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What happened to this world? Why am i here? Will i see my family again, my loved ones? (This photo was made by my grandfather in 1940 in Russia)
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Thank you for sharing this wonderful, historic shot, taken in such as horrible times throw the war, behind the Russian borders. It was a hard times for the soldiers and also for the civilians on the both sides. I think, that your grandfather saw in the eyes of that soldier despair and hopelessness, as well as I can see it now on this photograph. This photo let us warning and lesson to never dread that did not repeat.
thank you for your understanding comment. I totally agree with you. Thankfully we have now a great chance in Europe that this will never happen again. It's a mess that many of these men did not have this chance. We should not forget that.
Soldiers are just canon-fother - whatever the army, whatever the devotion; they are all equal in beeing sacrificed in the games of the Fathers of State who, in close harmony with the weapon and war lords, stay high & dry. (If this is to anti-militaristic you may delete it.) - Warm regards, Friderike (born May 1945)
i would never delete a comment which is worth to think about it, even if maybe here or there i think a bit different. We don't know what happened to this man for example and we can only can think what he maybe thought and felt. Many people were abused in that war and it still happens (Irak, Afghanistan...). But in some cases people fought for their freedom or even for their right to live. And as we all know: The russians fought under Stalin's command but against Hitler's killing machines, they fought for their life. And not only the russians. So i think it's important to look at every war and what is behind, then one can say criminal war or the right to defend yourself.
But, however, this man expresses for me all the feelings of a sacrificed generation, of people who had no choice and had no chance. That's what is still touching me and i would like to know what my grandfather would to his photo now. But i can't ask him anymore.
Liebe Mathias, In the first place, what I said was not against ones right to defend oneself, nor against soldiers as human beeings. Au contraire; it is the military organisation which, by its very nature, de-humanizes people: their 'own' as well as the 'enemy' (and the 'civilians'). The military organisation even has a technical, de-humanizing language for their trade.
In fact your grandfather made an act of resistance against dehumanisation, by making this photo. He emphasized the depicted man's humanity as well as his own by making it. (Did he carry a camera with him? Was he an army photographer?) It is obvious that he wanted this man to be remembered. I suppose that they knew each other, maybe even became friends (for a short period of time). He even kept the photograph after the war..
I think that you, as his grandson, did the best he could have wished in showing the world: Diese Soldat war ein Mensch.
And secondly: There probably never would have been a WW-II 'necessary' if the First (wich was totaly & completely UNnecessary and in its prolongation even criminal) had not taken place. (Hitler was a trench-war product.)
By the way: I am anti-militarist, not pacifist. That's quite a difference.
I understand that your grandfather was in the soviet army.. At least the depicted man was.
So this must have been during the Operation Barbarossa from June '41, when the Axis powers invaded the USSR. Von Bock lead the German Heeresgruppe Mitte.
No, Syborgh. My grandfather was this soldiers enemy. He made this photo and was a soldier in the Wehrmacht. And it's right that first my grandfather was in Heeresgruppe Mitte, later on he had to fight in the Caucasian region. He was corporal and later lieutenant for the communication between the different battle groups. What he saw there was cruel and followed him during the rest of his life like many others on both side.
By the way, Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock died in Lensahn, the village where i'm from (you can see the church in my gallery), by the attack of a british fighter pilot in the last days of the war. He is still buried on the cemetery there.
Was he an army photographer? It's not the most obvious object to schlepp around, a camera I mean, on a military campaign.. unless you have to, as a 'verbindingsofficier' (don't know the English or German word).
Ofcourse it followed him lifelong. That's what war does to the fragile human being. I know, I was brought up surrounded by war-damaged people.
No, he was just simple soldier. I don't know which camera he had, but he had many things with him and organized a lot of things during the campaigns. He was the owner of a drapers shop (they sold many other things too in the little village). Usually he had a car and a driver, so it was not the problem to have a camera. Some pics were like tourists shots but some of the photos are so cruel that i can't show them here.
Yes, many of them were damaged by the war and their on guilt or the things which were done to them. I was born in 1963 and i still have my mom's fear of bombing and my father's fear of the air attack on him inside of me. When i was a child i had to build an "Alarmstuhl" every night. I had to put my clothes in a certain manner on the chair, so that i could take them in a very short time if we would be attacked...
Thank you for your story, Mathias. I think it's important to tell each other our stories about how many generations must suffer as a result of their criminal leaders. My sympathy.. - Friederike -
Comments (34)
Hallo Mathias,
Thank you for sharing this wonderful, historic shot, taken in such as horrible times throw the war, behind the Russian borders. It was a hard times for the soldiers and also for the civilians on the both sides. I think, that your grandfather saw in the eyes of that soldier despair and hopelessness, as well as I can see it now on this photograph. This photo let us warning and lesson to never dread that did not repeat.
