Fig..John Heartfield,Die Rote Fahne,May,cover,Deutsches Historisches Museum.
CopyrightThe HeartfieldCommunity of Heirs/Artists Rights Society (ARS), NewYork/VG
Bild-Kunst Bonn.
In May1928, on the streets ofBerlin and elsewhere, Heartfield’sposters
could be found on apartment buildings, underpasses, and construction fences
wherethey took on the appearance of artist’smultiples, with their rows ofraised
hands suggesting an almostreligious form of supplication (see figure17.2). One
week before the election,Five Fingersappeared again on the front pageofDie
RoteFahne,the dailynewspaper of the KPD,with the fingertips now reaching
across its masthead,atellingindication of the infiltration of writing by more ag-
gressive impulses. On election day, the number“ 5 ”(i.e., the number under
which theKPDwas listed on the ballot) acquired an even more dangerous qual-
ity whenthe newspaper’sfront pageshowed five Weimarpoliticians, includinga
memberofthe SPD,hanging from noosesattachedtothese numbers,ashocking
illustration of the KPD’ssocial fascism thesis (see figure17.3).⁷Oneyear later,the
Cover ofDie RoteFahne,20May 1928.The“victims”areChancellorWilhelm Marx,Foreign
Minister GustavStresemann, Interior MinisterWalthervonKeudell (spelledKeudel here), former
Interior MinisterWilhelmKülz, SPD politicianArthur Crispien, and NSDAP leaderAdolf Hitler.
306 Chapter 17