We present a selection of posts with drawings and caricatures from a very special edition of the Soviet satirical magazine, “Krokodil”. More can be found at our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”!
Greetings on the coming Year of the 80th Anniversary of the Victory!
No doubt was left: the New Year of 1945 would finally bring Victory! As attested by the painting by L.Brodat on the cover of the combined issue №47-48 of “Krokodil” from December 1944.
🎄🎄🎄
— Who is coming?
— New Year!
— Password?
— Victory!
— Advance! *
🎄🎄🎄
* The final command — Advance! — is a play on the double meaning of the phrase “Coming New Year”, which translates literally as “Advancing New Year”, when at the same time, in the military context, the first word would also carry the meaning of “to attack” or “to charge”.
In the posts leading up to the New Year, we bring some of the drawings and caricatures from that issue of “Krokodil”. Some of them, as you will see, are surprisingly relevant now, in December of 2024!
At the Fascist Flee(ce) Market
The caricature by Yu.Ganf from the combined issue №47-48 of “Krokodil” from December 1944. It sums up the departing year in humorous detail, accompanied by a longer text with a month-by-month blow, which are translated below!
Let us admire the caricature in all its Bruegelesque detail, starting with the upper left corner.
There, we see a box labelled “Sold”, containing the puppets of the Nazi collaborationists: Hungarian Ferenc Szálasi and Yugoslavian chetnik Draža Mihailović. French Philippe Pétain is sleighed to join them, and he is seen saying in his delirium: “I am moving pretty fast in the German service.”
Next we see a booth with “Bullit and Co.” on it, referring to William Bullit, an American journalist and diplomat who was the US ambassador to France during WWII. He is selling “slander on the USSR” from a thick scroll, offering it to Goebbels with the words: “Would you like it in a single piece or sliced?”
A fat guy is walking, selling copies of his book: “Loval — Memoirs”, with the words “100 indecent anecdotes from my life.” We are unable to identify who this character is.
In the middle right, we can see a man with a suitcase sitting on the blocks of ice. He has Quisling written on his head, referring to the Norwegian collaborationist Vidkun Quisling, whos name became synonymous with treachery. Hitler is looking at him, pondering: “Maybe on ice, he’ll be preserved better than the others.”
We are left to wonder who it is vaulting over the fence in time to switch sides: is it Romania or Finland…
Moving on to the diary products booth in the upper right corner. There, Switzerland is selling Swiss Cheese “Neutral”, while a sign on the side of the same booth reads: “Weapons production for Germany”. The customers are heard complaining: “Even though the cheese is clear as a teardrop, it still smells bad.”
Our eye moves down to a guy holding lots of portfolios, and a sign: “Rachkevich — trading in ministerial portfolios”. This refers to Władysław Raczkiewicz, the president of Poland-in-exile.
One man is casually skating below the aforementioned Quisling, forming the word “Neutrality” with his skates. We can only assume that it represents Sweden.
Another person whom we assume to be Benito Mussolini, fell to his back with the words: “Should I get up? I’ll fall down again anyway.”
And finally we have the photographer Franko, taking “photographs for the passports”, with a subtext “(the passports get forged here at the same time)”. This refers to the practice of the Nazis acquiring new identity in Spain and then leaving off to, for example, Argentina or Canada.
The Year Was One Thousand Nine Hundred and Forty Four
— By D. ZASLAVSKY.
January. The Germans celebrated the New Year on the run. They were chased by the Red Army from Belaya Tserkov, Berdichev, Kirovograd, from Mozyr, from Novgorod, from Gatchina and Krasnoye Selo. Anglo-American troops landed south of Rome. But all the capitals of Western Europe were still under Hitler’s rule. Hitler was still talking somehow back then, and was heard saying that he would win.
February. February of 1944 has 29 days. The Germans had an extra day to receive blows from the Red Army. In the Zvenigorodka-Shpola area there was a cauldron. In the area of Korsun-Shevchenkovsky — a ring.
