stürmer, no. 35, August 1935; 4. Kölnische Illustrierte, 18 November 1933, p. 1187-1189

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