Heartbreaking photos of child soldiers from the First and Second World Wars
The military use of children can occur in three different ways: children can participate directly in conflicts as child soldiers; they can be used in supporting roles such as porters, spies, messengers and guards; or they can be used for…
Life and death of the German heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee
The Admiral Graf Spee was a notorious heavy cruiser of the Nazi Navy during World War II. The ship was built between October 1932 and January 1936 at the Reichsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven. A monster ship, the Admiral Graf Spee barely…
Faces of Evil: The Female Guards of Nazi Concentration Camps, 1939–1945
The Nazi concentration camps during World War II were a place of unimaginable horror and suffering for millions of innocent people. While much attention has been paid to the role of male guards in committing these atrocities, the role of…
The downfall of Germany in World War II in 30 pictures
Ruins of the Berlin Cathedral City Palace Lustgarten Willys MB Jeep 1945 After France was recaptured by the Allies, the Germans mustered their own forces for a comprehensive counterattack in the Battle of the Bulge. They inflicted heavy losses on…
The absolutely amazing V-2 rocket in pictures
V-2 Rockets As early as 1932, Germany was investigating the use of rockets in warfare. The military was thinking outside the box and looking for ways to circumvent the strict arms bans enacted by the Treaty of Versailles after the…
Field Marshal Erich von Manstein on the Kerch Front in May 1942
The Battle of the Kerch Peninsula was a conflict between the Axis powers (Germany and Romania) and the Soviet Union that took place between December 1941 and May 1942. Germany’s victory in May 1942 allowed the country to concentrate on…
The entrance to the Auschwitz concentration camp – a place of remembrance and warning
Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions and/or images of violent, disturbing, or otherwise potentially distressing events. As World War II ended in January 1945, a group of Soviet scouts stumbled upon a strange camp in the Polish city of Oświęcim,…
German soldiers in Ukraine, 1941
A small box containing six rolls of German Agfa film negatives, carefully wrapped in tracing paper, was found by its new owner in the basement of an old German house. The young German man gave this find to his girlfriend…
HALF TRUCK, HALF TANK, THE GERMAN SD.KFZ 251 WAS COMPLETELY SUCCESSFUL
History of the special vehicle 251 This vehicle was a familiar sight and was commonly associated with the German infantry throughout World War II. It was originally a simple armored version of the Sd.Kfz . 11 half-track. The half-track was one of…
A smile in the shadow of war – A German soldier on the Eastern Front, 1944
War—this word carries with it heaviness, fear, and destruction. But sometimes, very rarely, there are images that briefly break through all of this. This photo is one of them. It shows a young German soldier on the Eastern Front in…