Figure 1.--Here a little German boy in 1944 displsays to toys. He holds a race car, but I'm not sure if it is metal or wood. A metal plane sits on the table. It looks more like an American C-47 (DC-3) than a German aircraft type. Note the swastica on the tail. In looking at this photograph, I can't help of thinking about the little Dutch Jewish boy in the linked image who had to give up his toys when he entered the concentration camp.

Germany before the NAZIs had one of the ldading toy industries in the world. Steif teddies are particularly knonw. As are several doll makers. We note many girls playing with dolls houuses and boy will electric trains. Toys were also important Germam exports. This changed with the NAZIs. Perhaps the major casualty ws metal toys as more and more of Germany's production of metal was devoted to war-related industries. We are not entirely sure how this affected the availability of toys are to what extent this was noted by the public. German exports declined during the NAZI era. The pre-War NAZI economy with it huge military expenditures was unsustainable. This changed after the War begun because the NAZIs could plunder occupied countries to support its economy. Toys of course are just one example of a lost export industry. We have some idea of the toys German children played with during the War because of the photographic record.

Created: 4:11 PM 8/21/2007
Last updated: 2:31 AM 8/23/2007