Erich Ohser (aka E.O. Plauen) was born in 1903 in Adorf, small outlaying in Vogtland. During a short professional career, he worked for magazines such as Vorwärts (=Forward), illustrating satirical representations of Joseph Goebbels and Adolf Hitler. Obviously, these endeavors earned him the enmity of the Nazis, and he was prohibited from practicing his trade under an order of professional disqualification (=Berufsverbot). He continued to work under pseudonyms, and from 1940, began again to produce cartoons on political themes. He was arrested on charges of expressing anti-Nazi opinions (reichsfeindliche Äußerungen). Sadly, Ohser committed suicide in jail 24 hours before his trial.
I accidentally discovered some of his comic strips dating back to the 1930s. His art has been an intriguing subject for me. Elements of his political orientation were interwoven into his modern aesthetic flavor. His satirical caricatures or cartoons, frequently accompanied by Erich Knauf's articles, expressed his political stance against National Socialism. The interesting aspect is how an artist channels ideas under a rigid censorship regime. The notorious Father and Son series is probably the most popular work by Ohser that captivated readers between 1934 to 1937. The adventures of the funnily depicted duo gave the artist a veiled platform to express his views.
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