A Stark Warning to the Public
In early 1945, as Auschwitz was about to be liberated, a group of European immigrant artists in New York published The Bloody Record of Nazi Atrocities, a pamphlet combining images and text to reveal Nazi crimes. One page featured “Nazi Death Parade,” a six-panel comic showing the mass killing process in graphic, shocking detail.
The Creator Behind “Nazi Death Parade”
The comic was illustrated by August Maria Froehlich, an Austrian artist in his 60s known for his adventure comics and wartime illustrations. With precise visuals, Froehlich depicted prisoners’ entry into camps, leading to gas chambers, cremation, and even the Nazis collecting victims’ gold teeth.
A Rare Holocaust Comic of the Time
Although information on the Holocaust was available, Froehlich’s work was unique for its time, using the medium of comics to drive the gravity of Nazi crimes home to an American public still skeptical of the scale of Nazi atrocities.
In 1910, Cincinnati’s Imogene Rechtin attended a social event where the hostess greeted each guest with a kiss. Disgusted by this “promiscuous kissing,” Rechtin, a middle-aged mother, resolved to stop the practice, citing fears of spreading disease. pic.twitter.com/cAhpNMiQCK
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