DE AVONTUREN VAN FLITS, DE HERDER EN BULL, DE DOG
's Gravenhage [The Hague]: Uitgeverij "de Schouw" 1943. Item #42457
1st edition. Original color illustrated paper wrappers, 8vo, 12 pages. Includes color illustrations on every page. 21 cm. In Dutch.
Title translates as, “The Adventures of Flash the Shepherd and Bull the Dog.” An allegorical story written in verse about the defeat of Germany by Great Britain and the Allied forces in World War I and its reemergence, despite British opposition, as a great power, in which the chief characters are Flits, the German Shepherd (= Germany ) and Bull the Dog (=Great Britain). The story is Antisemitic in character, depicting German Jews as rats with protruding hook noses who steal the dogs' food.
This notorious book is the focus of a 2020 educational booklet for Dutch children about Nazi propaganda in World War II titled, “Tweede Wereldoorlog: Het propaganda-stripboekje Flits de Herder en Bull de Dog (1943)” [Second World War: The Propaganda Comic Book Flits…] which was produced with assistance from prof. dr. Kees Ribbens of the Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie. View this modern examination of the work, which includes the images from the original, at https://stripmakerdesvaderlands.nl/images/tweede-wereldoorlog_lores.pdf.
The Lambiek Comiclopedia notes that, “A rather more subtle form of propaganda was the comic book 'Flits de Herder en Bull de Dog'" Not sold in stores but published as a handout, "This booklet should have been distributed in all Dutch schools, but most teachers refused to do so and made it mysteriously disappear, which makes it a very rare item nowadays.” See images at https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/thom040avon01_01/thom040avon01_01_0001.php.
Cover title. Illustrations on pages 3 and 6 are signed in the print "Matho." Date of publication is inferred on OCLC from form on inside of back cover, which is designed as reply card [Antwoordkaart] which young readers can tear off and send in to win a prize (indeed, our rear cover was removed and sent in, as often found).
The illustrator, Marius J.G. Thomassen (1889-1971) “was a Dutch illustrator for advertisements and books, active in the first part of the 20th century. He became notorious for his pro-Nazi artwork during World War II, under the pen names Matho and Claudius. He drew the picture book 'De Avonturen van Flits, de Herder en Bull, de Dog' (1943), which portrays the German people as a caged German shepherd, justifying his ‘revenge’ against the other garden animals…..Thomassen…enroll[ed] at the Academy of Fine Arts in Liège, Belgium….
After the [First World] war Thomassen returned to the arts and cooperated with illustrator Rob Graafland for a year. One of his best-known creations during this period was a 1919 anti-Bolsjewism drawing in commission of the Dutch government, earning him praise from Minister of the Interior Ruijs de Beerenbrouck. Thomassen subsequently worked for the newspaper Het Nieuws van den Dag in Amsterdam and then headed for the United States. He found employment with the McClure Syndicate in New York City, while also working for Alfred Erickson's advertising agency (which later became McCann Erickson).
By 1923, he worked for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, illustrating articles and serials, and between 1925 and 1931 for the New York American. Thomassen eventually returned to…the Netherlands. He was an illustrator for newspapers like De Telegraaf and Haagsche Post….Thomassen spent part of the decade in the Dutch Indies (present-day Indonesia), heading the art department of the Batavia division of the Amsterdam advertising firm De Globe. Among his notable work was the design for the worldwide ‘Current Eater’ campaign of Philips electronics. Between 1932 and 1943, Thomassen also illustrated children's books for the publishing houses Van Goor, Malmberg, Leopold, Kluitman and Roskam……
During World War II, Thomassen gained notoriety for illustrating national-socialist children's literature….Under the pseudonym Matho, Thomassen drew the antisemitic propaganda booklet 'De Avonturen van Flits, de Herder en Bull, de Dog' (1943). The picture story was an allegory of the First World War and the build-up to the Second, portraying the major players as animals. The color drawings were accompanied by text captions on rhyme. Adolf Hitler is depicted as the caged German shepherd (Little) Flits, whose bowl is eaten empty by hook-nosed rats, shamelessly referring to the Jewish population. Flits is determined to break free, but forced back by the English bulldog (Winston Churchill), the French goose and the American donkey. The booklet ends with Flits deciding to take on the battle….
'Flits de Herder' was published by the Propaganda section of the Department of Information and Arts (‘Departement voor Volksvoorlichting en Kunsten’), a government department founded by the oppressor to bring the Dutch arts in line with the Nazi standards. Released in May 1943, the booklet was intended for distribution at primary schools. Several teachers actually refused to do so, making the booklet a present-day rarity. Under the pen name Claudius, Thomassen also illustrated several propaganda posters for the same department” (Lambiek Comiclopedia)
SUBJECT(S): Nazi propaganda -- Netherlands -- 20th century. World War, 1939-1945 -- Collaborationists -- Netherlands -- Juvenile fiction. Dogs -- Livestock -- Bears -- Chickens -- Animals -- Juvenile fiction. Jews -- Europe -- German Shepherd (Canine Breed) -- Novels, short stories, etc. for the youth. Diplomatic relations. Politics and government. Social conditions. Narrative poetry. Stories in rhythm. Fiction. Allegories. Rhyming stories. Europe -- Politics and government -- 1918-1945. -- Social conditions -- 1918-1933. OCLC: 179238993. OCLC lists only 3 copies outside the Netherlands (UChicago, Princeton, Wolfsonian-FIU). Lacks tear-off mail-in rear cover (as often found, no loss to story text or images), Front cover reattached at spine, toning to paper, but images generally remain bright and booklet is solid. Good Condition Thus. (Holo2-160-37A).
Price: $600.00