The opinion in the cartoon is very negative, openly condemning the course of the Nazi party. This is not to say that the communist party did not have it's own form of oppression against the Jews and other religions, this cartoon is as form of propaganda promoting the good of the communist lifestyle and ideology while showing the open corruption of the bourgeois capitalist system and in particularly the fascist rule over Germany. As all newspapers were censored in Russia, as in Germany what the ruling body wanted to publish was published. Therefore the opinion follows the beliefs of the communist party and there motives and opinion. This translates into the cartoon showing that the pillaging was brutal and unnecessary. That the Nazi party is essentially corrupted and evil destroying any who get in its way.
The message of this cartoon is that Kristallnact was a pre-meditated event designed to brutally murder the Jews. The figure of the tsar, who committed a similar crime and didn’t get away with it consequently being killed, the same will happen to the nazi's. The lack of respect shown towards the Nazis is obvious as this cartoon was drawn in 1938, a year before the Nazi-Soviet pact by using phrases such as ''my fascist friend'' which are full of sarcasm and irony. The obvious disapproval of the actions of the party and the way, in which the communist party feels that justice will be done to the perpetrators, this cartoon radiates the message ''watch out, or you'll end up like our tsar''.
A British magazine drew source G, published on the 30th of November 1938. The policy of appeasement, which had been followed, for so many years by Britain and France towards Germany had stopped with the realisation that it was not working after all of Czechoslovakia had been invaded. There are three main characters in the cartoon. At the front and most prominent is Germania- representational of all the German people. She has been tied up with her hands behind her back and her feet in shackles-a slave to the will of the Nazi party. Gagged to represent the fact that the German's are not allowed freedom of speech. It shows that the people in Germany have been effectively silenced and bound to the Nazi party's ideals and rules. There is no escape. The second character in the cartoon is a Nazi Officer in the uniform of the SS, standing tall with an aggressive air one hand raised in triumph while the holds a baton. The third character is under his feet- a Jew who has been beaten to death by the officer.
Behind all the characters across a barren wasteland a city is burning emitting black smoke showing how the Jewish property has been destroyed. Germania is placed within a mausoleum showing how the day the nazis came into power was the death for the German people, now defenceless shown by her sword and shield, the sign of Germany defence discarded to one side along her chained body.
The opinion of the cartoon is that the events that occurred on Kristallnact were wrong and evil despite the claims of the German government which until recently before would have been believed under appeasement. Hitler had just invaded Czechoslovakia despite his word that he wouldn't, mistrust among the Britons was staring to appear. He was not a man to be trusted; his treatment of the Jews had been unacceptable. It houses a similar opinion to the source F in its condemnation of the action taken by the German government over Kristallnact. Public opinion in favour of Hitler had all but disappeared, represented in this cartoon.
The message of the carton is slightly different to source F. Source F warns of the consequences to Hitler of his actions, while Source G is more directed at the British Public as a challenge. It challenges people at the time to look at what evil had occurred in Germany, highlighting that the German people were innocent in Kristallnact. The question is then directed-What are you going to do about it? The magazine is asking the public and the British government to intervene in the events occurring in Germany, now that appeasement is at an end. That is this cartoons message.
In conclusion, I believe in order to look at the similarity of the two cartons, you must be able to look at the differences between the two cartoons. There are very few differences between the two cartoons but they are important differences. The first main difference between the sources is the style. Source F is lighter and less serious than the dark, brooding style of Source G, though both contain a serious message. The second is that Source F depicts the SA as carrying out the murders and destruction, while Source G shows the SS to be the culprits. Using my own knowledge I believe Source F to be more accurate in this sense. Both sources agree that Jews were murdered and their property looted and destroyed by German military officers using weapons such as clubs and in one-source knives. The most important aspect is though the messages of the cartoons. Both sources agree that Hitler and the Nazi party were involved in the murders on Kristallnact, and that they must be punished and stopped. This is where the similarity of the messages stop though, source F does no more just stating that the party must be prevented from committing any more murders or atrocities. Source G however challenges the people reading to do something actively in preventing Hitler and the Party from continuing. This challenge marks the two sources apart and there similarities and differences, though they both are in favour of preventing any more events from occurring.
J.Harratt