Propaganda vs Chapter title page

Chapter title page from Maus

Nazi Propaganda. ("Long Live Germany")

The comic Maus can be thoroughly analyzed for its symbolism, drawings, and allegorical methods of depicting the survival of the Holocaust. What isn't so obvious is the connection between the comic and Nazi propaganda, more specifically the chapter title pages. 

There are many similarities between the propaganda and the chapter title page. Firstly in both, the swastika is depicted on a big flag near the center of the page and is very attracting to the eye in both illustrations. Additionally, the flag is very free as it is hanging loosely, unlike the freedom of the Jews. The jews are restricted to Hitler's rule and have barely any freedom compared to the flag. Secondly, in both depictions, there's a crowd of characters looking toward the flag. While Spiegelman most likely illustrated the page in this manner to depict that the lives of the Jews are confined by the Nazi rule, which is shown through the large flag with the swastika symbol, the propaganda was illustrated like that to show how Nazi rule empowers everyone. 

Despite the similarities between both cartoons, the differences help to signify Spiegelman's purpose. In the chapter title page, it's clear that the mice are used to represent humans. He uses specific animals to portray different races to show certain stereotypical traits; the mice were used to represent the trait that Jews were the "vermin of mankind". He chooses mice because, on the literal side, mice are capable of spreading disease and destroying crops. On the other hand, the creator of the Propaganda most likely had one purpose in mind: to promote the racial superiority of the Nazis. While the people in the back can be inferred to be supporting civilians, the mice in the title page seem worrisome as if they have no other choice but to look up at the Nazi flag and be under Nazi rule. 

In the propaganda, the shining light from the dove evokes a spiritual and hopeful feeling. On the other hand, the black and white used in the title page evoke pure darkness and fear. Each detail correlates to the purpose of the illustration. 

Through using a structure similar to the Nazi propaganda, Spiegelman reveals an alternate meaning: the Jew's' perspective. The propaganda and title page both show the dominance of Nazi rule, but they both differentiate in showing who benefits from it and who has to pay the costs because of the rule.