How Nazi Germany prompted the creation of Superman
There’s a real sense of Americanism within the iconic DC Comics superhero Superman, and equally, it’s easy to perceive one of the best-known caped heroes as something of a Christ-like figure. Much has been made of the religious tones of Superman’s narratives, but the truth is that he has far more in common with Judaism than he does Christianity.
Superman was, in fact, created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Schuster, two children of Jewish emigrants to North America who had fled Europe amid the growing anti-Semitism of the early 20th century. With a heritage of persecution, the two young men set about creating a superhero capable of helping those in trouble.
During an interview with Den of Geek, Siegel once explained: “What led me into creating Superman in the early ’30s? Hearing and reading of the oppression and slaughter of helpless, oppressed Jews in Nazi Germany… seeing movies depicting the horrors of privation suffered by the downtrodden. I had the great urge to help the downtrodden masses, somehow. How could I help them when I could barely help myself? Superman was the answer.”
Siegel set about weaving several parts of Jewish history and folklore into Superman’s story. For instance, male Jews were ordered to be drowned in the Nile in Egypt. However, Moses, the Jewish saviour, was saved after he was placed in a small boat in the river, analogous to the way that Superman was placed in a small spaceship when his planet was on the verge of destruction.
In the very act of leaving his homeland, Superman is akin to the millions of Jews who were displaced, not only during Nazi-era Germany but also in countless instances before that. Perhaps the nature of Clark Kent’s secret identity also mirrors the way that several Jews stepping off the boat in North America were wont to keep their faith a secret, save for further persecution.
The creation of Superman was a way for both Seigel and Schuster to better understand the injustice that was being done to the people of their heritage over in mainland Europe as the Nazi party began to take full control. In one version of the comic book, Superman actually fought the Nazis, even prior to the United States joining World War II.
Continuing to explain why they made Superman in the first place, Siegel noted, “It was a place and time where juvenile weaklings and wheyfaces — especially Jewish ones, who were more likely to get sand kicked in their face by Adolf Hitler and the bully down the block — dreamed that someday the world would see them for the superheroes they really were.”
Superman, then, became a symbol of the downtrodden standing up to their oppressors at a time when they were not able to physically do so. Though Superman is often related to the Christian faith, he arose out of a necessity for Jewish Americans to better understand the position they and their families had been placed into, and as such, he will remain Jewish at heart.
