Seven Issues of the Hungarian Antisemitic Newspaper Herko-Pater – 1897

Seven Issues of the Hungarian Antisemitic Newspaper Herko-Pater – 1897

A collection of seven issues of the rare and venomous antisemitic weekly Herko-Pater, published in Budapest. These issues contain a wide range of large caricatures mocking Jews and warning against an alleged Jewish takeover of the Hungarian economy and government. The magazine consistently delivers the message that Jews are the root cause of all of Hungary's societal problems, making it one of the earliest and most extreme antisemitic publications known today.

Issues:

February 21, 1897

April 25, 1897

June 20, 1897

July 6, 1897

August 8, 1897

September 19, 1897

Selected cover illustrations:

February issue: A large caricature of a laughing Jew and three Jews conspiring, with an antisemitic caption: "When the Jew is happy, the Hungarians are nervous.", April issue: A Hungarian man holding a dog asks a rabbi to "bless my dog." The rabbi responds by blessing it to die…, June issue: A Jew is depicted sitting on the ruins of Hungary, smugly stating, "That wasn’t difficult...", September issue: A Hungarian is shown strangling a Jew, with a caption suggesting that, thanks to Herko-Pater, it has become difficult for Jews to walk the streets, August issue: A depiction of "the Jewish rag, " furthering dehumanizing stereotypes, Throughout all issues, articles filled with antisemitic incitement against Jews appear,  

The weekly, which is published every Sunday by Julius Markus, focused on presenting the stereotypical figure of the Jew in a ridiculous and blatant way. On the cover of each issue appears a large antisemitic cartoon mocking Eastern European Jews, and hateful words about his attempt to take over the Hungarian centers of power and rule. In many of the issues the middle pages were devoted to a large antisemitic cartoon over two pages. In all issues there are articles, poems, folk tales, and harsh antisemitic columnists dealing with the Jewish character in a racial way and the danger it poses to Hungarian society. The figure of the Jew shown in the cartoons appears in two ways - in long Eastern European attire and long sidelocks, and otherwise in the form of the rich Westerner who threatens the economy.

The new Hungarian Kingdom, founded in 1867, first enacted the Emancipation Law, which gives Jews equal rights to all citizens of the country. In 1895 further progress was made and even the Jewish religion was recognized as one of the religions in the country, and gained equal status with the Catholic religion and the Protestant religion. As a result, the proportion of Jews among the leaders in economic, commercial, legal, and cultural life rose rapidly toward the end of the 19th century. While their share of the general population was about four percent, about half of the merchants, doctors and lawyers were Jews. As a result, a widespread antisemitic awakening began, whose flagship theme was MP Victor Ishtuzi. Against this background, the weekly before us was published. The purpose of the issues was to highlight the different and to emphasize the inferiority of the 'undeveloped' Eastern European Jew in the face of Hungarian 'contemporary' society, in order to fight the recognition that the Jews received in terms of consciousness. In the various issues, countless cartoons appear in the form of the backward Eastern European Jew, and his attempts to take over Hungarian society. In some of the issues the Jew was depicted in the form of various animals, a long time before Nazi anti-Semitism which made extensive use of this image. It was one of the first issues that exaggerated to such an extent the image of the Jew.

Due to the rarity of the issues, although they contain countless antisemitic cartoons, there is almost no mention of this weekly in the extensive literature dealing with the study of the phenomenon of antisemitism in the 19th century, nor an analysis of the many cartoons that appeared in it. No mention at all in "Die Juden in der Karikatur" which was published in 1921.

7 complete issues. Overall good condition.