War posters 1940-1945 > Resistance and terror in posters

After Mad Tuesday, on 5 September 1944, there was hardly any question of structured propaganda in the Netherlands. Space on advertising pillars in the last year of the war was taken up mostly by announcements from the local government, German threats and death sentences.

The underground called for mass resistance in their posters. Besides producing illegal magazines, the underground press also created illegal posters with some regularity. Their design was in shrill contrast with the professional, highly polished posters from official authorities. They were mainly text posters that called for resistance and offered moral support.

The official authorities themselves informed the population indirectly of resistance activities. Announcements and proclamations from the occupying forces and the government reported indignantly of attacks, strikes, assistance of allied fliers, listening to illegal transmissions, sabotage, etc. Perpetrators faced heavy punishment. These posters were mostly meant as a deterrent.

German announcements of executions that had been carried out evoked strong emotions. As the war progressed, acts of resistance were increasingly answered by death sentences. In the last year of the war, acts of sabotage and resistance assaults irrevocably resulted in summary executions.

Examples from this collection War posters 1940-1945

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