Skip to main content
Collections Menu
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
This Is the Enemy
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

This Is the Enemy

Artifact IDMO 2005.13.20.40
Object Type Poster
Artist (American, 1913 - 2000)
Artist (Syrian-American, 1912 - 1998)
Printer (American, founded 1904)
Printer (American, 1805 - 1984)
Date1942
Mediumpaper
Dimensionsoverall H 34 1/4 in x W 24 in (87 cm x 61 cm )
Physical DescriptionA color offset lithograph poster featuring a caricature image of a Nazi officer in uniform and wearing a monocle. Reflected in the monocle is a figure hanging from a gallows. Handwritten in ink in the lower left corner of the image: To President Franklin D. Roosevelt / From Artists for Victory / J. Scott Williams / Irwin D. Hoffman. Black text running below the image reads: This is the Enemy / Winner R. Hoe & Co., Inc. Award - National War Poster Competition / Held Under Auspices of Artists for Victory, Inc. - Council for Democracy - Museum of Modern Art. Artwork by Koehler and Ancona. Printed by the Grinnell Litho. Co., NY. Copyrighted by the R. Hoe & Co.


Historical NoteThis poster was a winning entry in a national poster competition held in 1942 by Artists for Victory, the Council for Democracy, and New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Two hundred posters (selected from over 2,200 entries) were displayed in the museum. Victor Ancona studied art at the Parsons School of Design and worked as a commercial artist and—after the war—as an advertising executive. He was an army private at the time of the competition. Little is known about Karl Koehler.
Additional Details
Credit LineGift of the Adriance Memorial Library
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesOriginal Posters from World War I and World War II (National Archives Identifier 739394)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestricted
CopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
In Collection(s)
Not on view