Real poignant piece from WW2. This is one of those ultra rare pieces being sold at EMP this week. The image says it all, but here's the narrative:
Ersatzkommando der Waffen SS (literally translates to "Replacement Command of the Waffen SS"), the 1943 Belgian World War II (WWII) recruitment poster created by the German occupying forces (likely aimed at Flemish men), and featuring Bertau art of a giant SS symbol literally slaying a Jewish/Bolshevik red dragon, with the silhouette of a German soldier holding a grenade in the background. Note that this is a fascinating poster on many levels. Toward the end of World War II, Germany had a massive need for more soldiers, and they actively recruited in some of the countries they occupied, including Belgium, where they targeted Flemish men. The poster has really wild art of the SS symbol (worn by Nazi members of the Schutzstaffel, the paramilitary brand of the Nazi Party that operated throughout German occupied Europe) literally stabbing a fallen red dragon, which has human remains by it, indicating that the dragon has been literally eating its victims. The dragon has a chain around its neck with both a Jewish star and a red Communist star with a hammer and sickle emblem. If you wonder why a dragon was chosen as the symbol, it was likely partly because the dragon was associated with the beast from The Book of Revelations, and also with Satan, and of course, Germany's greatest folk hero, Siegfried, slew a dragon, and no doubt the poster designer was looking for those parallels!
