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| Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM) girls on a fundraising drive. |
This page continues my series on
color photographs of World War II. The page concentrates on German forces and the Reich homefront.
Almost all color photographs of World War II are colorized recently from black-and-white originals, and these are few exceptions. Unfortunately, with all the colorization, it now is difficult to pick out the genuine color photographs - and there were a small number of them. There definitely were color photographs in the 1930s and 1940s, and more color shots than you might think, but major publications with only a few notable exceptions (such as Life magazine) had no need for color photos. I try to point out when I am certain which photos are colorized, but you can assume that all are.
Personally, I have no issues with colorization as long as it is done well and shows colors that we know from other sources to be accurate. If added color makes World War II photos a little more accessible for people, so much the better.
These types of general pages, which span the entire war, provide a chance to look at the war from a different perspective than usual. Rather than focus on individuals or events, we instead look at random images from the time period. A page like this would be a good place to start when studying the World War II era, but also a good place to review after you've delved deeply into the details of the war. Looking at random images that are pleasing to the eye is like flying in an airplane over an event, taking in the broadest view but without getting bogged down in who won what and what happened before and after the picture was taken.
There is an immediacy to color photographs that make you understand the reality of the times, the feelings that symbols and backgrounds gave to a central image. They also provide a chance to look at random aspects of the war that may get short shrift elsewhere. They also remove some of the distance of time, with little girls looking just like little girls today... only wearing Swastikas.
You may find more color photos of World War II on
page 1 and
page 2 and
page 3 and
page 4 and
page 5 and
page 6 and
page 7 and
page 8 and
page 9 and
page 10 and
page 11 and
page 12 and
page 13 and
page 14 and
page 15 and
page 16 of this series.
Hope you enjoy your stay.
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| Note the symmetry in this picture. The Germans understood that the human brain finds symmetry pleasing and beautiful. |
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| A BDM girl cleaning some shoes. |
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| Hitler and Mussolini. |
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| Firing the Gustav gun (colorized). |
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| German maidens were enthusiastic participants in sports. |
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| 16.Luft.Field Div. - 8,8cm FlaK - Normandy, France 1944. |
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| A Waffen-SS Scharführer of at the military academy (Junkerschule) at Bad Tölz. |
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| U-331, a Type VIIC U-boat (Oberleutnant zur See Freiherr Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen). |
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| A BDM girl (colorized). |
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| Gebirgsjägers (mountain troops) with an MG-42. |
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| Fallschirmjäger. |
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| A Kubelwagen in North Africa with the Afrika Korps (DAK). |
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| A BDM girl (colorized). |
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| A Wehrmacht soldier at Dunkirk, 1940. |
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| Küstenverteidigung (coastal defense) using a MG-34. |
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| A typical anti-tank ditch (Panzergräben) with a panzer in the background (colorized). |
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| A BDM girl (colorized). |
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| A U-boat commander in 1942 (Life). |
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| German maidens celebrating spring. |
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| Another Kubelwagen in North Africa. |
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| A good shot of a Kriegsmarine 2.0 cm Flak 29 Oerlikon. These guns were highly prized, and the Royal Navy would take them off sinking Axis ships whenever they got the chance. |
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| Germans celebrating the victories of 1940. |
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| The Hamburg Central Station (west exit on the Glockengießerwall), Hungarian state visit, August 24, 1938 (Credit: Walter Hollnagel). |
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| SS-Untersturmführer Gerhard Mahn. 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking" signaling for troops to advance, Ukraine 1944. |
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| The German summer offensive in August 1942. These men are with the 17th Army in Army Group South, all under Field Marshal List. This is in the Caucasus during the advance on the oil fields of Baku and Maykop. You can see an Mg-34 and MP-40. Colorized. |
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| A German girl, apparently a Helferinnen. |
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| Rolling by a burning truck during the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa. |
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| I believe this was taken in Italy. |
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| On the run during the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa. |
2020
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