Best wishes
/Peter/
Hallo Peter,
thank you for your understanding comment. I totally agree with you. Thankfully we have now a great chance in Europe that this will never happen again. It's a mess that many of these men did not have this chance. We should not forget that.
Best wishes to you!
Mathias
Soldiers are just canon-fother - whatever the army, whatever the devotion; they are all equal in beeing sacrificed in the games of the Fathers of State who, in close harmony with the weapon and war lords, stay high & dry. (If this is to anti-militaristic you may delete it.) - Warm regards, Friderike (born May 1945)
Hallo Syborgh,
i would never delete a comment which is worth to think about it, even if maybe here or there i think a bit different. We don't know what happened to this man for example and we can only can think what he maybe thought and felt. Many people were abused in that war and it still happens (Irak, Afghanistan...). But in some cases people fought for their freedom or even for their right to live. And as we all know: The russians fought under Stalin's command but against Hitler's killing machines, they fought for their life. And not only the russians. So i think it's important to look at every war and what is behind, then one can say criminal war or the right to defend yourself. But, however, this man expresses for me all the feelings of a sacrificed generation, of people who had no choice and had no chance. That's what is still touching me and i would like to know what my grandfather would to his photo now. But i can't ask him anymore.
Warm regards, Mathias (born October 1963)
Liebe Mathias, In the first place, what I said was not against ones right to defend oneself, nor against soldiers as human beeings. Au contraire; it is the military organisation which, by its very nature, de-humanizes people: their 'own' as well as the 'enemy' (and the 'civilians'). The military organisation even has a technical, de-humanizing language for their trade.
In fact your grandfather made an act of resistance against dehumanisation, by making this photo. He emphasized the depicted man's humanity as well as his own by making it. (Did he carry a camera with him? Was he an army photographer?) It is obvious that he wanted this man to be remembered. I suppose that they knew each other, maybe even became friends (for a short period of time). He even kept the photograph after the war..
I think that you, as his grandson, did the best he could have wished in showing the world: Diese Soldat war ein Mensch.
And secondly: There probably never would have been a WW-II 'necessary' if the First (wich was totaly & completely UNnecessary and in its prolongation even criminal) had not taken place. (Hitler was a trench-war product.)
By the way: I am anti-militarist, not pacifist. That's quite a difference.
Liebe Gruße, - Fried -
I understand that your grandfather was in the soviet army.. At least the depicted man was. So this must have been during the Operation Barbarossa from June '41, when the Axis powers invaded the USSR. Von Bock lead the German Heeresgruppe Mitte.
No, Syborgh. My grandfather was this soldiers enemy. He made this photo and was a soldier in the Wehrmacht. And it's right that first my grandfather was in Heeresgruppe Mitte, later on he had to fight in the Caucasian region. He was corporal and later lieutenant for the communication between the different battle groups. What he saw there was cruel and followed him during the rest of his life like many others on both side. By the way, Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock died in Lensahn, the village where i'm from (you can see the church in my gallery), by the attack of a british fighter pilot in the last days of the war. He is still buried on the cemetery there.
Greetings, Mathias
Was he an army photographer? It's not the most obvious object to schlepp around, a camera I mean, on a military campaign.. unless you have to, as a 'verbindingsofficier' (don't know the English or German word).
Ofcourse it followed him lifelong. That's what war does to the fragile human being. I know, I was brought up surrounded by war-damaged people.
No, he was just simple soldier. I don't know which camera he had, but he had many things with him and organized a lot of things during the campaigns. He was the owner of a drapers shop (they sold many other things too in the little village). Usually he had a car and a driver, so it was not the problem to have a camera. Some pics were like tourists shots but some of the photos are so cruel that i can't show them here.
Yes, many of them were damaged by the war and their on guilt or the things which were done to them. I was born in 1963 and i still have my mom's fear of bombing and my father's fear of the air attack on him inside of me. When i was a child i had to build an "Alarmstuhl" every night. I had to put my clothes in a certain manner on the chair, so that i could take them in a very short time if we would be attacked...
Thank you for your story, Mathias. I think it's important to tell each other our stories about how many generations must suffer as a result of their criminal leaders. My sympathy.. - Friederike -
Hallo Friederike,
thank you. That's so true.
A merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Greetings, Mathias
Wünsche dir Alles gute im Jahre 2010 - Grüss, Friede
Этот человек пленный? Наверное, это было его последнее фото (((((((
Ja. Leider. Es ist so traurig. So furchtbar. Ob er das begriffen hat?
Viele Grüße aus Deutschland, Mathias
Да. Извините. Это так грустно. Так страшно. Будь он понимает?
Привет из Германии, Матиас