The Modern Hamlet. New York, 1941.
“The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never again escape from it.” — Joseph Goebbels
SZYK, Arthur. The Modern Hamlet “Aryan or Non-Aryan – That is the Question.” Signed and Dated “Arthur Szyk, N.Y. (19)41”. Black ink and pencil on paper. Sheet size: 5 7/8″ x 4″. Image size: 4 5/8″ x 3 1/2″. Marginal mat burn otherwise Very Good condition.
Making direct reference to Hamlet’s dark night of the soul (“To be or not to be…”) when he ponders suicide or continuing life, Szyk portrays Joseph Goebbels examining a human skull and deciding whether or not it looks Jewish. Goebbels was appointed Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda in 1933 and held this post until death in 1945. He was so totally and completely in awe of Hitler that he embraced and helped to create much of the racist policy that propelled the Third Reich.
One of the platforms of Nazi belief was that Jews were physically different, physically inferior to Aryans. Much as been written about the skull measurements, taken with precise calipers, by which Nazi doctors like Joseph Mengele scrutinized Jews and non-Jews that took the 19th century fascination with phrenology to another level. In this drawing Szyk spoofs Joseph Goebbels about to pass judgment on the macabre specter in his hands: “Aryan or Non-Aryan – that is the question.”
