Historic Picture Shows the Different Expressions of Six Polish Civilians Moments Before Death by Firing Squad, 1939

Facing the death –– This group of men show a wide range of emotions: the first from the left looks anguished, the next one looks defiant, the last one looks resigned... but the man third from the left is smiling at his executioners. He knows he is sure to die as others had been executed before him, but he faces his end with a smile.

The different expressions of six Polish civilians moments before death by firing squad, after the Nazi invasion of Poland at the outset of World War II, Bydgoszcz, Poland, 1939. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

On September 3, 1939, two days after the start of the German invasion of Poland, a series of killings occurred in and around the Polish town of Bydgoszcz (German: Bromberg), where a sizable German minority lived. These killings were termed ‘Bloody Sunday’.

The Nazis exploited the deaths as grounds for a massacre of Polish inhabitants after the Wehrmacht captured the town. In an act of retaliation for the killings on Bloody Sunday, a number of Polish civilians were executed by German military units of the Einsatzgruppen, Waffen SS, and Wehrmacht.

According to German historian Christian Raitz von Frentz, 876 Poles were tried by German tribunal for involvement in the events of Bloody Sunday before the end of 1939. 87 men and 13 women were sentenced without the right to appeal. Polish historian Czesław Madajczyk notes 120 executions in relation to Bloody Sunday, and the execution of 20 hostages after a German soldier was allegedly attacked by a Polish sniper.

(via Rare Historical Photos)

Sheets of Portrait Photos of the Frank Family, 1939

“Your child can smile, talk, or play and does not have to sit up or put on a pretty face.”
Algemeen Handelsblad, 12 April 1935

In April 1935, Polyfoto opened a shop in Amsterdam’s city centre. For 1 guilder, you could have a sheet made with 48 different portrait photos.

The Frank family went there to have their pictures taken. Photo sheets of all four family members have survived. Several photos were cut from the photo sheet of the 36-year-old Edith. One of these is in the photo album that Anne compiled when they were in hiding.

Pictures of Anne Frank taken in a department store booth, 1939. (Photo by Anne Frank Fonds - Basel via Getty Images)

Portrait photo sheet of Margot Frank, 1939. (Collection: Anne Frank Stiching, Amsterdam)

(via Anne Frank House)

Wartime Marriage: Lovely Photos of WWII Soldiers With Their Brides

Rationing, restrictions and the uncertainty of the Second World War were just some of the challenges faced by couples marrying in wartime.

But despite wartime privations, these couples made their big days special with help of families, friends and their communities.

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Secretly Photographing the Holocaust: Rare Photos Taken by a Jewish Photographer That Show Daily Life in the Lodz Ghetto

Mendel Grossman was born in Staszów, Poland on 27 June 1913. After the occupation of Poland by the German Army in September 1939, he joined the underground in the town.

Forced to live in the Lodz ghetto he used his position in the statistics department to obtain the material needed to take photographs. By hiding his camera in his raincoat, Grossman was able to take secret photographs of scenes in the ghetto. He took these photographs at great risk to his life, not only because the Gestapo suspected him, but also because of his weak heart. Some of his photographs assisted people in identifying the graves of their loved ones.

Mendel Grossman’s negatives are now the prepared documentation of the Holocaust. Grossman distributed many of his photographs; those he was unable to distribute, he tried to hide. In August 1944, shortly before the final liquidation of the Litzmannstadt Ghetto, he hid ca. 10,000 negatives showing scenes from the Ghetto. In the ghetto, he lived together with his family at 55 Marynarskiej street.

Mendel Grossman, the ghetto photographer, with a friend.

Mendel Grossman taking photographs in the ghetto.

The photographer Mendel Grossman in his laboratory.

Grossman continued to take photographs after he was deported to the Konigs Wusterhausen labor camp. He stayed there until 16 April 1945. On 30 April 1945, he was shot by Nazis during a forced death march, still holding on to his camera.

After the war his hidden negatives were discovered. Grossman’s sister found some of his hidden photographs and took them to Israel, but they were mostly lost in the Israeli war of Independence. Other photos taken by Grossman were found by one of his friends, Nachman (Natek) Zonabend; these photographs are now located in the Museum of Holocaust and Resistance at the Ghetto Fighters House in Kibbutz Lohamei Hagetaot, Israel, as well as Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.

"Scheisskommando" workers pulling a cart of sewage.

A group of youngsters in the ghetto, one of whom has a Jewish Badge on his back.

People waiting in line for food in the ghetto.

Mendel Grossman's brother-in-law.

A crossing between two parts of the ghetto, 1941.

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WWII G.I Waiting at Bus Stop With His Girlfriend to Go Off to Fight the War

According to his granddaughter, he returned home.

