La Bourse [The Paris Stock Exchange]

Artist unknown
Date unknown
lithograph on paper
Estate of Richard N. Tetlie ’43 in honor of Evelyn Ytterboe Tetlie and Joseph Tetlie

This poster uses hyperbolic language of antisemitic clichés familiar to French citizens of the time to incite feelings of racism. A stereotypically depicted Jew and the architecturally commanding Bourse (Paris stock exchange) are rendered in contrasting yellow and black, a color pairing common in antisemitic imagery. In addition, the yellow appearing here with green connotes disease and contagion, especially typhus and syphilis. The figure devouring a matzoh wafer shaped like France dramatically and unmistakably presents “the Jew” as a grave threat to national existence. Blood dripping from the figure’s mouth references the charge of blood libel, alleging Jewish slaughter of Christian children for religious ceremonies. The grays of the stormy sky, the Jew’s mask-like face, and the Bourse’s hulking stone exterior complete the overall sense of menace. These symbols, overwhelmingly derogatory when taken together, heighten fear of the “enemy” by preying on deeply seated prejudices.