Adolf Hitler and the Cartoonists
W.A. Coupe argues that German cartoonists ridiculed Hitler as a Chaplinesque little man, so it was easy not to take him seriously – until it was too late.
Writing to Thomas Mann on September 6th, 1932, Karl Arnold, the Simplicissimus cartoonist, complained that 'while the cartoonist today has more material than in the Wilhelmine era, the Williams of today unfortunately behave in such a fashion that they are already caricatures in themselves, and so it is often difficult to make their absurdity appear ridiculous'. The comment refers to a caricature of Hitler that Mann had praised (Ill. XII), and points strongly to the perplexities the general public and cartoonists alike experienced when faced with 'this absurd little man with the ridiculous moustache and funny accent'.
His preposterous, cliche-ridden rantings, the obvious and insistent stage-managing of his appearances surely must be a political charade, a grotesquely over-exaggerated act designed to fascinate the ignorant and the stupid. Certainly his programme, with its blatant appeal to the worst prejudices in the German public, its obvious combination of incompatibles, and its evident attempt to be all things to almost all men, seemed to debar him from being regarded as a serious politician.
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