What image or event of 2nd World War has moved you the most?

tonyh · Post by **tonyh** » 25 Nov 2002 15:46

First time I saw this photo, I was very young. I think the caption was Jews being hung. I think I saw it in "The Yellow Star".

Later, it was freqently captioned as Russian Partisans.....

Anyway. I always though that the person on the right, having the noose put aroung their neck was a girl. Now, I read its a man!

Strangely, I feel less sympathy for them now I know that they are partisans.

Still a shocking picture though.

Tony

Wolffen · Post by **Wolffen** » 25 Nov 2002 17:32

The Mp40 I sow it and I was in love !

Schwalbe · Post by **Schwalbe** » 25 Nov 2002 17:44

Seeing a picture of an almost endless row of waffen-ss soldiers, with their arms and legs broken in an unnatural position, with their "things" put in their mouths, left to bleed to death. For a long time afterwards, WWII just made me sick.

Davey Boy · Post by **Davey Boy** » 26 Nov 2002 14:04

Schwalbe wrote:Seeing a picture of an almost endless row of waffen-ss soldiers, with their arms and legs broken in an unnatural position, with their "things" put in their mouths, left to bleed to death. For a long time afterwards, WWII just made me sick.

What?

Schwalbe · Post by **Schwalbe** » 26 Nov 2002 14:53

What?

It was a picture I saw on the internet, unfortunatly I lost it due to a computer crash.

Juancho · Post by **Juancho** » 26 Nov 2002 19:03

This was one of the best questions I ever had to reply. Well, I am a new member of this forum, and I am Argentinean, a place too far away from Europe and the main scenarios of the war at that time. Even though, I had seen the human misery in my short life (27) For a number of reasons, the images of war, specially when you see the cruelty, from all sides, makes me sick.I had seen pictures of Germans surrendered to the soviets, and I wonder "what has become of them?" I see the pictures of jews, and I cannot understand the reasons they had to terminate with people -I don't believe that much the theory of races/religions, I believe it is all the same, with variations, but we are all humans- I see the pictures of french dead by frnech in North Africa, I read about the hundreds of submarines sank, and I think the horror of the war is impossible to show in all its dimension. Simply too many awful things. As in all wars, you will find hundreds of cruel things that conmove you to your bones.
Specifically, the things that are stuck in my mind are the bodies of all kind of people: soldiers, children, women, old people.

Wolf · Post by **Wolf** » 04 Dec 2002 00:53

1939

Youthfull soldiers, smiling, victorious.
Boys. Cheerfull and unsuspecting.

...total defeat down the road.

1945

Kaiser · Post by **Kaiser** » 04 Dec 2002 05:32

Has anyone ever heard of this photo Schwalbe is talking about with all the mutilated SS soliders? It seems to reason that someone on this forum would have seen or heard of a picture of this magnitude before?

Also Roberto - In your first favorite picture - what\where\who is the story behind that?

I am also dying to see that picture of the british solider flipping off the german camerman that was previously mentioned if anyone has it please share!!!

-K };>

waffen · Post by **waffen** » 04 Dec 2002 08:09

what a great question for a such an exiting site and with 4000 views,only less than 200 replys. many things stand out for many people for various reasons, but against the trend of most of the others pictures and replys,for me 2 come to mind. the shooting of waffen ss officers and soldiers,by the allies after the war was ended , and the failure of the luftwaffe too fully support the ardennes,(or hitlers last roll of the dice as some historians write), in both mc carthers and montys books they both comment had the reich succesfully blown the allies one and only main supply depot the war would have stalled 6 to 18 months,exposing millions of allied troops with the same problems the germans had in defending the reich no food or fuel and ammuniton or medicines.200 planes were promised and only 20 arrived,and the panzer divisions ran out of fuel,the allies took very heavy losses and were completely taken by surprise,only too repell the attack a day away from certain defeat at the depot which supported the whole allied invasion force spread across a massive front without enough fuel and the air cover, a truly brilliant counter attack plan had been launched and very nearly turned the whole course of the allied invasion. hitler was not well but many leading nazis had allready given up and to them the war was lost and this battle was launched without the full support of the army and airforce who lied too most staff in the bunker following its progress with interest thinking they had enough fuel and luftwaffe support to complete the attack.