“The sassy woman in the saddle shoes is my grandma Lois.” Lisa Warninger, who submitted the photo to The Sartorialist, said. “This photograph was probably taken in the 1940s in Yakima, Washington. Lois always spoke her mind and was sharp as a whip.”

A fantastic photo! The pose, the crooked smile, the two-tone shoes, the haltered crop top. She does indeed look like a sharp woman who speaks her mind. The ice cream sign behind them is great too! (The Giant Killer was a sundae with multiple scoops of ice cream, from between 8 and 16. It was covered with bananas, hot fudge, caramel, pineapple, nuts marshmallow topping, cherries, and whipped cream.)

Everyday Life of the US During WWII Through Jack Delano's Lens

Born 1914 as Jacob Ovcharov in Voroshilovka, Podolie Governorate, Russian Empire (now Vorošýlivka, Ukraine) and moved, with his parents and younger brother, to the United States in 1923, American photographer Jack Delano worked for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and was also a composer noted for his use of Puerto Rican folk material.

After graduating from the Academy, Delano started working as a freelance photographer in Philadelphia and New York. He also developed an interest in films, and together with his future wife Irene Esser started making short documentaries.

Impressed by the work of famous photographers like Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans, Delano applied for a job with the historical section of the FSA (Farm Security Administration) in 1940. For the next years he traveled throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. All through this time Delano’s primary assignment was to document the social and working conditions of people in FSA projects. All of this was happening during the Second World War, and Delano was drafted in 1943.

Delano traveled throughout the South Pacific and South America before being discharged in 1946.

These amazing photographs Delano took for the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information that documented everyday life of the US during WWII.

Connecticut. 75¢ Thanksgiving. On a main street in Norwich, November 1940

Connecticut. A Glimpse of Thanksgiving. At the Crouch family Thanksgiving Day dinner, Ledyard, November 1940

Connecticut. A Woman window shopping on a rainy day in Norwich, November 1940

Connecticut. All Downhill. Children sledding in Jewett City, November 1940

Connecticut. Five & Dime. Main street intersection in Norwich on a rainy day, November 1940

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The Story Behind the Photo of Winston Churchill With Cigar and Tommy Gun in July 1940

The photograph of Winston Churchill with the Thompson submachine gun was taken during his visit to the coastal defense positions near Hartlepool on 31 July, 1940. The interesting thing about this picture is that both the British and the Germans used it for propaganda purposes. The British edited out two soldiers standing next to Churchill, making him look statesmanlike, determined and menacing. On the other hand, the Germans compared it to those of the gangsters of the American West. The Nazis used this photo in their propaganda leaflets airdropped onto Britain during the Battle of Britain.

Winston Churchill with a Tommy Gun during an inspection near Hartlepool, 1940.

Nazi propaganda minister Goebbels saw the image as a god send and used it extensively domestically, with the other Axis countries, and even in air drops over the Britain during the Battle of Britain with the text in English “WANTED,,” and at the bottom: “for incitement to MURDER.” The reverse of the leaflet is all text: This gangster, who you see in his element in the picture, incites you by his example to participate in a form of warfare in which women, children and ordinary citizens shall take the leading parts. This absolutely criminal form of warfare which is forbidden by the Hague Convention will be punished according to military law. Save at least your own families from the horrors of war!

Nazi Leaflet (left), Nazi poster with Churchill with the German text “Sniper” (right).

With France and its other European Allies out of the war Britain and its Empire stood by itself against a triumphant Hitler. A defiant Churchill instead of bowing down to Germany famously promised during his June 4, 1940 speech to the house of commons: “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender!”. Trying to pass on his never-give-up attitude he sought to back up British morale with some public tours of the British coastal defenses. During one of these tours he was photographed trying out an American 1928 Tommy Gun or Thompson SMG (sub machine gun) at defense fortifications near Hartlepool in Northern England.

Britain purchased quantities of the M1928 Thompson, which were delivered with the drum magazine but soon it was discovered to weigh too much, was cumbersome to load and it rattled too much in use, so thousands were returned to the manufacturer and exchanged for stick mags.

(via Rare Historical Photos)

1940s War Fashion: A Young Woman Demonstrating How to Achieve the Full Leg Effect With Liquid Stockings in 1941

Until the end of the 1930s the best women’s stockings were made from silk. This changed in the United States when DuPont began manufacturing nylon in 1939. Nylon stockings went on limited sale in October of that year followed by a national launch at selected stores in 1940. DuPont struggled to keep up with demand and American women were still complaining of shortages in 1942 when the United States joined the war. Commercial quantities of nylon stockings would not reach the rest of the world until after 1945.

