Herrenvolk

Decorated but bedraggled Nazi officers surrender to an unseen opponent in a bleak, wintry landscape. The caricatured officers are attired in very unorthodox vestments, including women’s bloomers, slips, shawls, rags, and lace, attesting to their dramatic lack of preparedness for the brutal Russian winter. Such depictions of Nazi soldiers were common for the time and served both to feminize and demean them, as well as to chastise their military oversights and pillaging. Here the exaggerated facial features are rendered more brutal by the woodcut technique, which also makes the icy landscape appear more jagged and stark.