STUERMER 
 The Stuermer (The Attacker), Nazi weekly newspaper with a wide circulation that addressed itself to man's basest and most primitive instincts 
 Founded by Julius Streicher, Der Stuermer was first published in the spring of 1923. Its initial targets were Streicher's local party enemies in Nuremberg. The mainstay of the paper during the Weimar period was scandal, at first chiefly sensational political journalism, sex, and crime. Throughout this time, its anti-Semitic tone increased. When Hitler took power in 1933, Der Stuermer was already one of the most popular Nazi publications, selling about twenty-five thousand copies weekly. By then its anti-Semitic campaign was in full swing. It sought by means of unrestrained propaganda and demagoguery to promote the idea that the Jews were the chief enemy of the Germans, and of all man kind. With the slogan "Die Juden sind unser Ungluck" ("The Jews are our misfortune"), the weekly reached a circulation of about half a million copies by 1938. The actual readership was larger than the circulation figures suggest, owing to marketing and promotional techniques. Der Stuermer was initially sold by street vendors and small news dealers; eventually, it was advertised by means of showcase displays put up in places where people naturally congregated - bus stops, busy streets, parks, and factory canteens. The displays were changed weekly, and were protected against vandals by "Stuermer guards." These showcases became part of everyday life in the Third Reich. The style of the paper was crude, aggressive, and easily comprehensible; the articles were composed of simple, clear sentences, blunt and repetitive. The most striking element was the anti-Semitic cartoons, which became the paper's highlight after the work of Philipp Rupprecht ("Fips") first appeared on the front page on December 19, 1925. "Fips," a master caricaturist, sought to make the subjects of his cartoons contemptible through ridicule. His drawings were vivid and revolting. The essential characters in "Fips" caricatures showed the Jews with ugly faces with huge hooked noses, bulging eyes, large ears, swollen lips, and unshaven beards; long hairy arms and hands; and short crooked legs. They were also portrayed as sexually perverted. "Fips" was a master at drawing sensuous female figures as well, which contributed significantly to Der Stuermer's appeal. After 1933, nine special editions were published, often timed to appear at the annual Nuremberg rally, focusing on themes such as ritual murder by Jews, Jewish criminality, the world Jewish conspiracy, and Jewish sexual crimes. Circulation dropped sharply after 1940, owing partly to wartime paper shortages, although Hitler assured Der Stuermer enough paper to continue publication. However, the major reason for the reduced circulation (it dropped to under 200,000), was the disappearance of Jews from everyday life in Germany. The final issue appeared on February 1, 1945, denouncing the invading Allies as tools of the international Jewish conspiracy.