WW2 German Propaganda Playing Cards
showing satirical portraits of Allied leaders and politicians
Various sources report that this pack of cards was dropped over England as German WW2 propaganda to cast doubt in the general public over the way the Allied forces were running the war. However, this theory has never been proved and was probably a fantasy thought up to create mystery around these cards. We can now be almost certain that they were printed by Jacob Rheinberger in Bad Durkheim, Germany in 1942 and were then on sale to the German public.
The court cards all have satirical coloured drawings of Allied leaders and politicians, or depict the atrocities of the Allies.
The four queens show allegories of Brittania with Reuter spouting lies (spades), RAF bombing hospitals (clubs), exploiting the poor (diamonds) and exploiting ethnic groups in the colonies (hearts).
The Kings and Jacks depict various leaders and politicians from the Allied counties including:
King spades - Churchill (no introduction necessary) revealing his true self
King clubs - Edward Wood, 1st. Earl of Halifax. Foreign Secretary and ambassador to the USA in 1940
King hearts - Anthony Eden, Foreign Secretary from 1935-38 and later political war executive. A close confident of Churchill.
King diamonds - Alfred Duff Cooper, military and political historian. Minister of information under Churchill and eventually ambassador to France.
Jack spades - Marshal Edward Rydz-Smigły. Polish politician, Marshal of Poland and commander in chief the Polish army. Escaped to Romania but went back to Poland to fight in the Warsaw resistance.
Jack clubs - Edvard Beneš, president of Czechoslovakia before and after WW2. Fled to London after the German invasion and had a spy called Agent A-54 in German military intelligence.
Jack hearts - Ahmed Zogu, zelf proclaimed King Zog 1 of Albania from 1928. Fled to Greece after the Italians invaded taking most of the treasury gold with him. Eventually settled in England.
Jack diamond - Paul Reynaud, prime minister of France during the German defeat in 1940. Arrested by Petain administration and imprisoned in Germany & Austria until 1945.
Joker - Stalin in a Fools costume sitting on a skull.
(Note. these are my own interpretation of the cards, so may not be 100% accurate)
The pack was issued as 52 cards plus 2 Stalin jokers, or as a Skat pack with 32 cards only.
References:
Cartorama 66 nr.169, Cartorama 68 nr. 113
Braun 241, Cary collection 382, Fournier 280
All cards shown are from the collection of Paul Symons ©

By Paul Symons
Member since February 01, 2016
I'm British but I have now lived in the Netherlands for more than 50 years and am still enjoying every minute of it. I started collecting playing cards in the early 1980’s after speaking with my neighbour who was at that time a croupier in a casino. I started with just collecting jokers, but that soon led me to complete packs of cards and eventually to specialising in old and antique playing cards, particularly those of C.L. Wüst of Frankfurt, Germany. I am presently the Dutch representative of the I.P.C.S. and the auctioneer at the IPCS conventions.
Related Articles

Zürcher Festspiel 1903
Swiss-suited pack designed by Robert Hardmeyer featuring figures from art and politics.

Songs with Flute accompaniment
Eighteenth century English engraved cards with music for voice and flute.

Love Tests
Vintage novelty “Love Test” cards of a slightly saucy nature but all in good fun!

Briefmarken-Quartett
Quartet game featuring postage stamps from the Zones of Occupation in post-WWII Germany.

Ben 10 playing cards
Characters from the American animated television science fantasy series Ben 10.

IG Chemie Papier Keramik
Promotional pack designed by Karl-Heinz Schroers for a German trade union with comical bears on the ...

Doctor Who Trump Card Game
Game for two players in which Doctor Who and the Legendary Legion join battle with the Alien Hordes....

Disney’s Aladdin playing cards
Characters from the 1992 Disney film Aladdin.

2011 Worshipful Company Pack
Celebrating the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens, with characters adapted from drawings b...

Jockey Club de Buenos Aires
Spanish-suited pack by Chas Goodall & Son Ltd for the Jockey Club, Buenos Aires.

New interest in old games
Games once fashionable are now eclipsed by quicker gratifications.

Polygo™
Cards of irregular, four-sided shape for playing word and colour games as well as more traditional o...

Treasures from the Bodleian Library
Rare books, manuscripts, music scores, portraits, maps, gospels, chronicles and other valuable artef...

Seminole Wars deck
Seminole Wars deck by J. Y. Humphreys, Philadelphia, c.1819.

Engel-Tarot
Set of major arcana designed by Alois Hanslian depicting angels throughout.

Virgil Solis
Remarkable pack of 52 animal-suited playing-cards designed and etched by Virgil Solis.
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days