(The Attacker), Nazi weekly newspaper founded by Julius Streicher. It was first published in the spring of 1923, and shut down on February 1, 1945, after a major drop in circulation.
Originally, Streicher used the newspaper to attack his local party enemies. In the years before Hitler came to power, the paper dealt mostly in sex scandals, crime, and political sensationalism. Over time, Der Stuermer became more antisemitic. By the time Hitler took power in 1933 the newspaper had a following of 25,000 and was virulently anti-Jewish. By 1938 the paper was selling 500,000 copies a week. Germans would gather around newspaper displays protected by Stuermer guards.
The paper included easy-read articles that were low-level and hostile. However, the highlight of Der Stuermer was the antisemitic cartoons drawn by Philipp Rupprecht ("Fips"), which depicted contorted, ugly Jews with hooked noses, huge ears and lips, hairy bodies, and crooked legs. He also portrayed the Jews as sexually perverted. Fips succeeded in creating an aura of hatred around Jews by distorting and mocking them.
Nine special editions were put out after 1933, coinciding each year with the annual Nuremberg rally. These editions helped strengthen the Nazi claim that the Jews were less than human.