Although most nylon was used to make stockings, some was bought by the American military to replace silk in the manufacture of parachutes. When the United States entered the war, DuPont shifted nylon production to a war footing and production was channeled into national defense uses, including parachutes and bomber tyres, and supplies of nylon for stockings dried up. Silk stockings were also unavailable, as trade with Japan ceased and the American army requisitioned all stores of silk for parachutes, munitions and other military uses.

Women were asked to collect silk and nylon stockings and hand them in to help the war effort.

As silk and nylon stockings vanished from the shelves, women looked to alternatives. Depending on the occasion, what was available, their degree of patriotism and their economic situation, they substituted with stockings made from other fibres, wore socks, covered their legs with trousers, went bare-legged or used leg make-up – also known as cosmetic stockings, liquid stockings, bottled stockings and phantom hose – to give the appearance of stockings.

In England, wartime austerity led some women to try their hand at making their own cosmetic stockings from published recipes.

Applying the cosmetic stocking liquid, lotion, cream or stick evenly so that there were no streaks would also have taken practice. Fortunately, help on how to achieve the best results was available from the place of purchase and from articles in newspapers and magazines.

The end of the war saw nylon stockings return to the shelves followed by a corresponding decline in the use of substitutes. DuPont began producing nylon for stockings within two-weeks of the Japanese surrender and this produced what reporters of the time called the ‘nylon riots’ of 1945 and 1946 as women scrambled to buy them in the United States. In those parts of the world where things remained economically depressed and/or clothes remained rationed, cosmetic stockings lingered longer and were still being sold in the 1950s, well after the war was over.

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Comparison Then and Now Photos of a Street in Germany During WWII vs. Today

Two amazing photos. The first is allied forces pushing through the town of Oberdorla, Germany, during World War II in 1945. The second is the same street captured 71 years later in 2016.

This is a nice colorized reproduction of an original WWII photograph. Not only it brings much more detail to black and white photo, there’s also a detailed description of the photo.

Infantrymen of ‘B’ Company, 44th Armored Infantry Battalion, 6th US Armored Division while crossing the street, pass the body of Pfc. Robert Vardy Wynne (aged 19 from Texas) who had just been mortally wounded by a sniper.

This took place on April 4 1945 in Oberdorla, Mühlhausen/Thüringen, Germany.

Here’s the same street captured in the same angle 71 years later in 2016:

World War II at Home in Britain Through Breathtaking Historical Photographs

When Britain went to war on 3 September 1939 there was none of the 'flag-waving patriotism' of August 1914. The British people were now resigned to the fact that Hitler had to be stopped by force.

The first eight months of the war were a time of official unwarranted optimism and bureaucratic muddle. Many early wartime measures such as the blackout and evacuation proved highly unpopular. But this 'Phoney War' was soon followed by the 'bracing defeat' of Dunkirk and the fall of France in June 1940.

For the next year, under Winston Churchill’s inspiring and resolute leadership, Britain with its Empire stood alone against Hitler, until they were joined by two powerful allies, the Soviet Union and the United States.

World War II at home in Britain

But for the next five years the British had to endure the bombing of their towns and cities in the Blitz, as well as attacks from flying bombs and rockets. In all 60,595 civilians were killed and 86,182 seriously injured. Rationing of food began in January 1940 and clothes in June 1941. By 1943, virtually every household item was either in short supply and had to be queued for, or was unobtainable.

The British were the most totally mobilised of all the major belligerents and there was a great and genuine community of spirit in wartime Britain which often transcended class and other barriers. But there was also an almost universal feeling, exemplified by the popularity of the 1942 Beveridge Report, that after victory the country could not go back to pre-war social conditions.

VE Day found Britain exhausted, drab and in poor shape, but justly proud of its unique role in gaining the Allied victory.

These historical photos from painting in light that show the way the British fought against this war, and stories behind each photo.

1940 - Coventry, the city centre

1940 - In the morning, work as usual. After a big raid, the way to the office is knee-deep in rubble. Londoners unemotionally pick their way through it

1940 - Portsmouth. 65,000 houses were damaged out of 70,000 in the city but services were restored and life went on - a mobile laundry

1940 - 'Tea, and telling about it'. From the youngest to the oldest. YMCA provided hot drinks not only for civil defence etc but for the civilians - some 'tea cars' were 'sponsored' by USA

1940 - Watching and waiting

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Cycling on the Streets of Paris Under Nazi Occupation in 1942

These photographs were taken by André Zucca in Paris while the city was occupied by the Germans during World War II. Zucca was a French photographer and Nazi collaborator, most well known for his work with the German propaganda magazine Signal.

While everything changed with the German occupation, most things also remained the same. The German occupiers made the French pay for the costs of the occupation in foodstocks, so food was very scarce. Other things, like gasoline and rubber (bicycle tires), were almost impossible to obtain.

