Description

No. 12: Large 4°, 16 pp. text and illustrations in black and red, stapled (Very Good, slightly age-toned, tiny holes in margins and in spine).

No. 13: Large 4°, 8 pp. text and illustrations in black, yellow and red, stapled (Very Good, slightly age-toned, tiny tears in margins and in spine).

The pair of richly illustrated Soviet satirical magazines Krokodil, were published on June 28, and July 4, 1941, only days after the Hitler’s invasion on the Soviet Union. The title pages and illustrations in the magazines show Soviet soldiers defeating Germans, who are presented as weaklings and cowards, they mock German politics and politicians, and present the strength of the Soviet army.

Political magazine Krokodil

The first issue of the magazine was published on June 4, 1922, by the publishing house Rabotschaja Gazeta and from 1932 on by the Pravda publishing house, which lifted Krokodil to the most important political satirical magazine in the Soviet Union. The magazine was mostly mocking the foreign politics, the imperialisms and political opponents of the Soviet Union, such as Leon Trotsky. Krokodil was also known for its strong anti-Semitic tone.

With its extreme pro-Soviet character, the magazine could survive for over eighty years in a country, which had a strong censorship over caricatures and satirical magazines.

Until 1932 the magazine was published every month, and after that three times per month. The last magazine was published in 2008. With its extreme pro-Soviet character, the magazine could survive for 86 years in a country, which had a strong censorship over caricatures and satirical magazines.

The earlier editions of Krokodil only rarely appear on the market. We could only trace separate editions in institutions worldwide.