PROPAGANDA POSTCARDS
(1940)

This page was last updated
30-Aug-2026 05:50

GERMAN RED CROSS FUND RAISER
(Oct 1940)

In Oct 1940 the German Red Cross issued a series of six postcards featuring images of linocuts designed by Georg Sluyterman von Langeweyde, for the purpose of raising funds for the organisation.



ABOVE LEFT: No. 1: Adolf Hitler Portrait
ABOVE LEFT CENTRE: No. 2: Medieval soldier with Cutlass
ABOVE RIGHT CENTRE: No. 3: Man with Club
ABOVE RIGHT: No. 4: Soldier with stick grenade



ABOVE LEFT: No. 5: Sun setting behind the rocks
ABOVE CENTRE: No. 6: Soldier's Graves under the tree
ABOVE RIGHT: No. 7: Medieval Knight on horseback

The cards are unnumbered so I have numbered them myself for ease of reference. The cards fall into two catagories, those inscribed Hilfswerk and those inscribed Kriegs-Hilfswerk. In addition to this set of six cards there was another series of cards with similar Sluyterman linocut images.

The cards were sold for 1 RM in a set within an illustrated envelope. There appears to have been at least seven versions (and likely more) of the these cards with the primary difference being the inscriptions on the envelopes and the vertical texts on the reverse side of the cards.

The Kriegs-Hilfswerk envelopes are inscribed "KREIGS-HILFWERK FÜR DAS DEUTSCHE ROTE KREUZ | Kriegsjahr 1940 | HERAUSGEGEBEN VON DER NSDAP ., KREIGLEITUNG MUNSTER-WARENDORF | PREIS 1.- RM". The KWHW envelope below contained images 1 to 5 and 7 (image 6 was not part of this 6 card set).

The Hilfswerk envelopes are inscribed "HILFSWERK FÜR DAS DEUTSCHE ROTE KREUZ | Kriegsjahr 1940 | preis 1. -RM"



ABOVE LEFT: Kriegs-Hilfswerk Envelope
ABOVE RIGHT: Hilfswerk Envelope

HILFSWERK ISSUES

1: A single line of text reads "Herausgegeben für das Hilfswerk des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes".



2: With one line of text "Herausgegeben von dem Gaubeauftragten für das WHW, Gau Baden"



3: Two lines of text "Herausgegeben von der NSDAP, Gauleitung Düsseldorf, für das Hilfswerk des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes"

KRIEGS-HILFSWERK ISSUES

1: Two lines of text that read "Herausgegeben von der NSDAP. Gaulleitung Köln-Aachen für das Kreigs-Hilfswerk des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes".



2: Printed by DRUCK ROHDEN ESSEN with two lines of text "Herausgegeben von der NS. Volkswohlfahrt. Gau Saarpfalz, für das Kreigs-Hilfswerk des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes"



3: Two lines of text "Herausgegeben von der Kreisleitung Essen der N.S.D.A.P, | für das Kriegs-Hilfswerk des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes



4: Herausgegeben von der NSDAP, Gauleitung Westfalen-Süd für das Kriegs-Hilfswerk des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes