Eyes of Hate: Joseph Goebbels Scowling at Photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt After Finding Out He's Jewish, 1933

If any picture from the pre-World War II era captured the sheer malevolence animating the Reich’s ideology and actions, it was Eisenstaedt’s photo of Goebbels at the Carlton Hotel in Geneva in September 1933.

Hitler's Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels glowers at photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt in the garden of the Carlton Hotel during a League of Nations conference, Geneva, September 1933.

The unsettling image of the Third Reich’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, glaring at photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt during a League of Nations conference in 1933 remains one of the signature—and certainly one of the most unflattering—portraits ever made of any high-ranking Nazi figure. In the photo, Goebbels’s bony hands grip the arms of his chair. His tense posture transmits an almost palpable enmity. Hunched, wary, Goebbels resembles a seething homunculus.

Joseph Goebbels was cheerful and without a care when he first met photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt. In a close-up image the Third Reich politician was caught off guard smiling at the League of Nations meeting. But when Goebbels found out LIFE magazine photographer Eisenstaedt was Jewish his expression was quite different.

Subsequently, when Eisenstaedt approached Goebbels for a candid portrait, the politician’s expression was very, very different. Instead of smiling, he scowled for the camera, and the famous photo that resulted shows the man wearing “eyes of hate”. His tense posture transmits an almost palpable enmity.

In the 1985 book, “Eisenstaedt on Eisenstaedt: A Self-Portrait”, the photographer discussed how the Goebbels picture came about:

“I found him sitting alone at a folding table on the lawn of the hotel. I photographed him from a distance without him being aware of it. As documentary reportage, the picture may have some value: it suggests his aloofness. Later I found him at the same table surrounded by aides and bodyguards. Goebbels seemed so small, while his bodyguards were huge. I walked up close and photographed Goebbels. It was horrible. He looked up at me with an expression full of hate. The result, however, was a much stronger photograph. There is no substitute for close personal contact and involvement with a subject, no matter how unpleasant it may be. He looked at me with hateful eyes and waited for me to wither. But I didn’t wither. If I have a camera in my hand, I don’t know fear.”

At another point, Eisenstaedt noted that “this picture could be titled, ‘From Goebbels With Love.’ When I went up to him in the garden of the hotel, he looked at me with hateful eyes and waited for me to wither. But I didn’t wither.”

But how did Goebbels found out that the photographer was Jewish?

No one know for sure but maybe the surname is what gave it away and Eisenstädt is a distinctly Jewish surname. It’s entirely possible that Goebbels was told his name and drew the easy conclusion that he was Jewish or at least of Jewish heritage.

A quote from Joseph Goebbels diary showing his hatred toward Jews: “The Jews are now being deported to the east. A fairly barbaric procedure, not to be described in any greater detail, is being used here, and not much more remains of the Jews themselves. In general, it can probably be established that 60 percent of them must be liquidated, while only 40 percent can be put to work […] A judgment is being carried out on the Jews which is barbaric, but fully deserved”.

Joseph Goebbels (center) walks with the German delegation at League of Nations conference, Geneva, 1933.

Joseph Goebbels in garden of the Carlton Hotel before delivering a radio address, Geneva, September 1933.

Hitler's Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels glowers at photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt in the garden of the Carlton Hotel during a League of Nations conference, Geneva, September 1933.

Joseph Goebbels in garden of the Carlton Hotel before delivering a radio broadcast, Geneva, September 1933.

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Humorous and Amazing Photography by Roberto Donetta: Photographer and Seed Salesman From Bleniotal

Roberto Donetta (1865-1932) from the Blenio Valley in northern Ticino, is one of Swiss photography’s great outsiders. He discovered photography, thanks to the sculptor Dionigi Sorgesa, who in addition to teaching him the basics, gave him a camera.

He managed to make a living as a traveling photographer and seed salesman, and upon his death left almost 5,000 glass plates which were preserved merely by chance. Over a period of 30 years and in an era of great change, Donetta became a unique chronicler who at the same time saw himself as an artist who experimented freely and knew how to master his medium. His pictures are penetrating and humorous, cheerful and deadly serious, children, families, wedding couples, professional people, the harsh everyday-life of women and men, or of the photographer himself. These capture the archaic life of his compatriots in the Valle di Blenio, which at the time was totally isolated, and the gradual advent of modernism in a precise and sensitive way.

Donetta’s life was marked by severe economic problems which lead him to depend on public (communal) assistance. On his death the Commune of Corzoneso auctioned off the few belongings previously owned by the photographer in order, in part, to retrieve the money spent for his maintenance. Whereas his household goods did find buyers his photographic plates, on the other hand, were of interest to no one, so the Commune of became the owner of the material.

For more than 30 years the plates had been forgotten in a bam, which contributed, possibly, towards their ultimate preservation. The Roberto Donetta Archives contain more than 5.000 plates and about 500 prints and are housed in the Casa Comunale of Corzoneso, which is responsible for the supervision and conservation of a considerable quantity of archive material of major interest for research in both the photographic and historical fields.

Female workers in front of the chocolate factory Cima Norma, Dangio-Torre

Family portrait, Bleniotal

In Sonntagsgewand: men in the Torre village come together for bowling

Basket maker, Bleniotal

Family portrait, Bleniotal

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36 Beautiful Vintage Photos Capture Everyday Life of Switzerland in the 1960s

Here is a collection of beautiful color photographs capturing everyday life in Switzerland during the 1960s.

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51 Wonderful Vintage Photos of Switzerland in the early 1950s

These color photos are found slides of the life and wonderful scenes in Switzerland in 1953.

A part of the building at Jungfraujoch in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Above Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Apartments on a street in Zurich

Bahnhofstrasse Street in Zurich

Band on Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich

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36 Stunning Autochrome Prints of Switzerland in the 1920s

These stunning vintage Autochrome pictures show the life and landscape in Switzerland in the late 1920s.

At the Lake Zug, July 1927

Axentrasse, Sisikon, Canton of Uri

Church of Rothenthurm, Schwyz, 25 July 1927

Farmer in Geneve, ca. 1920s

Gallery of the Axenstrasse, Canton of Uri, July 1927

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Excursion in Backpack, Switzerland, 1950

(Photo by Martin Glaus)

Young Benito Mussolini's Mugshot, Arrested by Swiss Police, 1903

Young Benito Mussolini mugshot from when he was arrested by Swiss police for supporting a violent general strike in 1903. He spent two weeks in jail, was deported to Italy, was set free there, and returned to Switzerland.

Benito Mussolini's mugshot taken on 20 June 1903 in Bern, Switzerland.

In June 1902, in an attempt to avoid conscription, Mussolini moved to Switzerland and became attached to a group of Italian socialists. He worked as a bricklayer, dabbled in journalism and joined a trade union. His agitation and calls for civil unrest got him arrested and deported back to Italy, officially he was arrested for lack of identification papers.

In 1905, he returned to Italy for good and despite having previously avoided conscription, now voluntarily joined the Italian army, serving for two years.

Mugshot and fingerprints of a young Marxist named 'Benedetto' Mussolini. Bern, Switzerland, 1903.

Brash, arrogant and vain in the extreme, Benito Mussolini dreamt of making Italy a superpower, akin to the great Roman Empire of old with him at its helm. Il Duce, ‘the Leader’, as he liked to be known, ruled Italy from October 1922 to his downfall in 1943, increasing his power from that of prime minister to fascist dictator. But as a boy, Mussolini was brought up with firm socialist ideals and, as a young man, became a leading figure in Italian socialist circles.

Tramways in Genève, Switzerland, ca. 1964

A gallery of 45 wonderful color photographs captured tramways in Geneva, Switzerland in 1964.

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Wonderful Color Photographs Captured Street Scenes of Switzerland From Between the 1940s and 1960s

A consociational government, which was known as a “concordance government” and which included the Social Democrats, was formed during the post-war period. From 1959, the four largest political parties permanently divided the seven government seats among themselves in a fixed constellation known as the “magic formula”.

During the post-war period, Switzerland experienced an economic boom. Its traditional economic strength was in the industrial sector, but in the last quarter of the 20th century, Switzerland transformed itself into an economy with a service sector that employed three quarters of the labour force. This process resulted in a significant increase in the standard of living, a steady improvement in working conditions and social security, and an ever-growing variety of consumer goods.

As a small and open economy, Switzerland was and is dependent on access to foreign markets. At the same time, during the Cold War it pursued a policy of strict neutrality between the two blocs, although it considered itself part of the West in economic, political and cultural terms.

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