NY Times/Spiegel: Mysteries of a Nazi Photo Album

interesting story, thanks for the link furcafe. I imagine that someone can ID the photographer, but would be unstandably reluctant to come forward if it were a close relative.
 
Thanks for the link ! I just found the reader comments at "einestages" (from german Der Spiegel weekly news magazine) and a lot of detailed informations to the photos were given already (in German).

"Operation Barbarossa" (the attack against the Soviet Union) began exactly today (June 22), 60 years ago. Hopefully also these photos will remind everybody of the distres and mischief that followed the June 22nd.
 
The photographer is already identified, it's a fairly well-known professional press photographer from Salzburg who died in 1993 (Franz Krieger). There's even a book on him with a lot of photos.
 
I find photographs of Hitler and the Nazis in general quite bizzare. If you didn't know better you could just be looking at photos taken of any political/military scenario.

It gives me goose bumps to think of the havock and terror created by these misguided souls!
 
Keith said:
I find photographs of Hitler and the Nazis in general quite bizzare. If you didn't know better you could just be looking at photos taken of any political/military scenario.

It gives me goose bumps to think of the havock and terror created by these misguided souls!
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I agree. Knowing the history its hard to look at photos of Hitler and his croneys and not feel goose bumps. Like most, I simply cannot conceive what inner demons drove this strange and deeply evil person.

Well almost. I have in my life come across a number of garden-variety sociopaths in work environments and when you read about sociopathy / psychopathy one realises that Hitler was at one level, just a very, very extreme form of sociopath (together with assorted other characteristics - meglomania included of course.) The worrying thing is that such sociopaths are very credible individuals who seem too good to be true (and of course are) and too frequently end up in leadership roles where they burn everyone around them.

Having worked in large organisations I can also recount how easily many people lose their "moral compass" and begin emulating and adopting the sick characteristics of such people when they are in power in such organisations (Seen it many times.) If you are interested in the topic, read about the history of Enron to understand how a sick culture can be rewarded and ultimately grow to encompass a complete society / organisation. So its not that surprising that his followers behaved the way they did when this behaviour became the norm for German society in the Nazi era.

I have also read reports that his nickname (spoken of only with great secrecy of course) amongst his inner circle of party officials was "Teppichfresser" which means "rug muncher". No, this has nothing to do with his sexuality - although he was reportedly pretty weird in that department too. But it was reported that it was not only common for him to throw tantrums but that on one or two occasions he was reputed to have thrown himself on the floor like a child having a tantrum and to flail his arms and legs about. (Some however claim it was nothing more than figurative expression but there are also those who interviewed members of his staff after the war who added veracity to the story.)

Who knows, but in any event, in case anyone had doubts, this man was not normal. 🙁

The following photos are even more awful - photos of Auschwitz- Birkenau death camp staff enjoying a "works picnic". Apart from the uniforms they could have been workers at a contemporary car factory in Detroit or somewhere. Evidently their consciences were clear.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...witz-The-laughing-death-camp-guards-play.html
 
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Sorry for being off topic but I was in the New National Gallery in Berlin last week and it has a most impressive collection of art from the Weimar period. The depression, communism and Nazism of course had a major influence on the arts in Germany during the early 20th century. In the permanent collection there was a description on the wall in English next to the exhibit and it states: "....The Allies liberated Germany in 1945".

I don't mean to offend anybody and only want to be educated on what that means. I have never heard war time Germany described this way. How was Germany "liberated"? Was Germany occupied by some foreign force (Nazis) which required liberation? Is that the new thinking these days?
 
Rayt said:
Sorry for being off topic but I was in the New National Gallery in Berlin last week and it has a most impressive collection of art from the Weimar period. The depression, communism and Nazism of course had a major influence on the arts in Germany during the early 20th century. In the permanent collection there was a description on the wall in English next to the exhibit and it states: "....The Allies liberated Germany in 1945".

I don't mean to offend anybody and only want to be educated on what that means. I have never heard war time Germany described this way. How was Germany "liberated"? Was Germany occupied by some foreign force (Nazis) which required liberation? Is that the new thinking these days?
Click to expand...

It was liberated from fascism.
 
Rayt said:
I don't mean to offend anybody and only want to be educated on what that means. I have never heard war time Germany described this way. How was Germany "liberated"? Was Germany occupied by some foreign force (Nazis) which required liberation? Is that the new thinking these days?
Click to expand...

I think the idea is that you can be liberated from domestic oppression as well as foreign occupation.

I grew up in Germany and it seems to me that it's fairly common to refer to the liberation of Germany as a whole or of a particular city, as in "Cologne was liberated on April 8, 1945" (meaning that's when it was finally occupied by the Allies and Nazi German rule ended there). While this is certainly a case of winners' rhetoric, you could argue that Nazi rule could be described as sufficiently non-free that the term might be in fact rather accurate - notwithstanding the fact that Western Allied rule in the beginning, and Soviet and East German rule continuously, wasn't exactly a complete rose garden either.
 
From the victor's point of view yes. But frankly I when I read the passage it did not sit well with me that Germany saw herself a victim that required liberation. It is just all convenient to blame it on "the times" as if the population was possessed by some demon that was finally exorcised by the Allies and Linda Blair waking up not remembering anything. Thanks for the explanation. I am glad to be wrong.
 
tradition of liberation from Nazism originated from DDR, where liberator of course was great Soviet Union. after reunification, 1990's and later, western part of Germany started to acknowledge their occupation similar way.

thanks for link OP, interesting photographic history.
 
peterm1 said:
Who knows, but in any event, in case anyone had doubts, this man was not normal. 🙁
Click to expand...

yes, and Germans are very honest and open about their dark period. wish same could be said for example China, Russia and many Western countries as well.
 
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jarski said:
yes, and Germans are very honest and open about their dark period. wish same could be said for example China, Russia and many Western countries as well.
Click to expand...

Very true. Germans born in the post war era in particular tend to be quite open about this. This is witnessed by the Berlin based "Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe".

And I very much believe what Sabina Wolanski, a Jewish survivor of the Shoah said in her speech in 2005, dedicating the memorial.

She spoke very movingly, ending with a note of reconciliation that had everyone from the Chancellor of Germany to hardened photo-journalists in tears.

Her closing words were to say that she did not believe in collective guilt and a plea to remember that

" The children of killers are not killers. We must never blame them for what their elders did."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...n-against-hatred/story-e6frg8no-1111116261607

or you can watch a short documentary about her life here - and boy, get those tissues ready!

http://www.abc.net.au/austory/specials/girlfromboryslaw/default.htm
 
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