US EditionHessy Levinsons Taft, Jewish Face of Nazi "Aryan Baby" Propaganda, Dies at 91
Hessy Levinsons Taft’s photo was used by Nazis in 1934 as the ideal Aryan baby, a cruel irony revealed decades later after her family kept the truth secret for safety.
- Hessy Levinsons Taft, who as an infant was used in Nazi propaganda, died Jan. 1 at her home in San Francisco, with her family confirming she was 91.
- In 1934, Hessy Levinsons Taft's Latvian opera‑singer parents in Berlin hired photographer Hans Ballin, who submitted her portrait to a Nazi baby contest before the family moved to Latvia in 1937.
- Joseph Goebbels, Nazi minister of public enlightenment and propaganda, chose the contest winner, and the portrait ran in pro‑Nazi outlets like Sonne ins Haus and spread into advertisements and postcards.
- Her parents feared Nazi retribution and kept the secret, rarely taking Hessy Levinsons Taft outside while displaying the framed portrait on their piano; Taft said, `My parents were both shocked by the possible consequences that this could bring and amazed at the irony of it all.`
- The story has since served as an instructive example in Holocaust histories, as Taft wrote, `It is the story of a Jewish baby selected by loyal Nazis to serve as an archetypal example of the Aryan race, the theory which the Nazis' leadership seized every opportunity to promote.
9 Articles
9 Articles
Hessy Levinsons Taft, who, ironically, became the face of Nazi propaganda as a baby, died on January 1 at her home in San Francisco, aged 91. Her life story is one of the most telling evidence of the absurdity and danger of Nazi racial ideology.
Jewish Woman Who As A Baby Was Deemed 'Perfect Aryan Child' Dies At 91
NEW YORK (VINnews) — Hessy Levinsons Taft, the Jewish woman whose photo as an infant was publicized throughout Nazi Germany for being the paragon of an Aryan baby, died at her home in San Francisco last week, according to a New York Times report. She was 91. Join our WhatsApp group Subscribe to our Daily […]
Jewish woman touted by the Nazis as 'ideal Aryan baby' dies at 91
Hessy Levinsons Taft's image appeared on the cover of a German magazine distributed on Jan. 24, 1935, after winning a contest organized by the Nazi propaganda apparatus to find the most beautiful Aryan baby
Jewish Woman Once Touted as “Perfect Aryan Baby” in Nazi Germany Passes Away at 91
Hessy Levinsons Taft, a Jewish woman whose infant photograph was held up by Nazi propagandists as the ideal “Aryan baby,” has died at her home in San Francisco. She was 91. The episode that followed Taft throughout her life began in 1934, when she was six months old. Her parents, Latvian Jewish opera singers living […]
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 57% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
