Why would Hugo Jaeger, a photographer dedicated to lionizing Adolf Hitler and the “triumphs” of the Third Reich, choose to immortalize conquered Jews in Warsaw and Kutno (in central Poland) in such an uncharacteristic, intimate manner? Most German photographers working in the same era as Jaeger usually focused on the Wehrmacht; on Nazi leaders; and on the military victories the Reich was routinely enjoying in the earliest days of the Second World War. Those pictures frequently document brutal acts of humiliation, even as they glorify German troops.
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, German photographer Hugo Jaeger enjoyed unprecedented access to the Third Reich’s upper echelon, traveling with Adolf Hitler to massive rallies and photographing him at intimate parties and in quieter, private moments. The photos made such an impression on the Führer that Hitler famously declared, upon first seeing Jaeger’s work: “The future belongs to color photography.”
But beyond merely chronicling Hitler’s ceaseless travels, Jaeger also documented the brute machinery of the Reich, including the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939. Here's a series of photos from Warsaw and from the town of Kutno, 75 miles west of the Polish capital, taken by Hugo Jaeger in 1939 and 1940.
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Kutno, German-occupied Poland, 1939. |
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Unidentified woman, Kutno, Nazi-occupied Poland, 1939. |
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Warsaw, German-occupied Poland, 1940. |
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Unidentified woman and child, Kutno, Nazi-occupied Poland, 1939. |
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Kutno, Nazi-occupied Poland, 1939. |
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Unidentified girl, Kutno, Nazi-occupied Poland, 1939. |
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Elderly Jewish man speaks with German officers rounding up Kutno Jews, German-occupied Poland, 1939. |
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Nazi-occupied Poland, 1940. |
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Kutno, Nazi-occupied Poland, 1939. |
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Unidentified young women, Kutno, Nazi-occupied Poland, 1939. |
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Unidentified woman and child, Kutno, Nazi-occupied Poland, 1939. |
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Warsaw, Nazi-occupied Poland, 1940. The signs read, "Typhus area. Passage permitted only while traveling." |
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Unidentified men, Kutno, Nazi-occupied Poland, 1939. |
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Nazi-occupied Poland, 1939. |
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A peddler in Warsaw, Nazi-occupied Poland, 1940. |
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Warsaw, Nazi-occupied Poland, 1940. The sign warns: "Danger zone, do not proceed." |
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Unidentified young woman, Kutno, Nazi-occupied Poland, 1939. |
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Unidentified young women, Kutno, Nazi-occupied Poland, 1939. |
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Kutno, Nazi-occupied Poland, 1939. |
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Unidentified men, Kutno, Nazi-occupied Poland, 1939. |
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Unidentified woman and child, Kutno, Nazi-occupied Poland, 1939. |
(Photos: Hugo Jaeger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
Nazi German, there was no such thing like only Nazi, it was Nazi German. Nazi is not a nation.
ReplyDeleteEven after studying the rise, horror and fall of fascism for over 40 years, I still feel a chill when I gaze upon photos such as these.
ReplyDeleteNazi? Wtf? Nazis came from Moon or what? Say true and say "German-occupied".
ReplyDeleteYou are wrong...apples to oranges...nazi and Germans are not one in the same other than the language
DeleteNazi-occupied? I was German-occupied! It was an army from Germany, not from The Naziland.
ReplyDeleteit was getto... There are only polish Jews.
ReplyDeleteNazi language was German? *__* Lol
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ReplyDeletePoor poor souls
So very sad
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