Antisemitic Propaganda on Banknotes in 1923 and 2024

It is now widely known that antisemitism exploded globally following the massacre carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Social media, of course, plays a significant role in spreading hatred against Jews, but antisemites sometimes also revert to tried-and-tested methods from the past.

A Jewish man withdrew money from an ATM near a Synagogue in Australia. This is what he found.

Recently, Australian Jewish Association published a post on X showing banknotes marked with swastikas and the phrase "Fuck Jews." Controversy about the authenticity of the banknotes arose almost immediately: according to “community notes,” the images were fake. However, the Australian SBS Examines investigated the notes and concluded that they were indeed genuine.

Remarkably, this method of propaganda is not new. In the 1920s, the Nazis in Germany used exactly the same approach to spread their ideas.

Antisemitism sharply increased in Germany after the First World War. Jews were blamed for the country's defeat, the Treaty of Versailles, and the catastrophic inflation that followed. Due to the inflation, coins had almost entirely disappeared from circulation, as paper money was easier to replace.

The backs of three 1000 Reichsmark notes with antisemitic and Nazi propaganda. The banknote on the left portrays Eugen Leviné (1883-1919), a Jewish communist revolutionary and one of the leaders of the short-lived Second Bavarian Soviet Republic.

Antisemitic factions and the Nazi Party recognized that paper money could be used as a propaganda tool. Initially, antisemitic messages were handwritten on the back of the notes, then typed, and eventually, the backs were overprinted with antisemitic images, texts, and election slogans for the Nazi Party.

By overprinting the backs of banknotes, the Nazis spread their messages to everyone who handled the currency. The 1000 Mark note of 15 September 1922, in particular, which became worthless within less than a year, became a favoured medium for such propaganda, and has been described by historians as the "Propaganda-Tausender".

That we are once again witnessing this type of propaganda in 2024 illustrates how fragile the ideals behind "never again" have become.

These banknotes, all from 1923, clearly show the depth of the inlation. The images below show the backs of the same banknotes with anitsemitic images and Nazi propaganda.