Sicard

1943 · 53656 — Paris: Bureau Central de Presse 1943. First edition. Softcover. vg- to near fine. Small folio. 12 x 10 1/2". Unpaginated. 48 double-sided leaves approx. 100 pages. Illustrated lithographic cover with photo-montage and text in black and yellow. <br /> <br /> A French right-wing collaborationist and anti-Communist publication issued during the Nazi-occupation. This massive publication was quite lavishly produced for a piece of propaganda and is profusely illustrated throughout with hundreds of striking images some full-page including b/w and cyan tinted photogravure as well as drawings photo collage photo-montage reproductions of original documents and artwork and political caricatures. Also included are a few charts and statistical tables.<br /> <br /> The text is divided into more than 20 different sections or articles written by a large number of prominent French collaborationist and right-wing political figures journalists and writers of the period. These include Maurice-Ivan Sicard 1910-2000 also the director/ editor Maurice Laporte 1901-1987 Émile Bougère 1903-1964 Lt. Colonel Paul Gamory-Dubourdeau 1889-1963 Jacques Ploncard d'Assac 1910-2005 Armand Bernardini 1895-1972 artist and cartoonist Ralph Soupault 1904-1962 Cardinal Alfred Baudrillart 1859-1942 and others. Many contributors to this publication were involved in the infamous right-wing and anti-Semitic periodical Le Cahier Jaune 1941-1943 published by André Chaumet. The content throughout include tirades against the Soviets International Communism Jews and many other entities. Numerous specific figures of the Soviet State are singled for direct attack. There are constant praises for the Nazis Fascism and the Franco regime as well as discussions of the Russian Revolution and the Spanish Civil War among other related topics. Notable sections include a detailed analysis of prominent Jewish communists and Jewish Soviet figures including photo portraits and an analysis of so-called "Bolshevik Art" which in a similar way to the Nazi concept of "Degenerate art" labels works of the modern art and the 20th century avant-garde as being instruments of International Communism and the plots of nefarious Jewish art dealers to steal patrons' money. Shown are photogravure reporductions of works by Picasso Leger and others no credits.<br /> <br /> The text of the title refers to the infamous Katyn Massacre 1940 in which more than 20000 members of the Polish military and intelligentsia where executed by the soviet NKVD under the orders of Stalin. The dead were then buried in mass graves in the Katyn forest and later uncovered by the Nazis in 1943. News of the discovery was effectively used by the Germans as anti-Soviet propaganda in publications such as this warning against the dangers of Bolshevism. The final section of this publication addresses the massacre specifically and includes images of the mass graves. <br /> <br /> The back cover is a striking photographic image showing crosses in silhouette accompanied by a quote from French poet and essayist Charles Peguy. The interior front cover contains a full-page visual diagram showing the organization of the International Communist party inside France.<br /> <br /> Text throughout in French.<br /> <br /> Wrappers with some light rubbing creasing and chipping to extremities. Small residue from tape along the spine. Wrappers overall quite clean and vibrant. Save for the most minor age toning to the edges of the pages the interior is clean and vibrant throughout. Wrappers in very good- inteiror in near fine condition overall. Quite scarce. Protected in modern mylar. Bureau Central de Presse unknown