Museum Announces Acquisition of Rare World War II Era Captain America Comics

WASHINGTON –The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has acquired an original copy of Captain America Comics No 1, one of the most culturally significant comic books in American history. Published in December 1940, nearly a year before America entered World War II, the issue was donated by Riot Games Co-Founder Brandon Beck.

Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, Captain America Comics No. 1 features an iconic, Kirby-drawn cover image of Captain America punching Adolf Hitler in the face. Kirby, the son of Austrian-Jewish immigrants, would later serve in the U.S. Army during World War II. The comic’s anti-Nazi message challenged isolationist sentiment and helped bring attention to the growing Nazi threat in Europe.

“This comic book holds enormous cultural and historical importance,” said Zachary Levine, director of the Museum’s Curatorial Affairs Division. “At a time when many Americans, while disapproving of the Nazi regime, were reluctant to fight another war in Europe, Jack Kirby, an American Jew, used a symbol of America to raise awareness of the threat the Nazi regime posed to Europe and the world. We are grateful to Mr. Beck for making this important artifact part of the Museum’s collection.”

Beck also donated an original copy of Captain America Comics No. 46 which features a graphic cover of Captain America confronting Nazis as they commit atrocities in a concentration camp. This was among the earliest depictions of a concentration camp in American pop culture.

The volumes are being examined and documented by experts in the Museum’s David and Fela Shapell Collections, Conservation, and Research Center. In time, they will be digitized and will be available for research.

About the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

A nonpartisan federal, educational institution, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is America’s national memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, dedicated to ensuring the permanence of Holocaust memory, understanding, and relevance. The power of Holocaust history challenges leaders and individuals worldwide to think critically about their role in society and to confront antisemitism and other forms of hate, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity.