Can Posters Kill? Anti-semitic Propaganda and World War II
A chilling young adult, non-fiction book that deep dives into the influence posters had before, during and after World War II, Can Posters Kill? Anti-semitic Propaganda and World War II by Jerry Faivish and Kathryn Cole examines propaganda of the past to lead discussions about influence and how media can shape thoughts and opinions.
Throughout this book, Jerry Faivish shows images of posters he has collected over many years of propaganda used by the Third Reich and its allies to show readers how easy it is to be influenced by imagery and story. The images are chilling and a visual reminder of the atrocities that took place during this time and how the Nazis were able to rise to power and perhaps why so many were behind the cause. Each haunting image is accompanied by a detailed, comprehensive and thoughtfully considered explanation of the image as well as how, when and by whom the image was created and what the purpose of the image was, what the image was trying to convey to citizens to justify their horrific actions.
In Ontario, learning and discussions about World War II are found in the grade 6 and grade 10 curriculum. This non-fiction text is for readers ages 13 and up so most appropriate for those in grade 10 but I wouldn’t rule out its use in a grade 6 classroom with discretion and careful planning.
The images contained in the book will be quite upsetting for all readers however, the preservation of these items allows readers to be critical thinkers about the use of imagery to create false narratives and skew a whole population's views about those they conceive as “other”. It is a very easy path from these propaganda posters to discussions of the use of social media to influence opinions and politics and to draw parallels between what happened then to what we see happening now all over the world. This book is an excellent anchor text to spur discussion about media, especially social media today, and how to look critically at information to determine what is true and what is false.
