Germany

A Messerschmitt Me-262 aircraft photographed in-flight by an American B-17 gunner. Further details about this rare image are unknown, except from the fact that it was taken between 1944 and 1945. The Messerschmitt Me 262, aka Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow) in the fighter version, or Sturmvogel (Stormbird) in the fighter-bomber …

The Mercedes-Benz W142 in which Reinhard Heydrich was attacked by members of the Czech resistance on May 27th, 1942. Reinhard Heydrich was director of Gestapo and Reich Main Security office. As Heinrich Himmler’s assistant, he was arguably the most ruthless and effective high ranking SS officer. Most historians agree that …

German soldiers jokingly pretending to throw hand grenades at their comrade in an outhouse / latrine sometime during WWII. Date, location and other details of the image are unknown, and better quality of the photograph was not available. Book suggestion ⤵️ 📖 Wehrmacht: The Illustrated History of the German Army …

A sign left by German Soldiers as they were evacuating Finnish territory in October 1944. The sign reads “As thanks for not demonstrating brotherhood in arms”. You could speculate that they had left some ‘gifts’ for the Finns there. Finland and Germany had been fighting together against the Soviet Union …

Heavy cruiser Lützow (aka pocket battleship) with a snapped off stern in Kiel harbor sometime after April 13th, 1940. Commissioned by the Weimar government, Lützow was completed in 1933 as the leading ship of the heavy cruiser class “Deutschland”. It was renamed Lützow in January 1940. Damage was caused by …

This rare World War 2 image shows guests of Adolf Hitler on the Berghof terrace sometime in 1942. The Berghof was Hitler’s vacation residence in the Bavarian Alps at Obersalzberg, near Berchtesgaden. He would often entertain visitors there, whether it was for official business or simply leisure. The picture was …

View of Juno beach on D-Day from a German antitank casemate in Courseulles-sur Mer, France. On June 6th, 1944, the Allies landed in Normandy, on the day now known as D-Day. Although the Allied managed to weaken German resistance in Normandy with deception tactics, misleading the Germans about the date …

Adolf Hitler in uniform after World War I, likely in 1921, when he was 32 years old. This image was used on his government issued card which allowed him to carry weapons. Hitler was a decorated lance corporal in the First World War. He learned about Germany’s defeat while hospitalized …

Panzer III tank from the 15th Panzer Division pictured after being destroyed in August 1942, North Africa. An anti tank projectile or a shaped-charge blast penetrated the hull and caused an ammunition explosion, which blew up the turret. This is known as the “Jack in the box” effect. In the …

German Waffen SS soldier looking at a nervous Red Army POW, somewhere on the Eastern Front during September 1941. At that time, Operation Barbarossa was in full swing, as Germany was quickly gaining ground in the East. Book suggestion ⤵️ 📖 Eastern Inferno: Journals of a German Panzerjäger on the …