Roberto · Post by **Roberto** » 04 Dec 2002 12:38

Kaiser wrote:Also Roberto - In your first favorite picture - what\where\who is the story behind that?

I presume you mean this one:

DMITRI BALTERMANTS
Sorrow-stricken, 1942

IIRC, it was taken on the Kerch peninsula and shows the aftermath of a German reprisal action.

haoster · Post by **haoster** » 22 Dec 2002 23:19

For me, the most compelling was a written description of an occurrence at one of the lesser death camps. Apparently after disrobing, inmates were directed toward the chambers in a walled-off area, when suddenly a woman, desribed as tall, and I would imagine intelligent and assertive, decided to take action. She grabbed a weapon from one of the unsuspecting guards and proceeded to use it on him and his compatriots. Needless to say, there resulted a bloodbath, which was had unfortunate consequences for the camp commandant.

This young woman is my greatest heroine.

Angelo · Post by **Angelo** » 12 Jan 2003 12:58

The caption reads:
Old woman with children on her way to the gas chamber
and crematorium III(SS-Photo, 1944)
The original source is:Swiebocka, Teresa: A History in Photographs.
The Internet source is:http://www.wsg-hist.uni-linz.ac.at/Ausc ... der-1.html

Scott Smith · Post by **Scott Smith** » 13 Jan 2003 05:51

Angelo wrote:The caption reads: Old woman with children on her way to the gas chamber and crematorium III(SS-Photo, 1944)

The original source is:Swiebocka, Teresa: A History in Photographs. The Internet source is: http://www.wsg-hist.uni-linz.ac.at/Ausc ... der-1.html

Rather dishonest don't you think? It may be an SS photo but there is no evidence that they are really going to the gaschamber. Nor who they are and whether they survived the war. Anne Frank survived Auschwitz. Evidently she was only deloused.

Angelo · Post by **Angelo** » 13 Jan 2003 09:12

Scott Smith wrote:
Angelo wrote:The caption reads: Old woman with children on her way to the gas chamber and crematorium III(SS-Photo, 1944)

The original source is:Swiebocka, Teresa: A History in Photographs. The Internet source is: http://www.wsg-hist.uni-linz.ac.at/Ausc ... der-1.html
Rather dishonest don't you think? It may be an SS photo but there is no evidence that they are really going to the gaschamber. Nor who they are and whether they survived the war. Anne Frank survived Auschwitz. Evidently she was only deloused.

Scott,

Though I'd have some trouble finding it now in the mess I'm in, I remember seing that very same picture in a much larger format
showing clearly the last portion of the tracks, the various barracks
beyond it and an edited arrow pointing to the crematorium section.

Of course, you're free to think what you want, but in such a case
I think that "dishonest" might not be proper.
A woman of that age, clearly unserviceable according to Nazi camp
standards and furthermore accompanied by an infant and 3 children
wouldn't have had more chances than a fly in honey jar to survive.

As to Anne Frank, I did not follow up since maybe 10 years ago, so
all I know is that:

After being betrayed to the Nazis, Anne, her family, and the others living with them were arrested and deported to Nazi concentration camps. Nine months after she was arrested, Anne Frank died of typhus in March of 1945 at Bergen-Belsen. She was fifteen years old

Source: http://www.annefrank.com/site/af_life/1_life.htm

If you have any evidence disproving the above, I'll oblige.

Regards.

Angelo

Scott Smith · Post by **Scott Smith** » 14 Jan 2003 04:40

Angelo,

Anne Frank was sent to Auschwitz and at the end of the war she was evacuated West to Bergen-Belsen, where she died of the typhus epidemic and overcrowding.

Anyway, if this is the picture you are thinking of it was also taken in 1944 and shows Krema III in the background. The caption is always that they are on the way to the gaschambers--but you march right through here to get to the Sauna for delousing after getting off the train.

If you have any evidence as to what really happened to these people, I'm listening. But to make specious labels is going beyond the facts, AFAIC.

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