The Story of Hitler, Germania and Co. - Paul Ordner

To mark the end of the Second World War in a different way, L'Esprit du Temps reissues an illustrated collection paying tribute to the fighters of the Liberation of France in 1945. A work whose sharp, incisive and strikingly accurate drawings constitute an exceptional historical testimony.

This work is a faithful reproduction of the first edition of the book commissioned from Paul Ordner by the Mouvement de Libération Nationale (MLN) to celebrate, at the beginning of 1945, the liberation of France and the imminent Allied victory over the Nazi hydra.

The drawings, reproduced identically, are presented, commented upon and placed in their context by Yves Buffetaut, the renowned historian and specialist in the Second World War.

Paul Ordner, a celebrated sports and political cartoonist of the mid-twentieth century, of Polish Jewish origin, depicts in 26 drawn tableaux the rise to power, the ascent, the misdeeds and the fall of the terrible couple formed by Adolf Hitler and Germania.

During the interwar period he contributed humorous drawings to the greatest newspapers of the time. A cartoonist appreciated in France as well as in England for his sports illustrations, he was hated in Germany for his positions and his anti-Nazi drawings. He evaded the Germans during the Occupation while continuing his satirical and humorous work. He continued to draw until 1969, the year of his death.