March. The southern German army was the first to rush to the Prut, to the Soviet state border. Others are hurrying after it. The Germans cleared Uman and Herson, occupied Budapest. Cleared from Nikolaev and Ochakov. Occupied Bucharest. The Finnish “ryuti” believes that “all is not lost yet”.
April and May. Preparations for the Soviet holiday season are beginning. The Red Army sweeps out the German manure together with German soldiers, officers and generals from Kerch and Simferopol, Yevpatoria, Yalta. Odessa is airing its streets after the Romanians.
June. The Red Army punched the Finns over the Karelian Isthmus (neck). Ribbentrop rushes to Helsinki, Keitel follows after Ribbentrop. He brought a gift from Hitler — a cross. But the Finns put a cross over [note: that is, bury] their friendship with Germany.
The Fascist geese did not save Rome. The German geese were chased north with a very long twig. The wise Baldwin wrote on June 6 that the German fortifications on the northern coast of France were impregnable. On June 6, Anglo-American troops landed on the northern coast of France. As a sign of respect for the insight of the American journalist, “Krokodil” decrees to name Baldwin for the first knight of the Order of the Stupid [note: Balda in Russia].
July. The Red Army liberates the capital of Belarus — Minsk, the capital of Lithuania — Vilnius. The liberation of Poland begins. Lublin was returned to the Polish people. Lvov has been returned to the Ukrainian people. The German generals, as a sign of gratitude, present their Führer with an explosive bomb. He who is destined to hang does not explode.
August. The path from Ploiesti to Bucharesci. Romania declared war on Germany. Bulgaria started stirring. Bur, Kukel, and other Bur-Kukel-like Raczkiewicz’es in Warsaw and London. [note: the name of Bur plays on the word “buryj” – “brown”]
September. Bulgaria gives the Germans a kick. The Germans were expelled from Estonia. France has been cleared of them.
A competition for the award of the Order of Stupid is held. Goebbels suggests: “We firmly believe, that the assassination attempt on Hitler was a turning point for the entire war”.
Ley says: “The situation on the Eastern Front has stabilised. The Bolsheviks did not join the Eastern Prussia, Riga was not occupied”.
The Order of Stupid was awarded to the Turkish General Er-kilet. He said, “The Bolsheviks are not in a position to enter East Prussia”.
October. The Red Army entered the Eastern Prussia. Riga has been liberated. The Germans are expelled from Aachen. In Hungary, instead of goulash, they only have Salashi. Hitler transported a herd of his satellites to a small town Fuschl. Horia Sima got into a fight with Laval over the bunk bed place.
Hitler decided to remain eloquently silent. He’s keeping silent.
The Order of Stupid is awarded to the Trans- Oceanic Agency. It announced: “It is doubtful that the Soviet command will be able to launch new major operations in Hungary before the onset of winter”.
November. The Red Army resumed major operations in Hungary. After the German army received ten trikes over the year, Hitler had a stroke. He lost his tongue. Hitler’s Germany had lost hope of salvation.
Franco hasn’t lost that hope yet. He proclaimed himself as a Spanish Democrat. The nations laughed a lot.
Switzerland has decided that the time has finally come to recognise the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union decided that the time had not yet come to consider Switzerland a peaceful and democratic country.
December. Salashi left Budapest into Hitler’s embrace. They talked with gestures. Salashi held out his hand. Hitler showed a bump. Mussolini was ordered to give his bunk to Salashi.
The offensive of the Red Army in the direction of Budapest and Vienna caused an unjustified lively commotion among the monarchs, deposited in a pawnshop and moth-eaten. Otto and Felix the Habsburgs, Ruprecht of Bavaria and Robert of Paris are dancing the quadrille. The Germans in Germany look at their diplomats with envy. The press attache of the German embassy escaped from Madrid with a Spanish passport. Seven employees of the German mission escaped from Stockholm. All with Swedish passports.