We are back at it again today for another round of never before seen WWII photographs from my Grandpa Joe’s collection.
As you may already know, I was traveling to the U.S. over the past several days and I was unable to find the time to make a post and I apologize for that but I wanted to do one as soon as possible and get back on track to my normal Monday WWII posts.
While in the U.S. I had the honor to stay at my Grandmother's house, Grandpa Joe’s widow and she said that she didn't know much about the photographs; however, she was able to confirm my suspicions that he was assigned to be a photographer while on duty in Germany. According to his discharge papers he was trained as an infantryman.
For today, I have several photographs for you folks which are portraits of civilians. You will see that some were even done in a makeshift studio and makes me wonder if he was doing a side job by taking these pictures for people. If you know anything about these photographs or the people in them please let me know!
Here we have a pair of German beauties. I'm not sure who they are and this is the only photograph I have of them. They sure seem to be enjoying themselves and they don't seem to mind being photographed either. Here gals stand in front of this chain link fence and smile for the camera!
These ladies are wearing some very beautiful dresses and from all the photographs I have seen in his collection, this is the only one with such finely dressed young women. The lady on the left is pictured quite frequently and often with my grandfather, Perhaps a fling? Hard to say. Anyways, I am sure glad he married my Grandma after the war instead. Judging by the buildings in the background and accompanying photographs on the film I am assuming this was taken on an Army or Airbase in Germany.
For these next two photographs, we have a couple of portraits taken in a makeshift studio. I suspect that for a time he was working out of the studio because there are a good 20 or 30 pictures taken like this. I found these two to be the most interesting. For me, it is difficult to imagine what it was like at that time in Germany, but here we have these civilians posing for the camera. Maybe they were working for the U.S. Army or just friendly civilians who wanted their pictures taken for a cheap price.
I'm not sure the politically correct term for a person of this stature anymore so I will not even attempt to label him. He seems like a proud, well-dressed man with very strong eyes and I know he had a story to tell.
Next up we have Joseph Stalin’s doppelganger. Something about him just screams Russian to me but he also has a Leonardo DiCaprio look about him. Perhaps his grandfather, just kidding.
Now I just love this photograph. Here we have an amazing shot of some country folks with a beautiful landscape in the background. Again, they appear quite happy to have their photographs taken and I wish I knew the story behind it. Sadly, it leaves quite a lot to the imagination but they had lived through so much and you just have to admire the human spirit captured in this photograph.
There are many more photographs, so please come on back next Monday and join me on this amazing journey through Germany during World War II!
Thanks, everyone for stopping by and please upvote and Re-steam this post! I am really enjoying all the comments and feedback from all you folks, thank you very much! If you have any information on any of these photographs, please, please share it in the comments.
I own all of these photographs so please respect my family history and ask permission prior to use.
These pics are still in good condition, thats amazing
I wonder if you ever try to color them?
I saw some articles before where they colored old b&w pics, the results are pretty good, so interesting 😊
Thanks for sharing!
#steemitbloggers
I know it's so crazy. We found the film canisters with my grandpa's things. I took them into a specialist who developed them and converted them to a digital file and they look great. Maybe one day I will try and color these when I can afford the time and photoshop subscription 😂
This is the first time I have seen any of this series @balticbadger
Amazing! There is something a little unsettling and exciting about historical photos, especially from the more extreme situations like WWII. I will watch out for future issues.
Thanks you for sharing these treasures.
Gaz
You are right. They are so fascinating to me, each has a story to tell! Well there's lots more to come so stay tuned!
I certainly will.
Bravo, you did a great job describing him.
I’m always impressed at the resolution people could get with film even back then. I guess analog has its virtues. Great pictures, thanks for sharing.
The level of detail is really impressive! Thanks for checking them out
@balticbadger
thanks for sharing these photos, great to see the past.
No problem! And thanks for stopping by!
These are treasures... I enjoyed one of your earlier posts when Grandpa Joe photographed the platoons. This one was no exception! Thank you for sharing these
Thank you @zord189 I really loved that post too. So many people had stories to tell about their families and I learned so much about my own grandfather from their information. Thanks for stopping by!
This reminded me of 'Humans of New York' where this photographer goes around taking portraits of people and tells the back story of each individual. So much uniqueness. I wished I knew what was behind those photos your grandpa took as well. Must be interesting
It really looks amusing to look at old photos! Thanks for sharing these beautiful shots!
I agree that's why I love to share them with steemit! Thanks for checking them out!
I just love these old photos!
They are really fascinating!
howdy sir badger! haha I didn't know you started posting again, sorry, my bad but anyway I love this photos. I was wondering where the men were but I assumed that every able bodied man would have been drafted which left all the women at home.
Another thing which strikes me is that all the girls are so nicely dressed in dresses and always seem to be smiling. I mean much of their country was decimated wasn't it? And so many of their men were dead. It just seems kinda surreal to see them look happy, clean and doing well, not like in a war torn country.
But anyway another great post sir badger!
No problem! Thank you very much, good sir. Glad you enjoyed them. I was wondering the same thing. I just wish we knew exactly the stories behind these stories.
Can we really imagine how it was to live in a world with no phones and no internet?
Wonderful photos!
No kidding??? I know I would read a lot.more.books that's for sure!
Hello @balticbadger, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!
That's awesome! Thanks, I appreciate it!
Great photos! Love seeing glimpses into the past. Really curious about their stories and where they ended up. Thank you for sharing!
Sadly u wish I knew too. Maybe someday someone who knows something will see this post and maybe connect us to one of these people who knows. But unfortunately, I think steemit is too small for that. :(
Wow, These photos are real treasure. Few people remember what happened in those days, and photos can show it. And I also see a Russian man in one of the portraits. Something is recognizable in his facial features.
It's always so fascinating getting a look into the past like this. Even without really knowing anything about these people, you can imagine so much about and their life, just from this one little moment in captured in time. Very cool stuff.
Amazing pics bro!
Thanks a lot!