1945.01.17 "Claustrophobia" by George White

1945.01.17 “Claustrophobia”
by George (Geo) White (1901 – 1964)
13 x 14 in., pencil/crayon on paper
Coppola Collection

George (Geo) White was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1901 and relocated to Tampa with this family in 1915. After completing a correspondence course in drawing, White studied art under Tampa artist Walter Collins. He started as a commercial artist at the Tampa Morning Tribune in 1928 and by 1934 was a regular cartoonist at the Tribune. His cartoons were featured on the front page and became a staple of the paper until his death on March 7, 1964. In 1943, a compilation of his World War Two cartoons were compiled and edited by Byron S. Stephens in a book entitled, The War in Black With White.

In early 1945, both fronts had materially collapsed inward on Germany. The Battle of the Bulge (Dec 16, 1944 – Jan 25, 1945) was Germany’s last major Western offensive through the Ardennes. It failed. Meanwhile, from January 12 onward, the Red Army was preparing its Vistula–Oder Offensive on the Eastern Front, pushing into Poland, capturing Warsaw (Jan 17) and reaching Krakow (Jan 19), and up to the Oder River (within striking distance of Berlin). Hitler was physically trapped in Berlin by mid-April.