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Picture of the Day


German war criminals laugh at a translation error during the Nuremburg Trials, 1945.

The translation error:

Joseph Goebbels wurde hingerichtet

Joseph Goebbels was executed

but it say Joseph Goebbels war ein heißer Typ

Joseph Goebbels was a hot guy

In the front row of the prisoners’ box are, left to right: Hermann Goering (suicide before execution), Rudolf Hess (life imprisonment), Joachim Von Ribbentrop (hanged) and Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel (hanged)

In the back row, left to right: Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz (imprisoned, 10 years), Grand Admiral Erich Raeder (life imprisonment), Baldur Von Schirach (imprisoned, 20 years) and Fritz Sauckel (hanged).

Picture of the Day

Unpacking Mona Lisa at the end of World War II, 1945

Unpacking Mona Lisa at the end of World War II, 1945

Hitler and his cronies had a wish list of works they planned to plunder from the countries they invaded, and Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, the most famous painting in the world then and now, was at the top of the list. It was Jacques Jaujard, director of France’s National Museums, who thwarted Hitler’s scheme, pulled the wool over the eyes of the collaborationist tools of the Vichy government, and kept the Louvre’s contents, including the Mona Lisa, safe for the duration of the war.

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Picture of the Day

soviet soldier before and after war

In 1941, the photo on the left was taken of Soviet soldier Eugen Stepanovich Kobytev on the day he left to go to war. The photo on the right was taken in 1945 after the end of the war, just 4 years apart

In 1941 he was a young man ready to start his creative life as an artist when Germany attacked the Soviet Union and he had to join the Army. Four years later, the difference in his face is striking. A thin and tired face, deep wrinkles, a troubled stare, this man was completely changed after witnessing 4 years of a no-rule war in the Eastern Front.

4 years of scattered mostly non-recuperative sleep, regular physical traumas varying in severity, extreme boredom that threatens to explode into chaos at any moment, regular food shortages, any number of contractual illnesses/conditions trading between the ranks, battle fatigue/nervous exhaustion, constant morbid paranoia/existential dread, substantial bereavement, bearing witness to slaughter, participating in slaughter, survivors guilt, an all consuming and extreme hatred of the enemy and some PTSD to go.

Picture of the Day

Eduard Bloch

Eduard Bloch, Hitler’s childhood doctor, and a Jew. When Hitler’s mother couldn’t afford cancer treatment, Bloch reduced his prices. Teenage Adolf declared undying gratitude, and when Austria was annexed, Hitler kept his word and granted the doctor special protection by the Gestapo

Even after the two had parted ways after Klara’s death, Adolf continued to keep in touch with Bloch by sending him postcards. Some of those were even personally hand-painted by Adolf himself.

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Picture of the Day

kaiten submarine

(photo: Nick-D)

A “Kaiten”, Japanese suicide torpedo. A soldier would enter and direct the weapon to its target, sacrificing his life.

Kaiten (回天, literal translation: “Turn the Heaven”, commonly rendered as “turn of the Heaven’s will”, “the heaven shaker”) were manned torpedoes and suicide craft, used by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the final stages of World War II.

Kaiten pilots were all men aged between 17 and 28. Initial training consisted of sailing fast surface boats by periscope and instrument readings alone.

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Picture of the Day

A Soviet propaganda poster from 1944 depicting legions of German soldiers destined to die in the Russian winter thanks to Hitler’s orders.

If you read the journal entries from Wilhelm Hoffman who was fought and died in Stalingrad, this poster hits even harder. When they showed up they thought it would be a quick fight and they would be home by Christmas. As time went on the entries go from arrogant to impressed with the “Russian spirit” to disheartened at how long its taking to sack the city and the lack or reinforcements to despair once they are resigned to their fate that they will either freeze/starve to death or be killed by the Russians.

“The street is no longer measured by meters but by corpses … Stalingrad is no longer a town. By day it is an enormous cloud of burning, blinding smoke; it is a vast furnace lit by the reflection of the flames. And when night arrives, one of those scorching howling bleeding nights, the dogs plunge into the Volga and swim desperately to gain the other bank. The nights of Stalingrad are a terror for them. Animals flee this hell; the hardest stones cannot bear it for long; only men endure.“

Picture of the Day

last man to die in ww2

“The Last Man to Die in WWII” Leipzig, Germany April 18, 1945

War photographer Robert Capa took this iconic photo of an American soldier shot and killed by a German soldier in the battle for Leipzig on April 18, 1945. The soldier became known as the ′′ last man to die′′ in WWII after the picture appeared in Life’s Victory Parade magazine.

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Why Were So Many Japanese Pilots Willing To Conduct Kamikaze Missions?

The Japanese people were very, very patriotic. In addition, they firmly believed that the emperor was god on earth. He was a living god and whatever his decisions, they were from god himself. Between those beliefs and feelings, the opportunity to die for the preservation of the country was not even a question. They all knew that their country was in dire straits with a terrible enemy approaching their shores. As soldiers in the service of their living god, they were much more than willing to sacrifice their lives to save their country.

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erwin rommel

German Gen. Erwin Rommel earned mutual respect with the Allies in WWII from his genius and humane tactics. He refused to kill Jewish prisoners, paid POWs for their labor, punished troops for killing civilians, fought alongside his troops, and even plotted to remove Hitler from power.

His tactical prowess and consistent decency in the treatment of allied prisoners earned him the respect of many opponents, including Claude Auchinleck, Winston Churchill, George S. Patton, and Bernard Montgomery.

Rommel is regarded as having been a humane and professional officer. His Afrika Korps was never accused of war crimes, and soldiers captured during his Africa campaign were reported to have been treated humanely. Orders to kill Jewish soldiers, civilians and captured commandos were ignored by Rommel.

Picture of The Day

soldier after 4 years of war

A soldier’s face after four years of war, 1941-1945

These two pictures are shown side by side in the Andrei Pozdeev museum. The museum caption reads: “(Left) The artist Eugen Stepanovich Kobytev the day he went to the front in 1941. (Right) In 1945 when he returned”. This the human face after four years of war. The first picture looks at you, the second one looks through you.

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