Krokodil No. 41 (151), October 1925: Germany Is Hiring Herself Out (cover, Radakov)

Magazine cover: a worn woman in an apron, a purse marked with an Iron Cross on her arm, stands before a complacent seated man with a pipe, a woman in red with a lorgnette and a bulldog. The mistress tells her she will be the household's only maid and may live 'in the Polish corridor'. Casting the German state as a servant taken on by the Western powers is the name-calling tell: the label does the argument.

Date

October 1925

Period

Interwar

Made by

Krokodil (Крокодил), illustrated satirical weekly published in Moscow by the Pravda publishing house; cover by Aleksei Radakov

Region

Eastern Europe and Eurasia

Country

Soviet Union

Medium

Print

Issuer type

Media

Regime

Soviet Union

Leader

Alexei Rykov

Audience

Domestic public

Purpose

Demonize

Themes

War and the military, Economy and finance

Event

Locarno Treaties

Techniques

Name-calling

Source

Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are

Source

Wikimedia Commons, retrieved October 2, 2026

Rights

Public domain (published 1925, before 1931); also PD-Russia on Commons
Krokodil No. 41 (151), October 1925, cover by A. Radakov. Scan on Wikimedia Commons (PD-Russia; artist died before 1952). US basis: first published 1925, before 1931.

ГОД ИЗДАНИЯ ЧЕТВЕРТЫЙ.
Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!
МОСКВА, ОКТЯБРЬ 1925 г.
№ 41 (151)
Цена 12 коп.
КРОКОДИЛ
Рис. А. Радакова.
ГЕРМАНИЯ НАНИМАЕТСЯ.
— Вы, милая, будете у нас одной прислугой. Старайтесь — и мы позволим вам жить в польском коридоре.

FOURTH YEAR OF PUBLICATION.
Proletarians of all countries, unite!
MOSCOW, OCTOBER 1925
No. 41 (151)
Price 12 kop.
CROCODILE
Drawing by A. Radakov.
GERMANY IS HIRING HERSELF OUT.
— You, my dear, will be our only servant. Do your best and we will let you live in the Polish corridor.