1939–1945: Photo Albums from the Second World War

Photos of the war taken by Wehrmacht soldiers and stored in boxes and albums can still be found in the cupboards, cellars and attics of many German and Austrian families. The visual mementoes from the different sectors of the front and from regions of conquered countries in Europe and North Africa were often stuck into ready-made war albums specially produced by the photo industry. Their covers were decorated with symbols of the Wehrmacht and Nazi insignia such as steel helmets, swastikas and imperial eagles.

Many of these albums bring together photos of very different origins: snapshots taken by the compiler, pictures of comrades alongside prints by professional photographers working for propaganda companies, even collectable cards bought at places of interest. While a soldier’s private perspective might have deviated from the ideology of Nazi visual propaganda, frequently its aesthetic and message was imitated. Accidental details and traces of the photographer’s own experience remain visible in these snapshots and provide a stronger reflection of the differences in frontline experiences than the official image politics. The soldiers’ subjective viewpoints show individual spheres of experience and document how the war was seen, not what it was like. The album structures and constructs the memories. The captions, the written commentaries and choice of montages create highly personal narratives and subjective interpretations of the war, which in turn may reveal something of the soldiers’ mentalities.