Picked this at a coin show this weekend. It is rough but not even close to the worst example I have seen. The Germans dropped these over Paris in October of 1943. A translation can be found at the following link. http://www.psywarrior.com/WWIIGermanBanknotes.html http:// http://
Nice piece. I have never heard of these before; they are very interesting. In hindsight, we can so easily scoff at such propaganda. But I can imagine the time period. For one we had the ills of society blamed on a group of people; a theme that has repeated itself throughout history. And second, the fear of punishment made believers out of non-believers, and followers out of non-followers. It's hard to believe how such dark and twisted people were allowed to bring their heinous delusions to life, causing obscene suffering and death of millions. I think this was allowed to continue because of fear and retaliation. I can see how these flyers seized on our fears during war time, transformed those feelings into anger against the Americans and Jews, and raised support for the Axis. The $10 gold certificate has this written on it: True, this bill is not worth anything, but it is capable of saving your life. It makes it possible for you to go over to the German forces in safety. We call upon you to leave the partisans and come over to the German forces. With this pass in your hands you are exempt from all punishment. Deserter Pass. Don't shoot, take this man to the nearest German Command Post and treat him well. If I feared for my life, this propoganda would probably seem agreeable. I bet staying put was far more dangerous for many; especially when they saw neighbors and kin hunted by the SS. I wonder how many people deserted, and what happened to those who arrived at the German command post with these leaflets in hand, and were found to be Jewish, Gypsy or Communist. P.S. This thread is messed up. I wasn't able to open it for a few days due to some scripting errors.
That is an interesting thought. I to wonder if anyone was lured over by these gold certs. Is anyone else having trouble with this thread? I can repost the link and images if needed.
There is an issue with this thread, I`ve reported it by opening a thread in support/feedback section.
I had been trying to look for one and the only place that I have found them sold was on the Haritage Archive and there were only 4 sold through them. The guy I bought this one from said that this was only the 3rd he has seen in hand.
Has anyone else ever seen any of these WWII U.S. currency leaflets? I thought there were more WWII buffs here.
Here is mine. If you are looking for this type of thing, your best bet is to subscribe to the MPCGram (MPCGram@yahoo.com) and place a wanted ad in that publication.
