"Ran an den Speck, jagt die Militaristen weg!": pledge boot for the 10th anniversary of the GDR, Neubrandenburg district
A woman, a man and a village official hold a giant black seven-league boot lettered 'Ran an den Speck, jagt die Militaristen weg!' The slogan runs a farm-production pledge drive together with a label for opponents ('militarists'), so a request for more beef, milk and eggs is joined to a political enemy.
- Date
- June 1, 1959
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- ADN-Zentralbild (GDR state news agency), photographer Wendorf; village councils of Altentreptow district, Neubrandenburg
- Country
- East Germany
- Medium
- Photograph
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Leader
- Otto Grotewohl
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Themes
- Labor, Home front
- Event
- Cold War
- Techniques
- Name-calling
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archive), Bild 183-64659-0001, via Wikimedia Commons, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- CC BY-SA 3.0 de (Bundesarchiv release on Wikimedia Commons; file page states the licence)
Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-64659-0001 / Wendorf (Zentralbild) / CC-BY-SA 3.0
Text on the object
Ran an den Speck, jagt die Militaristen weg !
Get at the bacon, chase the militarists away!
Read from the 800 px image; the text curves along the boot, line breaks as on the object. 'Ran an den Speck' is an idiom (go at it with vigour); the translation is literal.