Despite all that, France no longer was at war. Life, at least on the surface, appeared more normal than in places like London and Berlin. Men and women went to work, sat in cafés, went to the movies, and even watched or participated in bike races. This did not make them collaborateurs. After all, it would have served little if all Parisians had sat in a corner and sulked for years while the Germans were occupying the city. Even the resistance fighters kept up appearances and tried to live as normal a life as possible, so they did not arouse the suspicion of the Gestapo or their French counterparts.

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The London Milkman: The Story Behind One of the Most Iconic Images of the Blitz

As photography had become part of people's daily lives during the inter-war period, numerous iconic images were taken of the Second World War, creating an album of hope and horror, of atrocities and valor. The one that perhaps represented the fighting spirit of well-mannered Great Britain most clearly was the famous picture taken by a photographer called Fred Morley on October 9, 1940, depicting a milkman going about with his daily business amidst the rubble in London.

A milkman delivering milk in a London street devastated during a German bombing raid. Firemen are dampening down the ruins behind him. (Photo by Fred Morley/Getty Images)

The raid that took place that night was the 32nd in a row, the United Kingdom being mercilessly bombed night after night. The raid was also the one that saw a bomb make a direct hit on St Pauls Cathedral in London ― one of the city’s most recognizable buildings ― but, and with God's help perhaps, it failed to detonate.

Prior to this attack, the Cathedral had been bombed on December 29, 1940, when yet another famous photograph was created by a Daily Mail reporter, one which was soon dubbed the “War's greatest picture”. It depicts St. Paul's Cathedral, surrounded in smoke, just after a bombing raid. The monumental building stands tall and proud and, most importantly, undamaged. This was the sort of story and image, desperately needed in those times, that the press was urged to create.

St Paul's Cathedral, rising above the bombed London skyline, is shrouded in smoke during the Blitz. The photograph was taken from the roof of the Daily Mail offices in Fleet Street.

On the other hand, the image was also used by the German propaganda machine, but this time to stress the level of destruction the Luftwaffe had caused to the enemy.

The Battle of Britain, which was one of the early turning points in the war, relied heavily on the defiance and morale of both the British soldiers and its citizens, who gave their best to withstand the terrifying bombing raids and rapidly deteriorating living conditions.

Thus the photograph of a milkman casually strolling through the ruins as he delivers milk became an unofficial symbol of the defiant British character.

At the time, the photograph helped boost the morale of the millions of British citizens who became ever more prepared to repel the Nazi war machine.  However, decades later it was revealed that the image was actually staged.

During the bombing raids, the British censors were working desperately to keep the nation calm by forbidding to authorize images depicting the scale of destruction which was being caused by the Luftwaffe. Since most of the photos taken by reporters were rejected, Morley had to figure out how to please the censors, but again to show the truth of what was happening in London.

On the October morning, he arrived at the scene to witness firefighters struggling to contain the fire caused by the bombing. The rubble was all around him. Since he couldn’t bear to let this go unnoticed by the press, Fred Morley devised a plan to override the censorship.

Office workers make their way to work through debris after a heavy air raid

He had seen a milkman in the area and asked him if he could borrow his coat and a crate full of milk bottles. Morley’s assistant then took the recognizable white coat and posed with the crate as his boss took pictures.

The result was an image that became a part of the collective memory of the war. The image appeared spontaneous while depicting the stoicism of the British working man who casually continues with his day job, undisturbed by the threat of destruction from above. The power of the message the photo conveyed was recognized by the British censors, who decided to print it in the newspapers.

Even though the photo was staged, its role in raising the spirit of the British people during a time when it was uncertain whether or not the island would be able to deter the enemy was priceless and its timing was perfect.

(via War History Online, photos © Fred Morley)

How Could Slovenian Fighter Albina Mali-Hočevar Look Before the Wound

Albina Mali-Hočevar (1925–2001) was an extremely brave Slovenian anti-fascist resistance fighter and national hero, who was wounded three times in combat and fought to liberate Yugoslavia from 1941 until 1944.

Here’s the face of a once beautiful girl was disfigured by war, and let’s take a look at how she could look before the wound.

Here’s the colorized version.

Albina joined the People’s Liberation Movement at 16. She was wounded twice at 17, and wounded again by an exploding mine three days after her 18th birthday. She continued fighting and working as a nurse for the rest of the war (another two years).

In 1946 she granted the Partisan Memorial 1941, which was awarded to all fighters of the Yugoslavian National Liberation Movement who had served since 1941. In 1952 Albina was awarded the Order of the People’s Hero, in the category of Women National Heroes, which was the highest award in Yugoslavia at the time.

Albina Mali-Hočevar lived until the age of 75.