Crazy Eyes of World War II

Hitler didn't have to try to hard to get the crazy-eyes look.

Crazy eyes. There was nothing new about photography during World War II. It had been around for a hundred years, and there were color photos of extremely high quality as well as the typical black and white ones. However, the war pulled a lot of people into sudden prominence, and they also were undergoing intense emotions. This combined for some memorable shots of people not getting it quite right when hearing the shutter click shut.

This Soviet partisan boy revealing a little too much about how he feels about things.

Anyway, on this page the eyes have it. If the picture is worth anything, it is because the eyes tell the story - even if you can't see them clearly. Happy or sad, the eyes are the window to the soul, and in these shots they say more than words can convey.

Battle of Britain.

I will be adding photos to this page from time to time, but I think these will give you the idea I'm trying to convey.

German concentration camp guards.

Child soldiers.

Evdokia Pasko, a Soviet military aviatrix in World War II, trying a little too hard for that intense look.

A Robert Capa photo of Wehrmacht captives at Normandy.

Hitler in a rare shot where he has a pistol in his pocket. Behind him appears to be Hess.

Who knows what this poor lady had just been through during an Allied bombing raid. 

Going into battle.

Stalingrad after the surrender but before being sent to prison camps. The guys in the background in the shadows tell the real tale.

Adolf Hitler and German Crown Prince Wilhelm at Potsdam, Germany on Potsdam Day, 21 March 1933.

Battle of Britain.

One of the issues I have with many World War II articles and blogs is that they give very short shrift to the wounded. I am guilty of that, too, but am at least trying to blend in such pictures now and then to give a more realistic portrayal. There were a lot of wounded soldiers (and civilians, for that matter) during World War II, they deserve recognition. When you make war look pretty, what do you get? More wars.

Here are two of the wounded (out of millions) of World War II, who appear to have had burn injuries.

It's Stalingrad, it's 10 below, you've just surrendered, and now they want you to walk to your prison camp in Siberia.

A Wehrmacht soldier after a desperate, failed counterattack against Canadians at Otterloo, Netherlands on 17 April 1945. After an attack by about 1000 Germans, 400 were dead (many by flamethrower) and 250 were taken prisoner like this fellow.

Hitler at Christmas - this picture, apparently from a postcard, always creeps me out.

2017