Chinese Atrocities poster, No. 1: Landlord at Gunpoint, 1956 US poster: A Lao-language photograph sheet numbered 1

Chinese Atrocities poster, No. 1: Landlord at Gunpoint (Lao poster distributed in Vientiane)

A Lao-language photograph sheet numbered 1. The upper photograph shows a uniformed man aiming a rifle at a kneeling man whose hands are tied behind him; the lower photograph shows two women, one weeping, seated on the ground. The red captions tell Lao readers that if they believe Communist propaganda their lives will look like this, and describe a 'landowner' with under two rai of land being taken to be killed. The tell is fear-appeal: the photographs are offered as the viewer's future.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Fear appeal Card stacking

Date: April 16, 1956
Period: Cold War
Made by: U.S. Information Agency (predecessor: State Department International Information and Educational Exchange Program), Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East series
Region: North America
Country: United States
Medium: Poster
Issuer type: State
Regime: Eisenhower Administration
Leader: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Audience: Foreign public
Purpose: Demonize
Themes: War and the military, Security and surveillance
Event: Cold War
Source: Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
Source: U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 306, Posters Distributed in Asia, Latin America, Middle East, retrieved October 4, 2026
Rights: Public domain (U.S. government work; NARA RG 306)
U.S. Information Agency / Department of State, April 16, 1956. National Archives, Record Group 306 (NAID 6948979, 306-PPB-112a).

Text on the object

Original (Lao) · read from the image, not independently checked

ຖ້າພວກພີ່ນ້ອງລາວ ເຊື່ອຄວາມໂຄສະນາຂອງພວກຄອມມຸຍນິສ [illegible] ຊີວິດຂອງພວກພີ່ນ້ອງກໍຈະເປັນດັ່ງພາບນີ້.

ໃນພາບນີ້ຄື "ເຈົ້າຂອງທີ່ດິນ" ຊຶ່ງມີນາບໍ່ເກີນສອງໄຮ່ ກຳລັງຖືກຄອມມຸຍນິສເອົາໄປຂ້າຖິ້ມ ພາບລຸ່ມຄື ພີ່ນ້ອງຂອງຜູ້ທີ່ຖືກຂ້າຕາຍ ກຳລັງຮ້ອງໄຫ້ດ້ວຍຄວາມສົງສານຊາຍຄົນນັ້ນ.

1

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

If Lao brothers believe the propaganda of the Communists, the lives of the brothers will be like this picture. In this picture is a 'landowner' with no more than two rai of rice land, who is being taken away by the Communists to be killed. The lower picture shows relatives of the person killed, weeping in grief for that man. 1

Lao script in a stylised face; uncertain words are marked [illegible]. Sheet number printed in a white circle.