Photographs

King Michael I of Romania testing a Russian light machine gun in Sevastopol, 1942, as the Romanians were advancing into Soviet territory alongside their German allies. The photograph was smuggled to neutral Portugal and sent to New York City via boat. It arrived there and was archived in December 1942. …

German prisoners of war awaiting their transport at the Bernières-Sur-Mer railway station after the events on D-Day. June 1944 vs. modern days (2022). The train station was a key part of the coastal rail line connecting Caen to Courseulles. Bernières-sur-Mer was a crucial D-Day landing site within the Juno Beach …

Krakow is being buried in snow, the bus has broken down, and it’s freezing outside. But I suppose visiting Auschwitz shouldn’t be particularly comfortable, so I try to appreciate this fact. My current discomfort can easily be tolerated. I arrive at Auschwitz around 11 AM, so I have three hours …

A view of the Ludendorff Bridge from the top of Erpeler Ley Hill on March 9th, 1945. Eight days later, its collapse took the lives of 28 U.S. Army engineers and injured 63 more. Erpeler Ley was nicknamed “Flak Hill” by Allied soldiers due to the concentration of German anti-aircraft …

Underground aircraft factory at the salt mine in Tarthun, Germany. Certain sources locate the image somewhere in Austria, but that is false. It was in fact taken, as mentioned, at the Tarthun salt mine in Saxony-Anhalt. The photograph was captured on April 15th 1945 by advancing US troops, who were …

Polish Cavalry squadron crossing a water source on April 29th, 1939, before the start of World War II in Europe. The exact location of the photograph is unknown, other than it being taken somewhere in Poland. At the time of the German invasion in September 1939, cavalry units still formed …

Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby (right), first director of the Women’s Army Corps, pictured while discussing with Auxiliary Margaret Peterson and Captain Elizabeth Gilbert at Mitchel Field in New York, sometime during 1943. The Women’s Army Corps was the women’s branch of the US Army, modeled after similar British troops. Initially …

Eighth Route Army soldiers manning a machine gun nest on Futuyu Great Wall, as Japanese forces were expanding their invasion south of the wall into China’s coastal strips during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Photograph taken in Laiyuan, Hebei, China, 1938. The Eight Route Army was theoretically under the banner of …

Hillside sign on the Slieve Liag Cliffs, County Donegal, on the Atlantic coast. The mark was mainly used to alert the Luftwaffe of Irish aerial space during World War II, in order to avoid accidental attacks. As a neutral country in the war years, the Republic of Ireland deployed a …

Japanese civilians listening to Emperor Hirohito’s radio broadcast announcing Japan’s surrender on August 15th, 1945. It was the first known time of a Japanese Emperor directly addressing the common people. The broadcast created a lot of confusion at the time and many people were unsure if Japan actually capitulated. Emperor …