At first glance, it is indistinguishable from a Hitler Youth poster. The boy must be around eight years old, his hair strikingly blonde, his eyes cornflower blue. He looks intensely and innocently at the viewer, while behind him stretches an idealised pastoral landscape. The poster is emblazoned with a slogan, in French, which reads: “Let’s give white children a future”. The sentiment is of course exceptionally racist, and it comes as no surprise to learn that the poster promotes the far-right Party of France in this first round of voting in its parliamentary election.
What is surprising, however, is the fact that the candidate Pierre-Nicolas Nups had the gall to approve the blatant Nazi-style imagery. Faced with outrage from Pascal Schneider, the mayor of Neuves-Maisons, one of the biggest towns in the constituency, Nups disingenuously declared that the poster “is neither sectarian nor exclusive”, and that “on the contrary, it delivers a positive message, a message of hope for our youth, and nothing else”. Even more brazenly, Nups insisted that “if anyone sees anything else in it, it would be a malicious interpretation”. Schneider said the candidate has been referred to public prosecutors over the poster.
By tapping into a Nazi aesthetic – if it can be dignified as such – the likes of the Party of France of course know exactly what they are doing. Far from being wary of the look and feel of Nazism, such parties are now embracing it, and are not ashamed. In essence, the use of images such as a “perfect Aryan” child reveal that Nazism, for the members and potential voters of the Party of France, is something to be celebrated.