Time Magazine's 1938 'Man of the Year' choice not a Hitler endorsement
The magazine has repeatedly clarified, contrary to social media posts
(Reuters) - Time Magazine’s designation of Adolf Hitler as “Man of the Year” for 1938 identified Hitler as “the newsmaker who most influenced world events for better or worse” and was not an endorsement, the magazine has repeatedly clarified, contrary to social media posts which allege this shows the publication is a “supporter” of genocide in the context of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
The posts juxtapose an old Time Magazine cover image showing Hitler with a March 2024 cover featuring the title - “The New Antisemitism” - an article that includes a discussion of whether criticism of Israel over the war with Hamas is antisemitic.
The cover images appear in the posts alongside text that reads, “Time magazine supported genocide in 1938 making Aldolf Hitler,
‘Man of the Year’… Time magazine supporting genocide in 2024 by labelling those opposed to the genocide of Palestinians ‘Antisemitic’.”
In response to a request for comment, a Time spokesperson cited a Dec. 12, 2019, Time article, opens new tab that discusses Hitler as a symbol of evil and says that the choice to name Hitler Man of the Year for 1938 “abided by the dictum of TIME founder Henry Luce, who decreed that the Man of the Year - now Person of the Year - was not an honor but instead should be a distinction applied to the newsmaker who most influenced world events for better or worse.”
Time named Hitler 1938’s Man of the Year in its Jan. 2, 1939, issue, whose cover illustration, opens new tab did not feature the portrait of Hitler in the circulating posts, but rather a black-and-white drawing depicting Hitler as a small figure playing a large organ with the caption: “From the unholy organist, a hymn of hate.”
Hitler has appeared on Time covers multiple times. The cover image in social media posts is from the April 13, 1936, opens new tab, issue, which contained an article, opens new tab on the repercussions of the remilitarization of the Rhineland and the German people’s approval of Hitler’s actions.
Time has also addressed its selection of Hitler as “Man of the Year” for 1938 multiple times. A Time article in the Dec. 13, 2021, issue states that “The Person of the Year” title, which was “The Man of the Year” until 1999, goes to a person who most affected the news, opens new tab and lives of people for good or ill, and citing Hitler as an example, notes that the person need not be a hero.
The “New Antisemitism” title seen in the posts appeared in an article published on the Time website on Feb. 27, 2024, which argues, opens new tab that criticism of Israel is not inherently antisemitic.
“To deploy the charge of antisemitism for political reasons is morally wrong, undermining the horror of antisemitism itself. It is also likely to backfire, convincing critics of Israel that they are being unfairly silenced,” writes the article’s author, Noah Feldman, who is described as a professor at Harvard Law School and author of the new book “To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and the Jewish People.”
VERDICT
Misleading. Time Magazine did not endorse Hitler’s policy of genocide when it named him “Man of the Year” for 1938.
