Figure 1.-- This is the 'Fight the Coal Thief' game. Like most board games, the game included a playing board, a pair of dice, and game pieces. The Jewish pieces had pointed Medieval Jewish hats with ugly faces painted on the hats. Players rolled the dice to move on the board. The object of the game was was to land on the Jewish pieces, im effect arresting them so they could be sent through the gates of a walled city to Palestine. The winner was the player who arrested the most Jews. Text on the board read, 'If you manage to see off 6 Jews, you’ve won a clear victory!'

Germany had almost none of the critical natural resources needed to wage an extended world war--one of the major reasons it lost World War II. Which might have given a normal person pause about waging a world war against countries that had those resources and which dominated the sea lanes. For Hitler it was one of the reasons he chose to wage a world war. And his solution was to invade and conquer the Soviet Union which possed everything that he needed to wage war. The Soviet Union was attractive because it was close to Germany. And because a large navy was not needed to invade and conquer. And because the Allied navies could not interdict shipments as they could maritime shipments. Hitler discuses the cornucopia of resources that existed in the East. He does not mention the Soviet Union and war, but inevitability of war is inescapable to any one reading Mein Kampf. The one vital resource that Germany did possess in quantity was coal. The last NAZI World War II game we know of appeared late in the War (1944). Jagd auf Kohlenklau (Hunt on Coal Theft) was not a military game. The time of German military victories had long since passed. Parents did not want to be reminded about the War or to interest their children--especially as the NAZIs had begun to involve their children in the fighting. Rather this was a natural resource game -- 'Jagd auf Kohlenklau' (Fight the coal thief). Natural resources were a vital part of World War II. The lack of natural resources was one of the factors driving the Germany and Japan to aggression and war. And the most serious German weakness was the lack of oil and other natural resources. The only major resource Germany had was coal which was needed to powered German war industry, the railroads, home heating, and was used in the synfuel plants. But even Germany's large coal resources were inadequate for war needs. Unlike other resources, the situation got worse as a result of German victories. Britain had been supplying many European countries with coal. After the German invasion and occupation, these economies would have ground to a halt with out coal, meaning the Germans could no longer use the occupied economies in the NAZI Grossraum to support War economy. If the economies of the occupied countries ground to a halt, they could not be exploited. Thus the NAZIs had to provide some of their all ready stretched coal supply to the industry of occupied countries. As a result, Propaganda Minister Goebbels began a campaign 'Kampf dem Kohlenklau' (Fight the coal thief) to conserve coal (1942). NAZI courts dealt severely with actual coal thieves. ["NAZIs doom ...."] This campaign promoted energy conservation as a means to maintain Germany's coal resources for the War effort. The campaign created the cartoon image of the Kohlenklau (coal thief). He became an iconic NAZI propaganda image. He appeared in newspapers, magazines, posters, and films. The Allied Strategic Bombing campaign was also beginning to impact the Reich's coal supply. Not because it was hitting coal mines, but because by 1943 it was begging to impact the German transport system, especially the Reichbahn, further impairing the coal supply and shortages. The game which appeared in 1943 was a standard board game where players moved by rolling dice. It was created by Lepthian-Schiffers. Some 4 million game sets were produced which suggests NAZI government support. Reflecting the deteriorating economy, it was produced on flimsy cardboard. There were 50 spaces on the board and you has to pass all 50 to win. The youngest player goes first, rolling the dice. There were 12 red spaces. Players landing there were assessed a penalty for committing an energy wasting action/ They lose a turn or were set back a number of spaces. If the player lands on one of the 15 black spaces they are rewarded for helping to conserve coal. There were also white 'neutral' space. Players take turns rolling the dice until one finally reaches the end and is declared the winner.

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Created: 4:18 AM 12/29/2022br> Last updated: 4:18 AM 12/29/2022