“CANDID REICH”
In 1939 the Wehrmacht conscripted a man named Rudolf into the Nazi infantry. They handed him a government-issue camera and sent him off to join the German troops en route to the Eastern front. Rudolf was to document what he saw as his company trudged from Munich through Poland and into Russia. Near Moscow, Rudolf’s appendix ruptured. He was immediately flown back to Germany, which spared him from the death sentence that awaited most of the men he’d photographed as the fighting in Russia wore on. Rather than return all of his film to Nazi authorities upon his discharge, as was the rule, Rudolf stashed a few undeveloped rolls and kept quiet about them. Some 60 years after they were taken—and much to the surprise of Rudolf’s widow—his grandson Nico stumbled upon the forgotten pictures in the family’s attic. Nico told his friend, photographer Philippe Gerlach, about his discovery, and Philippe persuaded Nico to let Vice publish them. These images offer a rare and candid glimpse behind the seemingly inhuman facade of the Third Reich. It’s strange to see the Nazis this way, and it makes us wonder again how so many average people could have been so thoroughly indoctrinated with the shockingly stupid and evil bullshit their leaders fed them.
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 Anonymous, on Sep 12, 2009 wrote:
"makes us wonder again how so many average people could have been so thoroughly indoctrinated with the shockingly stupid and evil bullshit their leaders fed them" That’s a laugh, when you consider what the Americans did Vietnam. It is realy not that hard to understand at all as it happens every time. Who do people think make an army if not average people?
| | Anonymous, on Aug 5, 2009 wrote:
nazis have fun too! | | Anonymous, on Aug 5, 2009 wrote:
3 = sexiest sieg-heil I’ve ever seen | | Anonymous, on Aug 5, 2009 wrote:
# just looks like a couple of punk kids | | Anonymous, on Aug 5, 2009 wrote:
is he...pooping...? in that tree | | Anonymous, on Aug 4, 2009 wrote:
These are a lot easier to swallow than the photographs of the piles of eyeglasses from Auschwitz. | | Anonymous, on Aug 2, 2009 wrote:
"how so many average people could have been so thoroughly indoctrinated with the shockingly stupid and evil bullshit their leaders fed them."
Ask yourself that, sheep. | |
| Fuck Russia, on Jul 31, 2009 wrote:
Wow they made a tree shitter. The Germans have always been known for their engineering. | | Anonymous, on Jul 30, 2009 wrote:
i would like to hang with the guy in the fourth pic, he looks like he is one gin away from completely freaking out. | | Anonymous, on Jul 30, 2009 wrote:
does the guy know he is getting pictured while on the can? | |
| jizzmopper, on Jul 28, 2009 wrote:
goofing off like the three stooges. larry, moe, and luger. | | Anonymous, on Jul 28, 2009 wrote:
It’s definitely an interesting look at something rarely seen but it’s not like the German soldiers weren’t human. They liked doing the same things we do. Eating, pissing, fucking around. They weren’t all psychotics, just their leadership. | | Anonymous, on Jul 27, 2009 wrote:
scumnation says" The more people point out the mistakes that Vice reporters make the better, then everyone will come to realize that Vice is taking the piss out of everyone and nothing they write should be believed. | | Anonymous, on Jul 25, 2009 wrote:
"In 1939 the Wehrmacht conscripted a man named Rudolf into the Nazi infantry."
The Wehrmacht wasn’t part of the National Socialistic Party, also there’s no such thing as ’the Nazi infantry’. (the SS was not a military organisation, and the Waffen SS was mixed forces). You’re bending the facts quite bit.
"its definitely weird to see nazi soldiers in this context. they are almost charming here. oh god."
Yes, they are humans. Humans do human things (like washing, drinking, killing folk) | | Anonymous, on Jul 23, 2009 wrote:
This describing is one of the most sillies i ever read | | Anonymous, on Jul 23, 2009 wrote:
Nazi or not, I can’t say no to pork. Let’s do this! | |
| dangerboy, on Jul 23, 2009 wrote:
sorry, still cant really sympathize with nazis. | | Anonymous, on Jul 21, 2009 wrote:
Scumnation says" must be fakes like the jewish ones’" | | Anonymous, on Jul 20, 2009 wrote:
these pictures are actually in pretty good shape considering what they have been through | | Anonymous, on Jul 20, 2009 wrote:
is it bad that I find some of the nazis kind of sexy? uh oh. | | Anonymous, on Jul 20, 2009 wrote:
Scumnation says" They are for taking the piss out of, if you want to admire them go to a fuckin art gallery." | | Anonymous, on Jul 20, 2009 wrote:
does this subject matter always have to merit comments of the extreme right or left? can we just find some common ground and accept that these are A. pictures and B. none of us know the men in them. we all need to just shut the fuck up and admire them or not. | | Anonymous, on Jul 17, 2009 wrote:
Scumnation says"What no dead jews, is that because they didn’t take any until after 1945?" | | Anonymous, on Jul 17, 2009 wrote:
look at all the Aryans just hanging out | | Anonymous, on Jul 17, 2009 wrote:
@below
these were "regular soldiers" that were unarmed..? why would soldiers not be armed? | | Anonymous, on Jul 17, 2009 wrote:
I think it is important that a distinction is made between the Wehrmacht (regular soldiers) and the Nazi’s. The two are not the same (as has been suggested by some of these posters). The Waffen SS were the armed brigade of Nazi’s. These images show regular soldiers. | | Anonymous, on Jul 17, 2009 wrote:
good story/pics. two dull points...
there wasn’t an eastern front in ww2 in 1939 [didn’t kick off between krauts and ruskis until 1941]
this isn’t as a ’rare and candid glimpse’ there are quite a lot of pics like this around.
maybe i just watch the history channel too much but worth being right on matters of history perhaps so we can learn from it and that - although from comments here seems like a slacker ’whatever dude move on’ attitude prevails toward holocaust in europe. which makes it easier for the next guy [discuss] certainly made it easy to ’allow it’ in croatia in the 90s | | Anonymous, on Jul 16, 2009 wrote:
oh, and if you want to get an in depth look at what life in the german wehrmacht was like for the every day german fighting man read ’Panzer Commander’ by Hans von Luck or ’Five Years, Four Fronts’ by Georg Grossjohann. there, i just got a clue and came up with an applicable response to your weak ’’get a clue you moron’’. i hope you feel small. | | Anonymous, on Jul 16, 2009 wrote:
of course i believe that we should forget about it. what the germany did to the world was absolutely nothing compared to the excesses of stalin or mao’s regimes. it comes nowhere close to the scale of death unleashed by the roman or mongol empires, and it absolutely laughable compared to what britain and spain managed to do. does anybody give a shit about all of that? of course not. but everyone always has to hate on the nazi germany which was a model country before hitler lost his shit and starting offing jews, communists, gypsies, the mentally impaired and the gays. it’s not like every other show on the history channel is about the spanish inquisition or british rule over india. in conclusion i don’t care and we should all wake up and move on to the new day. | | Anonymous, on Jul 16, 2009 wrote:
to the guy that said "should we even get a shit anymore", get a fucking clue you moron | | | Next 30 comments > |
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