Erklärung Churchills / Erklärung Roosevelts – Allied German-Language Propaganda Leaflet, G.73. Provenance: Robert Hastings; The Churchill Collection of Steve Forbes

Original German-language Allied propaganda leaflet issued during the Second World War, printing statements by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt on unconditional surrender, liberation, post-war justice and the future of Axis-controlled Europe.

The leaflet is headed “Erklärung Churchills” on one side and “Erklärung Roosevelts” on the other. Churchill’s statement declares that the United Nations require the unconditional surrender of the Nazis, Fascists and Japanese tyrants, while making clear that Allied victory is not intended as an act of revenge against ordinary peoples. Roosevelt’s statement similarly reassures populations in Axis-controlled countries that unconditional surrender does not mean enslavement, but liberation from fascist rule and the restoration of political freedom and economic security.

This is a particularly strong example of Allied psychological warfare directed at German-speaking readers. Rather than simply threatening defeat, it attempts to separate Nazi leadership from the German population and to explain what Allied victory and unconditional surrender would mean in practical terms.

The leaflet is identifiable as G.73. Institutional examples are recorded in the Curt J. Zoller Churchill Collection at The Huntington Library, where it is listed as Woods α73, with German translations of statements by Churchill and Roosevelt. A related record notes that the same text appears in more than one format. Further examples are recorded in the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies leaflet holdings.

This copy is distinguished by excellent provenance. It was formerly in the collection of Robert Hastings, Churchill scholar and collector, before entering The Churchill Collection of Steve Forbes, publisher of Forbes magazine. Forbes assembled one of the most important private Churchill collections of recent decades, and the provenance is especially relevant here because Churchill’s statement is one of the two central texts of the leaflet.

Condition: Good. Age toning, handling marks and fold creases.

Date: c.1943
Code: G.73
Language: German
Format: Two-sided propaganda leaflet
Size: 13.1 x 19.4 cm
Provenance: Robert Hastings; The Churchill Collection of Steve Forbes

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