Forbidden Photos: Warsaw ghetto in the summer 1941
I've never seen this series of photos before, some of which are quite chilling!...
Warsaw Ghetto Photos
Forbidden Photos: Warsaw ghetto in the summer 1941
I've never seen this series of photos before, some of which are quite chilling!...
So long ago Paul,yet still so raw.haunting images but still good to look at,great camera work for its time,well done to you Paul for finding these photo reels..........
I have seen them before Gunny and they still choke me up.I can only assume Willi Georg survived and made them public.bless him.
I don't know much about him Harry but i know he did survive the war!...by harryamb2
Some very interesting images. A few points are particularly poignant-the dead and dying lying about while others walk on past, seemingly oblivious to the starving children or elderly dying. Apparently, they had become inured to the sight due to it's commonness. Another disturbing (to me, anyway, for some unknown reason) are the tiny Doors in the little hovel/shops. One can not imagine what nightmarish scenes must be just out of sight beyond these microscopically tiny doorways. The people in these street scenes still seem to show a good spirit and for the most part hunt up a smile for the cameraman-despite him being a German soldier himself. Such indomitable spirit. Certainly, they are suffering, but they are doing so with a solitary Dignity and are not involving anyone but themselves in their agonies. An amazing people. What must the 5th film roll have contained, one wonders?
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
Your comment is so very true William, we all think about the living hell of the camp system but tend to forget about the ghettos with their dark ages conditions!..
Fascinating!
A great contribution, Gunny. Thanks. Will show these to my Polish friend.
This was a photographer with an eye.
I cant believe how many people are smiling and looking determined despite their hopeless situation, I would expected far more apathy on the images. I wonder if I myself would have handled the situation this brave if I would have been in their shoes.
Left me Silent
It is not the size of a Collection in History that matters......Its the size of your Passion for it!!
One never knows what tree roots push to the surface of what laid buried before the tree was planted - Larry C
“The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” - Winston Churchill
These photos were published in the 1993 book: In the Warsaw Ghetto: Summer 1941
It should be noted that Willi Georg was not taking photos for altruistic reasons or out of concern for those he photographed; he was ordered to go into the ghetto to take photos to satisfy the curiosity of his commanding officer who obtained a pass for Georg to enter the ghetto.
At that time the Germans in Warsaw were extremely concerned that any non-official photos of the conditions in the ghetto that might get seen by the outside world could be used as atrocity propaganda against them so it was forbidden to take unofficial photos and that is why Georg's camera was confiscated. However this prohibition policy did not stop the later widespread "sale" of ghetto passes by corrupt officials to soldier-tourists who openly carried cameras whilst sight-seeing in the ghetto and took photographs by the thousands.
It is interesting to note that seeing a German photographer in the ghetto must have been commonplace reflected by the fact that the Jewish men Willi Georg photographed wearing hats do not show them taking their hats off when being looked at by a German...disobeying this decree could risk and often did mean the man was severely beaten or shot.
As conditions worsened, the ghetto became an even more hot tourist destination where smartly dressed, well-fed, German soldiers could go and gawp at the untermensch Jews whose deplorable condition reinforced the stereotype of the "dirty Jew". They could take photos to share with their friends showing how the uncaring Jews would walk over their fellow Jews often naked dead bodies in the street, walk past starving babies, or eat cakes whilst the children starved looking into the Jewish cafes and bars.
Below from my collection:
Jewish men in the Warsaw ghetto (1941) removing their caps whilst in front of or being looked at by a German.
W8.JPG
warszawa_Ghetto-12 .jpg
warszawa_Ghetto-6.jpg
Below: German soldier-tourists photographing in the ghetto whilst touring around in a automobile.
warszawa_Ghetto-17.jpg
warszawa_Ghetto-3.jpg
There was a roaring trade of "black" photos from the Warsaw ghetto between soldiers stationed in Warsaw and many of the same ghetto photos appear in numerous German photo albums of those stationed in the city.
Last edited by StefanM; 03-20-2014 at 11:30 AM. Reason: Add ghetto photos
I collect, therefore I am.
Nothing in science can explain how consciousness arose from matter.
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