Brief Description |
A single sheet of paper, attached to a backing card, is titled "La Lusitania Torpille: Une Victoire Navale Allemande". Images of two coins are below the headings and the entire document is in French. It is a satire on the sinking of the Lusitania.
This translates as: "It is with joyful pride we contemplate this latest achievement of our navy. Kolnische Volkzeitung , May 10, 1915.
This medal was struck in Germany in order to keep in German hearts the memory of the glorious feat of the German Navy, when a German submarine torpedoed intentionally an unarmed ship, having on board 1,198 non-combatants, men, women and children."
On the face of the coin, under the caption "No Contraband " (Keine Banntoare!), we see the Lusitania sinking. The artist has shown on board the ship guns and airplanes that the Lusitania did have (such as government officials of the United States had certified, after checking the contents of the ship); and he forgot to represent women and children that the Lusitania had on board, as everyone knows.
On the reverse, under the caption "Business First" (Geschaft uder Alles), we see Death, sitting at the counter of the office of the Cunard Line, give tickets to passengers who refused to give the slightest attention to warnings that were given them by a German. The artist wanted to expose the German excuse that if a murderer warns the victim he intends to kill, the victim, not the killer, becomes responsible for the crime.
|