Trust No Fox on his Green Heath and No Jew on his Oath

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Trust No Fox on his Green Heath and No Jew on his Oath

Cover showing a fox eager for his prey and a Nazi caricature of a Jew swearing his false oath beneath a Star of David
Author	(1915 – ?)
Original title	Trau keinem Fuchs auf grüner Heid und keinem Jud auf seinem Eid
Illustrator	Elvira Bauer
Country	Nazi Germany
Language	German
Genre	Children's book, picture book, nursery rhymes, antisemitic Nazi propaganda aimed at children
Publisher	Stürmer-Verlag (Stürmer Publishing House), Nuremberg
Publication date	1936
Media type	Print

Trust No Fox on his Green Heath and No Jew on his Oath! A Picture Book for Old and Young (Original title in German: Trau keinem Fuchs auf grüner Heid und keinem Jud auf seinem Eid! ein Bilderbuch für Gross und Klein) is an antisemitic children's picture book published in November 1936 in Nazi Germany.^[1][2][3] The book was written and illustrated by , a kindergarten teacher, art student, and Nazi supporter, born in 1915. It was the first of three children's books to be published by Julius Streicher, the editor of the infamously anti-Jewish newspaper Der Stürmer, who was later executed for war crimes.

Through typical Nazi caricatures, primitive nursery rhymes and colorful illustrations children and adults are told what a Jew is and look like according to the Nazi Party; the Jews are exposed as 'children of the devil',^[4] evil creatures who can not be trusted, and a contrast to idealised 'Aryans'. Nazi propaganda like this were used to indoctrinate the youth of Germany in Nazi racial ideology and educate them into being useful citizens of the Third Reich.

Trust No Fox on his Green Heath went through seven editions^[5] and at least 70,000 copies were printed.^[6] After Elvira Bauer moved to Berlin in 1943 and reported to an art school under the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts (Reichskammer der bildenden Künste). After February 1945, her track is lost.

Background[]

Former school teacher, Nazi propagandist and anti-Semite Julius Streicher published the book in 1936. In one of the verses he is depicted as the educator and hero of all German children.^[7] Streicher were sentenced to death at the Nuremberg trials and executed in 1946. The later history of Elvira Bauer, the author and illustrator born 1915, is unknown.

The Nazi Party and its leader, Adolf Hitler, had taken complete control of the Reichstag, the German Parliament, 1933. This allowed Hitler to implement laws restricting and limiting the rights of different races and religions, including antisemitic laws - such as the Nuremberg Laws in 1935. After the formation of the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda in 1933, antisemitic publications, in the forms of books, newspapers, radio broadcasts, and speeches were commissioned by the state.^[8]

Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister, described the new ministry as a way of uniting the government and the people.^[9]

Hitler says that: “The chief function of propaganda is to convince the masses, whose slowness of understanding needs to be given time, in order that they may absorb information; and only constant repetition will finally succeed in imprinting an idea on their mind (...) the slogan must, of course, be illustrated in many ways and from several angles, but in the end, one must always return to the assertion of the same formula. The one will be rewarded by the surprising and almost incredible results that such a personal policy secures.”^[10] This shows that the Nazi Party believed that they, by using propaganda, could unite the German people as a nation supporting their beliefs.

The Jewish Museum London showing an illustration of happy German school children mocking a Jewish teacher and Jewish pupils as they are expelled from a German school. The antisemitic Nuremberg Laws were implemented in late 1935, one year before the book came out. The lettering is in Sütterlin style, a form of German handwriting.

By 1935, the Jews, in particular, had become second class citizens within Germany. This was both due to laws, passed by the Nazi Party and the attitude of ordinary citizens. The number of boycotts of Jewish business, throughout the 1930s, showed the antisemitic tendency within the German population.^[11] The fact that Jews were now second class citizens, the antisemitism was allowed to spread, thus citizens could discriminate against Jews without the fear of the judicial system, as racism had been made legal.^[12] Grunberger argues that many in Germany wanted to see social change, and the idea of ‘folk community’ was popular at the time. Antisemitism and many of the stereotypes used for the Jewish population was already present in much of Germany before the Nazis came to power.^[13]

After the ‘editorial law’ (Schriftleitergesetz); 1933, all forms of publication was censored by the Reich Chamber of Culture (Reichskulturkammer), and non-'Aryans' were forbidden working as journalists. This allowed more and more antisemitic publications to be made, and thus caused even greater antisemitic behaviour throughout the 1930s. By the end of the 1930s Germany had created a racial apartheid system, where some areas of public life were reserved for 'Aryans' and some for Jews.^[14] By 1936, the Nazi Party were enforcing laws that would control the lives of citizens, therefore they had created a state, that believed in Nazi policies.

