Enemy Ears Are Listening (OWI Poster No. 5)
Three heads side by side, Mussolini in a peaked cap, Tojo in round glasses and Hitler, each with one hand cupped behind an ear, above the banner 'Enemy Ears Are Listening'. The three leaders stand in for an unseen listening threat in ordinary conversation.
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Office of War Information, Graphics Division (OWI poster no. 5), printed by the Government Printing Office; artist Ralph Iligan
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Event
- World War II
- Techniques
- Fear appeal
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- UNT Digital Library, University of North Texas Libraries (World War II Posters collection), ark:/67531/metadc148, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. federal work; federal imprint on poster)
UNT Libraries, UNT Digital Library, World War II Posters (metadc148). Rights basis: federal imprint/credit: 'U.S. Government Printing Office: 1942' and the Office of War Information credit on the poster.
Text on the object
ENEMY EARS are listening
Small print at lower left (an OWI Graphics Division address for additional copies and 'OWI Poster No. 5') and lower right (U.S. Government Printing Office imprint, 1942) is too small to read reliably and is not transcribed in full.
