Content note: Wartime German poster picturing Allied bombers as coffins This object is shown as it was published. Why
Vliegende forten, vliegende doodkisten! (Flying fortresses, flying coffins!)
A charcoal-toned drawing of heavy bombers whose fuselages are plain coffins with small crosses, under the red and black headline 'Flying fortresses, flying coffins!'. The tell: the Allied aircraft's nickname is turned into a coffin by wordplay and image alone, with no figures, date or place given.
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Reichskommissariat Niederlande (display approved by the 'Dienststelle des Reichskommissars' per print; artist not printed)
- Country
- Netherlands
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Leader
- Arthur Seyss Inquart
- Audience
- Foreign public
- Purpose
- Demonize
- Theme
- War and the military
- Event
- World War II
- Techniques
- Name-callingFear appeal
- Source
- Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons (Streekarchief Midden-Holland, 0037. 509), retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (anonymous Dutch-occupation work; Commons tag PD-anon-70-EU)
Unknown author; Streekarchief Midden-Holland, via Wikimedia Commons.
Text on the object
Vliegende FORTEN Vliegende DOODKISTEN! OFFENTLICHE AUSHÄNGUNG GENEHMIGT DURCH DIE DIENSTSTELLE DES REICHSKOMMISSARS. No.5027 Uithangtijd 27 Oct—10 Nov
Flying FORTS Flying COFFINS! PUBLIC DISPLAY APPROVED BY THE OFFICE OF THE REICH COMMISSIONER. No. 5027 Display period 27 Oct-10 Nov
A small printer's mark at the lower right is not transcribed. Translation is FRAME's own literal rendering, machine-assisted and not verified by a fluent reader.