During the Nuremberg Trials against major German war criminals after the World War II, Trust No Fox on his Green Heath was used as documentation of the deadly antisemitism in Nazi Germany.^[15][16]

It is pitiful and terrifying to think that tens of thousands of German children are poisoned — literally poisoned — by this disgusting product of vileness and imbecility. But since it unfortunately exists, and is in the hands of the German children, we should use it, too, as the strongest imaginable method of propaganda against the Reich of Hitler and Streicher.

— Klaus Mann on Trust No Fox On The Green Field And No Jew On His Oath, in Jewish Frontier 1937-09^[17]

If you want to know if something is good or bad, all you have to do is listen to what the Jew has to say. When the Jews of the world are railing against that picture book, it is a proof of its great value.

— The publisher's response to the foreign criticism of the book, Der Stürmer No. 10, March 1937 ^[18]

Title[]

A Nazi propaganda postcard from the 1930s showing a mural in Nuremberg illustrating an old anti-Jewish saying attributed to Martin Luther: Don't trust a fox whate'er you do, nor yet the oath of any jew.

The title Trau keinem Fuchs auf grüner Heid und keinem Jud bei seinem Eid (Don't trust a fox whate'er you do, nor yet the oath of any jew)^[19] refers to a rhymed anti-Jewish folk wisdom attributed to Martin Luther: Trau keinem Wolf auf wilder Heiden / Auch keinem Juden auf seine Eiden / Glaub keinem Papst auf sein Gewissen / Wirst sonst von allen Drein beschissen^[2] (Trust no wolf in wild heathland / Also no Jew on his oath / Believe no Pope on his conscience / Otherwise, you will be screwed by all three).

Analysis[]

In racist verses and illustrations Bauer idealizes the Germans and describes Jews as the enemy of a thriving society: The German is a proud man (...) this is the Jew (...) the greatest scoundrel^[20] [German: Der deutsche ist ein stolzer Mann (...) Dies ist der Jud (...) der größte Schuft].

Trau keinem Fuchs auf grüner Heid und keinem Jud auf seinem Eid is an antisemitic book targeted at children. It tells children what a Jew is and how to identify them. This is done both through the text and the illustrations that accompany the text. Throughout the book, Jews are compared to Germans and a clear division is made. On the front cover, there is a picture of a fox and a picture of a man depicted as a Jew as he has a big nose, big ears and a chubby hand with a Star of David next to him.

The book is divided into ten sections:

• The Father of the Jews is the Devil
• The Eternal Jew
• Jewish names
• Once a Jew, always a Jew
• The Cattle Jew
• The Sabbath
• The Jewish Lawyer
• The Servant Girl
• The Jewish Doctor
• The Führer's Youth

The Father of the Jews is the Devil[]

The Father of the Jews is the Devil (Der Vater des Juden ist der Teufel). According to John 8:44^[4] the Jews are 'the children of Satan', and traditional Christian anti-Judaists blames them for murdering Jesus Christ, the son of God.

In this section, Elvira Bauer says that the Jew works for the devil and that they can never be trusted. She says that ‘The Devil brought them to Germany’ and that ‘like thieves, they stole our (Germany’s) land’. She describes the Jew to always be ‘cursing^{[disambiguation needed]} and swearing with bent backs and oversized slippers.’ This shows that even at an early age children were being taught what to look out for to recognize a Jew. Elvira Bauer also describes a German in this section. A German ‘stands up’ and ‘is a proud young man able to work and fight’. This demonstrates the German to be strong and the Jew to be weak. This is further shown in the illustrations on the page. The German, who has blond hair, is standing tall with a spade in his hand and a muscular body. The Jew, on the other hand, is fat, smoking and has big feet and big hands. The first section of this book is also written in a rhyming story making it easier for children to understand it.

The Eternal Jew[]

The Eternal Jew (Der ewige Jude).

In this section, Elvira Bauer links Christianity to antisemitism. She blames Jews for the death of Jesus and that since then they have ‘borne a curse’ and should be avoided. They are seen ‘everywhere as a pest’ like a fox and that ‘children to keep a look out. This is saying that the children should be scared of the Jews and not under any circumstances interact with them. This shows that children were being taught that if they meet a Jew that they may catch the curse. The illustration on this page shows a man with scruffy hair a big nose and a dark coat, he is also surrounded by flames which could link back to the Devil in the last section.

The medieval character of the 'Wandering Jew' was also demonised in book and exhibition 1937 and a documentary 1940, all called The Eternal Jew (Der Ewige Jude), and other anti-Jewish Nazi propaganda.

Jewish Names[]

Jewish Names (Jüdische Namen)

In this section, Elvira Bauer shows how to spot a Jew by their name. She describes how Jews can be cunning with their names, although some may sound German there are few differences. This represents another way in which children are being taught how to spot a Jew.

