Photo of the 'Emrey Emet' of Gur - the photo that published in the Nazi 'De Stirmer' in which the Rebbe was called ...

Photo of the 'Emrey Emet' of Gur - the photo that published in the Nazi 'De Stirmer' in which the Rebbe was called 'the head of the Jews and the governor of the dome' and in harsh derogatory words

A photograph of the Admor the 'Emrey Emet' of Gur Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter on his departure from the train in Marinbad, accompanied by his companions, was taken on arrival at the Third 'Knesiya Hagdolah' of  Agudat Yisrael, which took place in 1937 in Marinbad, Czechoslovakia. In this photo, the Nazi antisemitic newspaper "der Sturmer" used the cover of an issue from that year, in which the Rebbe is referred to as "the head of the Jews and the governor of the dome" and adds harsh anti-Semitic words towards the Rebbe and the Jews in general.

The Nazi 'De Sturmer' newspaper, edited by Julius Streicher, regularly published photographs of Jews in a stereotypical way. The paper has focused its anti-Semitism on the figure of the Jew throughout history as a conspiratorial, manipulative figure who seeks to corrupt the Aryan race. He conveyed his messages through a combination of texts, photographs and illustrations. Along with the ridiculous use of anonymous Jewish figures, the newspaper used figures of famous Jewish leaders, rabbis and rebbes. In the newspaper issue published at the end of 1937, the photograph before us appeared on the title page under the heading 'True Jew from the East' and the antisemitic caption that accompanied the photograph: "The arrival of the Jews of the Talmud to Marinbad. They come here as the embodiment of unclean conscience and as the embodiment of the abominable. For this reason they do not like being photographed (Referring to the person inciting the photographer in his hand trying to hide the Rebbe). They seem frightened of that. The old Jew in the middle is the head of the Jews and the governor of the dome. He is an ancient ritual killer and well versed in the Talmud. He comes here in popular Jewish attire - a black round trilby, a thick beard and peot, a black Kapota, a walking stick with a silver handle, white socks and black shoes". In the newspaper issue, the background of the photograph is blurred to highlight the figures on the front. The graphic editor marked in pencil the places to cut the edge of the photo and indicated its size.

The permanent exhibition at the Yad Vashem Museum presents the original issue of the newspaper in which the photograph before us appears, as well as the photograph as submitted for editing on the draft page of the newspaper's editors (see attached material). In preparation for publication, there, the antisemitic inscription appears: "This is how they came to us. Like swarms of locusts the Jews from the east invaded the German land." In the same issue, another photo of the Emrey Emet appeared under the antisemitic headline "An authentic Jew from the East."

See attached photos of the 'De Sturmer' issue, as well as of the editor's page for that issue (from the exhibition at the Yad Vashem Museum).

Literature: Flashes of Memory - Photography during the Holocaust, Yad Vashem Publishing 2018, p. 60.

14x9 cm. Slight crack in the middle left. Good - very good condition.