Immigration Problems in 1939

In the midst of today’s controversies about immigration in the United States, it’s good to remember that it has been a constant issue.  Today I came across a letter to the editor to the Pittsburgh Press on 15 August 1939 discussing the difficulties for an alien wishing to become a citizen.

The context was different than that of today, but the issues much the same.

Editorial Cartoon on American Communists (1939)

This cartoon is from the 25 August 1939 issue of the Pittsburgh Press, courtesy of Google News.  The Germans had just signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, astonishing just about everyone.

The cartoon pokes fun at the embarrassment of American Communists who suddenly found themselves today’s allies of yesterday’s enemy.

Nazi Editorial Cartoon on the Jews (1939)

This cartoon is from the 2 February 1939 issue of Das Kleine Blatt, a Viennese newspaper.  The headline of the issue asserts that New York Jews were making “enormous profits” on the stock market.  This cartoon shows Jewish rats swept out of Germany and refused admission to the democratic countries so vehemently attacking Nazi anti-Semitic policies.

The caption has those within democratic countries saying: “How thankful people must be to us for putting these splendid bearers of culture at the disposal of the rest of the world.”

The cartoon reflects a section of Hitler’s 30 January 1939 speech that threatened “the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe” in the event of war.

Nazi Editorial Cartoon on Churchill (November 1941)

I'm working through German newspapers at the moment for my current project.  This one comes from the  Wiener Neueste Nachrichten of 28 November 1941, courtesy of ANNO, the Austrian project to digitize long runs of newspapers.  When this appeared, the Nazi were beginning to realize that the attack on the Soviet Union was going to be more difficult than expected, but England still seemed defeated.  

“One does what one can.”

The cartoon is titled “The ‘political counteroffensive.’”  Churchill’s only weapon is words, supplied by the Jewish journalists in the background.

A Nazi Reaction to D-Day

A few weeks after D-Day, the leading German weekly Das Reich ran this cartoon.  A battered American soldier wants to recover in Hell, since conditions there are better than for the Allied army attacking German’s “Atlantic Wall.”  The Nazis had put great effort into building fortifications — but in the event they were not sufficient to hold back the invasion.

“I'm coming from the Atlantic Wall and would like to rest up here....”

Prohibition and Business Opportunities

Prohibition came into effect with the on January 15, 1920. Besides the business opportunities seized by criminal elements, others found ways to profit from the ban on booze, too.

This article from the Milwaukee Journal reports the “first of dry America’s floating ‘wet spots,’” a Great Lakes vessel turned into a ship that would make three winter trips a week between Miami and Havana.  Once past the three-mile limit, there would be plenty to dink.  The fare was $35, presumably not including drinks.

A Nazi Response to FDR’s Peace Message (1939)

In mid-April 1939, Franklin Roosevelt sent a message encouraging peace to Hitler and Mussolini.  Hitler responded on 28 April 1939 with a two-and-a-half hour speech that scornfully rejected FDR’s message.  This cartoon from Julius Streicher’s anti-Semitic weekly Der Stürmer (#19/1939) shows FDR sliding down the manuscript of his peace message into Hell, where laughing devils wait.

The caption translates: “Sliding down. The paragon of virtue and apostle of peace elicits hellish laughter.”