Once a Jew, always a Jew[]

Once a Jew, Always a Jew (Jud bleibt Jud)

In this section, a story is told of a Jew who converts to being a Christian but on a Friday he eats a goose. He claims that as he converted, a goose can be converted into a fish. What she is arguing is that as a goose cannot be a fish, a Jew cannot be a Christian and will always be a Jew. This is reinforced by the illustration as a man with a big nose, big feet and big hands is eating meat on a Friday in front of a priest. This demonstrates that children were taught again that a Jew is sneaky and a liar.

The Cattle Jew[]

The Cattle Jew (Der Viehjude)

This section represents how a Jew is greedy and will only think about money and therefore that a Jew is disloyal towards Germans and will always try and cheat a German. The illustration is a colourful picture of a farmyard and the Jew taking animals off a German. The colour and the farmyard will also entice younger children into the book.

The Sabbath[]

The Sabbath (Der Sabbat)

In this section the author describes how Jews are lazy and that on Sabbath they expect Germans to do all the work. She is also saying again that Jews are dishonest and keep all their money hidden away. This is teaching children that Jews are untrustworthy and lazy. The illustrations in this section again show a Jew to be fat and thus reinforcing what a Jew looks like. One of the pictures also shows the Jew with a fox, this was a common link used by the Nazi propaganda to represent them as sly and stealthy. This shows that Jews were people who children should stay away from.

The Jewish Lawyer[]

The Jewish Lawyer (Der jüdische Rechtgewalt)

This section tells how a Jewish lawyer took all a farmer's produce away so he could be represented. In the end the Jew becomes fat and the farmer has nothing left. This is also illustrated in the picture which shows two scenes. The first scene is of a well-dressed farmer and a small thin Jew. The second scene however shows a fat Jew and a poor looking farmer. The story is trying to teach children that a Jew will take all your money and produce and leave you with nothing, but the Jew will not care as long as he has it.

The Servant Girl[]

The German Servant Girl (Das Dienstmädchen)

This section shows that a Jew will try and force themselves onto German women but a German woman must never have a relationship with a Jew as their body would become impure. This is reinforcing the idea that children should be scared of the Jew and that there should be no relationship of any kind with a Jew. This section seems to reinforce the policy shown in the Nuremberg Laws which were passed just under a year before this book was published.

The Jewish Doctor[]

The Jewish Doctor (Der jüdische Arzt)

A Jewish doctor is described as someone who will kill a German to save a Jew as he makes sure ‘that not one more Jew is saved from Hell’. Elvira Bauer is saying here that a Jew will always go to Hell when they die so the Jewish doctor is trying to stop that. This also implies that as they are going to Hell then they have gone against the teaching of God in this life. This is supposed to teach children that anything a Jew does is bad and if they do what a Jew does then they will go to Hell.

This section goes on to praise Der Stürmer for its antisemitic stance. This section also teaches children why you should not buy from Jewish shops and why there are no Jews in school. The colourful illustrations reinforce these points as they depict Jews plotting in a huddle next to crows while Der Stürmer is on the wall behind them. This again can be seen to show that according to the Nazis Jews were sneaky. The final part of this section which both the colourful picture and text show how fantastic the ‘Fatherland’ is without Jews.

The Führer’s Youth[]

The Führer's Youth (Des Führers Jugend, Jungvolk)

The final section of this book says that the strong German youth join the Hitler Youth (Jungvolk for boys aged 10–14 and Hitlerjugend for boys aged 14–18) to stand together as one nation. On the other hand, the Jews are told to go away. A picture of grumpy looking Jews walking under a sign that says ‘one-way road. Hurry. Hurry. The Jews are our misfortune’ and in the text the phrase ‘what a disgusting picture’ is used to show the antisemitic feeling. This shows that this book is teaching children that the quicker Germany gets rid of the Jews the better a country it will be. The Nazi Party and Hitler himself put great emphasis on training the Aryans for the future. Hitler wanted the German youth to be taught the greatness of the Third Reich and how to be a citizen of Germany. This was shown in his speech at the Nuremberg rally in 1935, to the Hitler Youth, when he says that the Hitler Youth has made Germany more ‘sturdy and disciplined’.^[21]

Symbolism[]

Elvira Bauer uses a number of animals to symbolise Jews throughout the book. The two animals that are used again and again are the fox and the crow. The fox in Greek legend often represented the devil but in Nazi Germany, other connotations were often given to the fox.^[22] Foxes were seen as sneaky and crafty and therefore fits well into anti-Jewish propaganda. The fox was also seen to be a carrier of rabies. By linking the fox with a Jew it reinforces the idea that was promoted by the Nazi propaganda that Judaism is a disease like rabies. The fox was very popular within German propaganda and films such as Reynard the Fox and the Jew Animal were produced depicting the link between the fox and the Jew. The other animal used throughout the book is the crow. This was often seen alongside a Jew. A crow often depicted a Devil's work and the fact that a crow is seen to be helping the Jew shows that the Jew is doing the Devil's work.

References[]

External links[]

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